After a long offseason — their last contest was played on Thanksgiving 2011 — the Mission Bears are back for another promising year.
Despite losing many players from last year’s championship squad to graduation, the Bears displayed their strengths with faces old and new as they defeated the Hercules Titans in an action-packed 33-21 matchup.
“We did pretty good running the ball, our O-line was pretty good, and we had pretty solid defense,” Mission’s head coach Joe Albano said moments after the game.
Despite the win, the contest did not start off in Mission’s favor. In the first five seconds of the ballgame, during the opening kick-off play, the Bears gave up an eighty-five-yard kick return touchdown to Hercules. It didn’t take long, though, for the Bears to bounce back and take control with a mix of power running and passing, in addition to a variety of game-changing defensive plays.
With 247 rushing yards and 257 passing yards, the Bears offense had the Hercules defense guessing all night.
“The line did their blocks and the running backs did their jobs but we have to work more on it,” senior lineman Mane Fale said following the game.
The Bears’ defense, looking much like last year’s, had an excellent night, limiting the Titans to just two scores on a dismal 158 total offensive yards. Senior members of the secondary Antione Porter and Demetrius Thibeaux each had an interception.
The Bears start off 1-0 and will take this week to prepare for Saturday afternoon’s game against Menlo High at Kezar Stadium. The Menlo Knights were able to edge Mission in a tight 16-12 contest last season.