Aurora – Having knocked off defending Class 5A state champion Mullen to begin the season, Bear Creek has raised its expectations considerably and turned into a target.
The Bears almost were caught napping last week, when they had to rally late to down Gateway.
On Friday night at Legacy Stadium, Bear Creek again found itself in a hole.
However, the Bears were patient, made some plays on defense and got their offense going for a 34-12 pounding of Overland in Class 5A nonleague play.
Bear Creek, ranked No. 3 in The Denver Post/9News 5A poll, improved to 3-0. The Trailblazers dipped to 1-2.
In a nutshell, Overland twice had first-and-goal inside the 5-yard line in the first quarter, but had to settle for field goals.
Eventually, the Bears started to click on offense and had little trouble after the first quarter – they rallied for a 13-12 halftime lead, then put it away with a 21-point third quarter.
Bears quarterback Jake Spitzlberger led the way, spraying the ball all over the field, and their defense kept Overland bottled up throughout the second half.
“It was something in our heads; we just have to get it fixed and play with more confidence,” Spitzlberger said of his team’s slow starts. “But our defense did really good tonight, and we learned last week how we can’t play bad.”
Said Bears coach Tom Thenell: “Some things weren’t going our way, obviously, and we figured (the Trailblazers) would be ready. They came here to play, they came here to win, and give those kids a lot of credit. But we got it going.”
While Overland ran 21 plays from scrimmage to the Bears’ seven in the first quarter, momentum quickly shifted.
The Trailblazers made it 12-0 with 5:22 remaining in the first half on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Isaac Neal to Curshion Jones. Then Bear Creek dominated.
Spitzlberger took the Bears 87 yards in six plays, capped by a 27-yard fade to Aromous Robinson to make it 12-6, then Riley Newcomer gave the Bears the lead for good 14 seconds before halftime with the first of his three scoring runs.
The Bears ran 26 plays to the Trailblazers’ five in the third quarter. Newcomer scored from the 3 and 1, and tight end David Nelson grabbed a 24-yard touchdown pass.
An already injury-depleted Overland had no answers.
“We started dropping like flies; we were losing some kids, and we don’t have those kinds of numbers,” Overland coach Tony Manfredi said. “We did some things and had some momentum (early), but (the Bears) just do a great job. They mixed up things defensively and we started getting into that catch-up mode.”
Overland crossed midfield only once in the second half.
Bear Creek 0 13 21 0 – 34
Overland 6 6 0 0 – 12
O – FG Ivkovich 20. O – Ivkovich 21. O – Jones 20 pass from Neal (pass failed). BC – Robinson 27 pass from Spitzlberger (Ferguson kick). BC – Newcomer 1 run (pass failed). BC – Newcomer 3 run (Ferguson kick). BC – Newcomer 1 run (Ferguson kick). BC – Nelson 24 pass from Spitzlberger (Ferguson kick).
