I am amazed at how far Riviera-Kaufer’s varsity football team has come. I first got to cover a Seahawk game last year when they visited Benavides. Kaufer fumbled the ball five times in that game, if I remember correctly, and still managed to beat the Eagles.

This past Friday, the water-birds turned the ball over twice - on an interception and a fumble - and still destroyed Benavides 33-6. Kaufer clicked on all cylinders for most of the game except the third quarter.

In the third period, the Seahawks committed five penalties - including three personal fouls - and helped their opponents get into their red zone and eventually score. The Eagles did not even get a sniff of the end zone after that as Kaufer zipped past them with two more touchdowns.

After the game Coach Arturo de la Rosa and his assistants gave their boys an earful. Yes, I know it was homecoming. Yes, I know the Seahawks were well ahead when they committed the trio of personal fouls. But let us take a look at this one from both age groups.

Boys will be boys. Boys love to smash things, watch things get smashed because we as men are more brute in nature. You get in my face, I will respond in the same manner. You talk trash to me and I am probably going to respond. Football is a very violent sport and we live in a Ha-Ha-I’mbetter than-you society. Problem is, boys, that the referee usually never catches the instigator, but almost every time catches the responder. Use your heads. Yes, you were probably fighting back but the game could have easily slipped away.

Coaches will be coaches. A good coaching staff is not going to blow sunshine in their players’ ears. Coaches these days need to stick to their guns of discipline - just like teachers - while society grows worse and worse by allowing its children to go unsupervised and do whatever they want in some cases.

In my opinion, De la Rosa’s verbal reprimand after Friday’s game was not something he wanted to do but something he needed to do. Trust me boys, one day you all will be fathers and the words of discipline that you give your kids will echo the ones you heard from your own dads and from some of your coaches.

But I have no doubt in my mind that the Seahawks are a football team that can no longer be overlooked. These guys are contenders AS LONG AS THEY PLAY THEIR ‘A’ GAME. Friday they played a good A-minus.

(Rey Sifuentes Jr. can be reached at rataman2@ yahoo.com)