Written by Mike Woicicki
Last night, the Summerville Bears played the most exciting game of the year, winning the nail-biter 21 to 20 over the tough Linden Lions. The win gave the Bears sole possession of second place in the Mother Lode League and, at 8 and 2 for the season, should give them a high seeding in the Division Seven playoffs.
The Bears started the night as they have in some of their blowout games. They returned the opening kick to their own 34. On the first play, Luke Larson went off right tackle for 51 yards. Then two plays later, Bryce Leveroos ran it in from the nine, and Bryson Benites kicked the extra point. It looked like the Bears were off to the races, but the Lions took over the game with an eight-minute eighty-yard drive, and the score was 7 to 6 as the extra point kick was wide right.
In the second quarter, the Lions put together another long drive, but the Bears stopped them at the five-yard line, and the teams went into halftime with the Bears still up by one.
In the third quarter, the Bears scored again with Leveroos taking it in from the one, and another Benitas kick put the Bears up by eight. Again, the Lions refused to give up as they pounded their way to another TD, and a two-point pass tied the game at 14.
The Lions put together another long drive in the fourth quarter and took a 20-to-14 lead with just three minutes and twenty-two seconds left in the game. As it turned out, it was just enough time for the Bears. They returned the kickoff to the fifty and put their running game in high gear. With mostly Leveroos keepers to the left or right and great blocking by the line, they moved the ball down the field, and Leveroos took it in from the two to tie the game with just seven seconds left. All they needed was the extra point for the win. Enter Benitas. The Lions called a timeout to “ice him.” Then they flew offside three times trying to block the kick, but on the fourth snap, the ball was set, the kick was true, and the final score was 21 to 20, Bears.
The Player of the Game was Bryce Leveroos, rushing for 116 yards on 19 carries and scoring 3 touchdowns.
The Hot Hit of the Game was made by Luke Larson with a hard tackle for a two-yard loss.
In other action, the Calaveras Redhawks remain undefeated for the season, as they beat the Bret Harte Bullfrogs, 55 to 6.
