Bears can’t catch Tigers in season opener

by Ryan Stonebraker 
 
     BROOKLYN - In a rematch of a 2023 8-man playoff game that went down to the wire, the Bears were looking to exact revenge against Iowa Valley in their 2024 season opener. It didn’t happen. The Tigers took the lead for good late in the first quarter of a 76-67 shootout and won despite the Bear's furious comeback in the second half.  BGM fell to 0-1 and will hit the road again Friday when they play at Meskwaki Settlement School.  The Warriors did not play in the first week and will be hosting the Bears in their first game of the year.
      BGM Coach Jerod Burns said that things didn’t go the Bear's way as they had hoped in the game. “It was disappointing.  I thought of things we could have done especially with a team like Iowa Valley. We wanted to get out of the gate with a win. Sometimes when you take one on the chin it is tough. We will see how this group will be and respond this week.  There is a lot of football left this season,” he said. 
      The two teams combined for over 1,000 total yards of offense in the ball game. Iowa Valley had 502 yards of total offense in the game while the Bears totaled 449 total yards.  That was in part due to the fact that the game featured a quarterback match-up between two of the best in the 8-man football class this season in Bear junior Beau Burns and Iowa Valley sophomore Nolan Kriegel.
     Burns passed for 251 yards and 5 touchdowns and rushed for 197 yards and four touchdowns. Kriegel passed for 121 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 304 yards and eight touchdowns.
      Burns found four receivers who each caught at least two passes.  Tate Martin led with six receptions for 83 yards and a pair of touchdowns and Dakota Heishman led in yards with 116 yards with three receptions and two touchdowns.  Tucker Wright also had a touchdown reception.
     Defensively the Bears were led in tackles by Tate Martin with 9 and Landen Cooling with 8. Six different Bears had a tackle for loss in the game.
     Chance Hoyt was the next Tiger rusher with 38 yards on three carries and Caleb Haack led Iowa Valley with two receptions for 32 yards and two touchdowns. Defensively, Chandler McKibben and Mason Hoyt each had fumble recoveries while Hoyt led in tackles with 8.5 and Josh Reed was next with 7.5.
    The Bears scored the highest point total for any team last week among their 8-man District 7 foes.  Of the six teams in the district, only Belle Plaine and Montezuma won their games.
   The Bears have collected dominating victories in their only two meetings against Meskwaki Settlement School, including a 96-12 win last year. The Bears will return home on Friday, September 6 when they host Twin Cedars for their district opener.
    If you came to the game late and missed the first quarter, you missed a lot.  Iowa Valley would take a 30-23 lead after the opening quarter after scoring on four possessions. BGM answered with touchdowns on three possessions. Nolan Kreigel scored on an 8-yard run, 13 seconds into the ball game, capitalizing on a BGM turnover on their first possession for an 8-0 lead. BGM answered right back, tying the game on a Beau Burns 11-yard run and two-point pass to Tucker Wright a minute later. The two teams traded scores a minute apart to get the score at 16-16.  Kreigle scored from 1-yard out and the Bears answered with a 61-yard Tate Martin kick-off return and Burns two-point run to tie the game at 16 with 8:31 left in the quarter.  The Tigers would grab the lead for good with Kriegels third rushing score of the first quarter, a 24-yard gallop, with 6:42 left to take a 24-16 lead.  The Tigers added a big play later with 1:46 left in the opening quarter when Kriegel topped the 100-yard mark for the game with a 60-yard scoring run.  The two-point conversion failed, but Iowa Valley led 30-16.  BGM would get a big play of their own late in the first quarter when Burns connected with receiver Dakota Heishman for a 44-yard pass and scoring play to cut the Tigers lead to 30-23.
     In the second quarter, Iowa Valley would outscore the Bears 24-6 to take a halftime lead of 54-29.  With the Tigers up 38-23, the Bears got their second Burns to Heishman scoring pass, this one for 27 yards to set the score at 38-29.  The Tigers would get Kriegel’s sixth and seventh touchdown runs before halftime with the last one coming with just over 2-minutes remaining before halftime.
    BGM scored the first points of the second half on their first drive when Beau Burns found a running lane and scooted 38 yards for a touchdown run. A Heishman PAT set the score at 54-36 with 8:45 left in the quarter.  The Tigers and Bears would trade scores the rest of the quarter with BGM’s touchdowns coming on Beau Burns touchdown passes to Tucker Wright for 10 yards with 4:59 left and Tate Martin for 22 yards with 59 seconds left in the quarter.  The Tigers would take a 70-49 lead to the fourth quarter.
    In the final quarter, the Bears would make things interesting.  A BGM touchdown, a Burns 1-yard run, less than a minute into the final quarter made the game a three score game at 70-55.  Iowa Valley would extend their lead to 76-55 with 9:13 left in the game.
    BGM didn’t quit though scoring on a Burns 2-yard run with 6:59 left in the game to cut the lead to 76-61.  Late in the game, the Bears added a Burns 18-yard scoring pass to Tate Martin with 1:24 left to set the score at 76-67.  The PAT on the play was blocked, keeping the game at a two-score game.  That forced the Bears to try an onside kick, which Iowa Valley recovered and that was the game.
   The Bear's special teams had mixed results in the game. The Bears converted on 2-of-3 two-point conversions and made 3-of-4 PAT attempts.  Two of the last three PATs were blocked however in the fourth quarter. Tate Martin had 134 kick-off return yards on four carries including a touchdown. Beau Burns had a good night punting, averaging 33.3 yards per punt on three attempts.
    Burns said that he was encouraged by his team's play in the second half. "We played a lot better on both sides of the ball. We (coaches) challenged them at halftime and they took it to heart," he said.
    "The offense played well and we got some stops on defense. We also didn't turn the football over after halftime and that helped us. Iowa Valley is a good team. We think we are a good team too, and look forward to getting back on the field Friday for another opportunity to improve," said Burns.
     The Bears and Tigers met twice last season. The Bears lost 48-30 at Iowa Valley in week 0 last year and took a tough 78-77 loss at home in the playoffs to end the year. The Tigers were 7-3 last year while the Bears were 5-4. It was the sixth straight season with a winning record for BGM heading into this season.