BEAR RIVER HIGH - By Tate Atkin, Headliner Sports Editor, August 22, 2022
On Friday, August 19, Bear River High welcomed the Clearfield High Falcons to Bear Field as they hosted their second game of the 2022 season.
The first quarter of Friday night's game against the Falcons was eerily familiar for anyone who followed last week's game against Morgan High. The Bears kicked off to the Falcons and started the game on defense and similar to their last game, their opponent easily moved the ball down the field and ended their first drive with a touchdown.
The similarities didn't end there. On their first drive on offense the Bears had some big plays, including big runs from sophomore running back Tydon Jones, before ultimately stalling on the drive and giving the ball back to the Falcons. The quarter ended with the Bears trailing 7-0.
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"Our message was simple this week, 'Get the job done, no matter what.' I thought we did just that. I think the biggest difference this week was trusting in our schemes. We were trusting our reads on offense and we were much better aligning to their offense on defense," said Bear River High's head football coach Trampis Waite on the difference between last week's game and this one.
The Bear River defense did their job on the second drive as they shut down the Falcon offense and forced a punt. That is where the similarities to last week's game ended. The Bear's offense took the field and looked absolutely dominant behind the offensive line as they marched down the field with big runs from Jones and senior quarterback Ryker Jeppsen. The drive was capped off with a 27-yard touchdown pass from Jeppsen to senior receiver Jace Roberts as the Bears tied the game, 7-7.
Defensively, the Bears kept the momentum going as the defensive line and linebackers made big plays including a tackle for a loss from senior linebacker Fierce Miller who also celebrated his birthday Friday night. On fourth and short, the line surged into the Falcon backfield again stopping them for a loss, giving the ball back to the offense with enough time to score before the half.
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Waite was impressed with the play from the offensive and defensive lines stating, "Our OL/DL deserve a lot of credit. We absolutely controlled the line of scrimmage, and it was a lot of fun to watch our guys put long drives together."
That's exactly what the offense did as they quickly moved the ball up the field with a 20-yard pass from Jeppsen to junior receiver Talon Marble who made a couple defenders miss after making the catch. On the next play Jeppsen kept the ball and ran for a 15-yard touchdown as he dove for the end zone. With a missed extra point, the Bears led 13-7 at the end of the first half.
The Bears cooled off at halftime and had a difficult time moving the ball after they received the second half kickoff. After going 3-and-out, they punted to the Falcons. The defense picked up where they left off in the first half and shut down Clearfield and came up with a big stop on fourth down to get off the field.
That was the spark the offense needed. After a big run by Jeppsen, and a first down gained on a run from Jones on fourth down, Jeppsen found Marble for a touchdown as Marble broke the tackle and ran it in from 27 yards out. The touchdown was erased however after a penalty on the Bears. That didn't stop the Bears from scoring though. On third and twenty, Jeppsen found senior receiver Weston Ballard for a 38-yard touchdown. There was another flag on the play but was eventually waved off. Another missed extra point made the game a 19-7 lead for Bear River.
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The kickoff took a very fortunate bounce for Bear River and they recovered the ball on the Falcon's 24-yard line. After a run from Jeppsen to the five-yard line, the Bears had a first and goal. After an unsportsmanlike penalty backed the Bears up to the 15-yard line, the Bears settled for a 32-yard field goal attempt that was unsuccessful. An unfortunate way to end the drive after starting with such great field position.
Clearfield got the ball back and put together a long drive going 80 yards before finally finding the end zone on a short run up the middle. After an extra point the Falcons cut into the Bears lead and with just over nine minutes left in the game, the Bears led the Falcons, 19-14.
That was the closest the Falcons got as the Bears took over the final minutes of the game. The first big play was an interception by senior Caleb Korth who returned the interception to the Falcon's 5-yard line. After a penalty backed them up, Jeppsen found Roberts once more for their second touchdown connection of the game. The point after was good and the Bears extended their lead, 26-14.
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After the defense again stopped the Clearfield offense the Bears took the field ready to run out the clock and put the game out of reach. With some great blocking and a fantastic run, Jeppsen found the end zone again, this time from 21 yards out. The game ended with the Bears victorious by a final score of 33-14.
The win is the first win for the Bears since the 2020 season and is the first career win for new head coach Waite. When asked about the win, Waite said, "It feels good, definitely got the monkey off our back. I am super proud of our kids."
Watch the Bears' exciting win over Clearfield High, courtesy of Bear River Live, on the links below.
Next up for the Bear River High football team is a road trip to Salt Lake City to face the Highland High Rams on Friday, August 26, starting at 7 p.m.
Photos by John Fronk
