Summer officially ended this past Thursday, and with the coming of fall, the Riverbank Junior Bruins youth football teams celebrated their 2016 Homecoming game.

It didn’t matter that they had played home games just the week before, the stadium got decorated and the Varsity Jr. Bruins selected a king and queen to represent the program. Perhaps the youth organization was hoping to stay out of the way of the high school’s similar celebration, set for the week of Oct. 7.

Chosen as Homecoming King was Jonathan Haggerty with Jasmin Martinez named as the Homecoming Queen.

The youth football program became aligned this season with the high school plan, as a feeder program to Riverbank High’s Bruins teams, and officials decided the Homecoming celebration would help blend the two groups. As such, they sometimes share coaching staff, including high school player-mentors for the younger players.

Three of Riverbank’s youth football teams saw action last week during the Homecoming at RHS’s Angelo Novi Stadium.

The Junior Bruins hosted the Jr. Tuolumne Bears on Saturday, Sept. 24 with varying results.

While Tuolumne doesn’t field a Jr. Novice team, 7- and 8-year-olds, the other three age groups played.

The Riverbank Varsity squeaked by on an 18-12 final, while the Novices started the afternoon, losing a close one, 20-13, after a fourth quarter run for the end zone was called back by a flag for an illegal shift in the backfield.

The JV Jr. Bruins got blown out, 42-8, in the middle game of the trio.

The Novice team is made up of 9- and 10-year-olds, the JV Junior Bruins are 11 and 12, while the Varsity is 12-½ to 14-year-olds.

This weekend, the Jr. Bruins travel to take on the Calaveras Jr. Redskins at San Andreas High School. The following Saturday, Oct. 8 Riverbank hosts Sonora’s Jr. Cats.