Bears Football Opens Season at Saranac

On Saturday the Golden Bears lost in their non-league opener against the Saranac Chiefs, 41-0. Out of the gate the Bears started great defensively after winning the coin toss and choosing to defer. On the second play of the Chiefs first drive, Quarterback Landen Smith rolled out of the pocket and threw a pass which was intercepted by Bears sophomore corner Charlie Todd. Despite the exciting start for the Bears, they couldn’t get anything going offensively. After a four-play, two-yard gaining drive, the Bears turned the ball over on downs.

During the Bears’ next drive with 5:16 left in the first quarter, wingback John Wilcox was handed the ball and he fumbled at the Bears own 10 yard line. Shortly after, Chiefs running back Cayden Bouvia scored his first touchdown of the day on the ground. At the end of the first quarter the Chiefs led the Bears 6-0.

In the second quarter of Saturday’s matchup the Golden Bears once again struggled offensively after only gaining a total 23 yards in the second and not scoring. On the other hand, Saranac kept chipping away at the Bears 19-man roster and scored twice with touchdowns from Alex Clancy and Landen Smith to take a 20-0 lead at half.

During the second half of the game the Golden Bears had only one positive drive while the Chiefs scored on three of their four. Bears senior safety Erich Zuhlsdorf played well defensively throughout the game by rallying to the ball and finishing with nine total tackles. The Bears’ leading receiver was Senior David Zuhlsdorf with 35 yards. Playing through the game with a broken finger was James Bailey, who was extremely aggressive defensively and had 2.5 tackle for losses amounting to 21.5 yards.

Head Coach Corey Maxner Commented on what he and his team will take into the upcoming game this week, “We have to execute every play and not take plays off – with a skeleton roster we must have true ironmen out there for the whole game.”

The Bears will play at St. Lawrence Central on Friday under the lights at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on 100.1 and wildcountry.fm.