GARLAND - Is it safe to say Bear River football is back? After two games, the Bears are doing all they can to make the rest of the 3A world believe so.
Led by two-headed running back monster Aaron Spencer and Payton Wells, the Bears racked up 274 yards on the ground to roll past American Leadership Academy (ALA) 53-23.
"Without our run game, our passing game doesn't work," Wells said. "Without us doing our job, our offense doesn't get set up."
Which is exactly what Bears coach Chris Wise wants to see out of his offense. Long known for being a run first team, the Bears tried to install a spread offense last year. Those plans backfired when quarterback James Taylor went down with an injury in the team's third game of the season. This year, Wise and his staff have gone back to a run-oriented offense, and the results have been spectacular to this point.
"The run sets up everything for us," he said. "It's vital that we get the run going."
With so much emphasis on the run at Bear River, it was actually the pass that got them going Friday night. Bear River jumped out to an early lead after recovering the fumbled opening kickoff, scoring just 20 seconds in on a 27-yard Taylor to Dax Sederholm touchdown pass to go up 6-0. ALA would tie it up after Tony Pulu returned a Bear River fumble 13 yards for a touchdown, making it 6-6. It was at that point the Bears would turn it on, and never look back.
A.J. Sanchez returned the ensuing kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown, making it 13-6 for Bear River. Just three minutes later, Wells would rack up 33 of his 63 yards on the night on one drive, capping it off with a 1-yard touchdown run to put Bear River up 20-6. A Taylor to Blaine Worrell 53-yard touchdown pass followed, putting the score at 27-6.
The Bears would continue to pile it on in the 2nd, as Wells scored his second touchdown of the night on a 7-yard run, while Spencer later broke off a 49-yard touchdown run to drive the lead up to 39-9 at the half.
"It's huge (for us to get off to good starts)," Wells said. "One of our mottos this season is 'start fast, finish strong,' and we've done a good job of that so far."
So are the Bears back? When asked if Bear River was back to the level of the 2003, 2004 and 2006 3A state championship teams after Friday's win and last week's 60-34 win at Logan, Wise was quick to say "not yet."
"Those were two really good games there in a row, but I don't know if the kids are satisfied yet," Wise said.
But if averaging 56.5 points per game so far isn't enough to satisfy the Bears, especially after suffering through two straight losing seasons, then the rest of the 3A world better take notice.