Gallery • 12 Photos

Photo by Meggie Furlong

The Bears walk out into Mel Eide Field for their first game.

The Bears started the season off in the best way possible last night, with a 19-15 win over the Fremd Vikings.

“It’s one of the best feelings I have ever had in my life,” Joey Stutzman, junior linebacker, said. “I think it is very big for our football team to start off the season with a win. Everyone worked very hard and it all paid off.”

After leading for the whole game, with less than five minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Vikings scored a touchdown, taking away the Bear’s lead. With five seconds left Stutzman scored a touchdown, putting the Bears back in the lead and winning the game. Despite Stutzman getting the credit for the win, he knows it wouldn’t have been possible without his team.

“It really feels good, but no touchdowns would have happened without everyone else,” Stutzman said. “Our lineman made huge holes and gave Evan [Lewandowski, junior quarterback,] enough time to throw. Evan stepped up when we needed him and completed a lot of passes. Our defense did fantastic and gave the offense great opportunities. Our coaches also gave us everything we needed to win.”

Dave Proffitt, head coach, has been preparing the boys for this season since early June. He said he felt relieved when the game was done and was proud of his players for “overcoming the adversity” faced from their deficit.

“I was pleased for the players to have achieved that success. We [still have] many improvements [to make] though,” Proffitt said. “We need to become better in our pass defense [and] we have to improve our blocking and our running game.”

The Bears’ next challenge will be against Montini Broncos next Friday, September 9.