Bears Defeat Mustangs 35-14

The AAA North Division leading Idaho Falls Mustangs came to Logan to face a short-handed Bears team to test two of the best AAA teams in the Rocky Mountain Football League. Both teams entered the contest with identical 4-1 records. The Bears handed the Mustangs their second loss of the season and improved to 5-1, maintaining their second place ranking in the AAA South Division.

The Bears played without Vaea and Amos Fiefia who were both suspended for this game by league commissioner J. Neumeier. The suspensions were a result of play during the Ogden Rhino-Raiders game two weeks ago in Ogden.

There is no assumption of intent, only that they were unnecessary direct hits on the knee of the opposition quarterback that we as a league have always stood against. J. Neumeier, Commissioner

The Bears played hard and capitalized on their defense. Several players stepped up and filled in where needed. With several games played together, the team seems to be coming together more and there were fewer penalties as a result.

The Bears play at home next on June 3 at 5 p.m. against the Utah Heat.

Standup Comedian Entertains Bears Crowd

Nate Cone’s comedy routine was much better than the performance by the Nemesis as a team. The Bears showed why they are number two in their division and played much better than the previous week. While the Nemesis showed moments of potential, the most entertaining aspect to their team was their quarterback, Nate Cone.

Nate had some great one-liners and was particularly funny right after Jarom Fano sacked him and caused a fumble. Unfortunately the Nemesis were not even able to keep up with the Bears when Several defensive players switched to offense and some offensive players switched to defense.

On one series Amos Fiefia went in as a lead blocker for Vinnie Ortegan. That worked fine, except Amos stopped blocking after 10 to 15 years only to find Vinnie right behind him following through the massive hole left in the defense. Obviously Amos was not used to that position and the possibility he might need to continue blocking all the way to the goal-line. Vinnie wasn’t content to pick up a few yards behind Amos, he figured if Amos was going to clear the way as he did there was no reason to stop.

While kickoffs still leave something to be desired, extra points seem almost automatic now unlike the beginning of the season. Philip Rutledge showed he could kick extra points and then in the last quarter showed that he knew a little about playing linebacker. It was apparent many of the players had not played together on offense before as evidenced by the multitude of penalty flags. Several times when the officials were asked for a player number, the entire line was the response.

The officials did have some sense of how lopsided the game had become when they decided to pocket the yellow hanky when Cone decided to pass the ball on a kickoff return. The pass would have been legitimate had it been passed backwards, but it was passed about 5-yards forward. The official just shook his head and allowed the play to continue. Cone claimed it was because he had just been knocked silly by Jarom Fano just plays before. There was probably some truth to that claim. Maybe a combination of that hit and the one earlier in the game when Matt Wiser caused a fumble on a sack.

The final score ended up 42-12 and kept Cache Valley in second place in the AAA South Division. Salt Lake ended the night tied for last place in the division with the Utah Wolverines. Cache Valley meets Idaho Falls, who leads the AAA Northern Division at 4-1, next Saturday at 5 p.m. at Logan High School.

Bears show they are Human

After starting off 3-0 for the season, the Bears showed they were human and that they really are an expansion team. The Rhino-Raiders also showed why they came into the game on a 72 game win streak. The Rhino-Raiders put up 31 points against the Bears 14 to claim their 73rd straight victory.

The Bear's offense struggled and just when they appeared to turn the corner, penalties pulled them back. It appeared the Bears would remain in the game and possible score towards the end of the first half and instead had an interception returned 90+ yards (I can't remember the exact yardage) for a touchdown. That stuck the Bears in a deep hole both point wise and mentally.

The Bears did find the endzone several times and ended up only getting to count two of their scores. The mental mistakes and penalties on the Bears reminded everyone that this team is an expansion team and needs time to really connect as a team. No loss is good, but the Bears are sitting in second place in their division and are two games up on a pack of teams just below them.

Losing this game can provide a learning opportunity for the Bears. They now know they are not unbeatable and they need to concentrate on performing as a team. They have some weaknesses that they must work on and they have some time to improve before the playoffs. Returning home for the next two weeks with the opportunity to play in front of a home crowd will help overcome any ill effects from losing this game.

While photographing the game in Ogden one of the officials said something to me that I thought showed how much Cache Valley really wants a team to support and how well they do support that team. He told me that he can't recall ever seeing a team in this league who brings more fans to a game than the home team. The Bears appeared to have many more fans in attendance at the game on Saturday than the Rhino-Raiders. Great showing Bears fans!

Rivalry Game Saturday

This is it, the big game. Saturday will see the Cache Valley Bears take on the Ogden Rhino-Raiders, a team that many from the Bears played on until this season. I can't imagine a bigger rivalry for the Rhino-Raiders than playing your former team members, team members you are somewhat upset at because they left to form a new team. Obviously some of the Rhino-Raiders are claiming they didn't want these players and are now better off without them -- we shall see come Saturday night.

It is appropriate that both of these teams are undefeated at this point in the season. That makes this game all the more interesting. Visit the Rhino-Raiders Website and the first thing you will notice is how proud they are of their 72 game winning streak. That is a huge feat and something that the Bears will want to put to rest. Putting an end to the winning streak and claiming victory over their former team would be the highlight to the season for many Bears players.

The game is a late one, starting at 7 p.m. at Ben Lomond High School on May 6. It should be interesting no matter who wins. Both teams should be at their best and mentally up for this game -- you won't want to miss it. I know I won't!