While directing the River Islands offense Friday night, Daryl Carpenter ran for the first three scores of the night and led the Riptide to enough of a lead to withstand a late charge from visiting Bret Harte in a 40-30 Mother Lode League football win.

“He knows what he is doing,” Riptide coach Nick Hardenbrook said of Carpenter. “He is learning the offense and figuring it out, and figuring out how to be multi-dimensional.

“It really helps to have him in that run game.”

Carpenter tallied 102 yards rushing on 11 carries and was 5-of-10 passing for 52 yards. He scored on runs of 7, 13 and 20 yards.

“The line did good tonight,” Carpenter said. “I was able to run the ball.

“Everybody was executing well. The receivers and the line were doing their jobs. Overall, it was just a great game, and really our line was the biggest part of it. I had huge holes to run through the whole game.”

Lucas Ruiz pounded out 55 yards on eight carries with a 1-yard touchdown run for River Islands (1-4 MLL, 2-6 overall), which snapped a four-game losing skid.

“I told coach last week that I am not a very outside guy, and maybe I should run up the middle more,” Ruiz said. “And that’s what worked out for me this week, grounding and pounding.”

The Riptide’s Jayden Yong, Michael Figueroa and Tyronney Phan each made an interception, with Phan’s setting up Ruiz’s scoring plunge.

“I stayed in my back pedal,” Phan said. “I just did what coach told me to do and stay disciplined.

“At first, I was trying to go for the ball, but the ball just got in my hands. I just got lucky with it.”

River Islands got its other touchdown on an 80-yard kickoff return by Jared Acaya.

Behind a pair of touchdown passes from Ezequiel Robles to Rick Molina and a 40-yard fumble return by Ryan Lee, the Bullfrogs (1-4, 2-6) scored the final 22 points of the game in the closing six minutes of the fourth quarter to make the game seem closer than it was.

“We made mistakes and shot ourselves in the foot,” Hardenbrook said. “We have to figure out how to finish games.

“That’s where we’re at as a program. That’s where it’s been this whole year, we have to learn how to finish.”

River Islands travels to Millennium next Friday at 7 p.m.