And I’m Nathan Frideres! Welcome to a very special episode of the “Bear Facts”, the radio show from Bishop Garrigan High School.
Have you heard the news? Everybody’s talking about it. For the first time in fourteen years, the Bears are headed for the Dome! We purposely didn’t talk about football last week, because we had to tape the show before the big Garrigan/Southern Cal game. The Bears lost that game last Friday, but they came back in the play-offs on Wednesday with the same intensity that pushed them past Algona High and Pocahontas earlier this year. They beat Lake Mills 25—13 to win their first football play-off game in over a decade.
The play-off opener was very much a team effort. There were big scoring plays by John Mosbach, Andy Kardoes, and Eric Becker. Chad Mescher had some outstanding punts and kick-offs, burying Lake Mills with poor field position for most of the game. The defense stepped things up and held Lake Mills scoreless in the second half, and there were some key blocks, tackles, and receptions that helped the offense go on top. Nobody had a bad game Wednesday, and several Golden Bears had the game of their careers.
The victory moves the Bears into the “Elite Eight” in the Class 1-A state football play-offs. From now on, they’ll have a “dome away from home”, playing the rest of their games in the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls. The state quarter-finals will be next Monday, November 8, at 6:15pm. Garrigan will face Postville, who pulled a stunning upset over Riceville, a team that had led the state rankings much of the season. If they win on Monday, their next game will be the state semi-finals, which are next Friday, November 12. The 1-A time slots are 10:30am and 1:30pm.
The highlight of Golden Bear football history happened in 1985, when the Golden Bears went all the way to the state championship. None of the parents or alumni can forget that time, but today’s players weren’t even in kindergarten yet in 1985. They’ve got their “eyes on the prize”—as the souvenir T-shirts are supposed to say—and the game they’ve been working toward all season would be Friday, November 19, for the state championship. We wish good luck to Coach Wadle and all the Golden Bears all the way through the state tournament!
Another group of Golden Bears will be joining the football team down in Cedar Falls. They’re the Golden Bear football cheerleaders. This year’s cheerleading captains are Jillian Trenary and Anna Erpelding. Cheering along with them all season long have been Val Besch, Amanda Hilbert, Deanna Kohlhaas, Amanda Freking, Tricia Eischen, Heather Johnson, Janet Kramer, and Sherri Kollasch. The girls have done a good job all through the regular season, and they really helped fire up the crowd on Wednesday. We know they’ll be doing their best to help out the team down in the Dome.
There’s one more weekend left in the BGHS magazine drive. At present we’re about halfway to our goal of $15,120. Almost every popular magazine is available through Garrigan, as well as music, books, and CD-ROM software. The best part for you is that 40% of every dollar you spend stays right here in town as a tax-deductible contribution to the Bishop Garrigan Student Council. So take a moment this weekend to call up your favorite Golden Bear and renew your subscriptions through the school.
The 1999 Bishop Garrigan fall musical opened last night, and things really seemed to come together when the curtain went up for real. This year the drama and music departments are combining to present the old Iowa classic, “The Music Man”. Football quarterback Tyler Struck is starring as Professor Harold Hill, who organizes a band to prevent juvenile delinquency. Janet Kramer, Brandon Donahe, Tony Schmitt, Corrie Stetzel, Katie Patterson, and Eric Becker will also be gracing the stage. Other students with major roles include Paul Loebach, Ben Lickteig, Wade MacDonald, Nick Even, and Jake Kohlhaas. as well as Amanda Freking, Marian Studer, Angie Weber, Ellie Reising, Rachel Foth, Heather Stence, and Heather Johnson. Anne Studer and Father Paul Eisele are serving as directors for “The Music Man”. You can catch the encore performance tonight at 7:30, right here in Friedmann Auditorium.
We’ve been featuring football players throughout the fall in our Senior Spotlight. This week we’d like to salute Justin Frideres and Joe Mayer. Here to tell you about them are Ashley Thompson and Jamie Loebig.
Justin Frideres comes to Garrigan from the Whittemore area. While football and basketball are his top activities, over the years he’s also been involved in basketball, baseball, intramurals, and choir. Justin is one of the select few students who got into the National Honor Society as a junior. Away from school, he’s also active in 4-H. He’ll be off to college next year. Good luck, Justin!
Joe Mayer is a St. Benedict native who is also a big sports fan. His main activity is football, where he plays safety, but he’s also been involved in track, basketball, and baseball. He was proud to join Justin last winter as a member of the championship intramural basketball team. Joe will also be off to college next fall, and we wish him all the best.
Thanks, Jamie and Ashley! On this week’s Golden Bear calendar, the magazine drive continues through next Wednesday. Tonight be sure to catch the final performance of “The Music Man” right here at BGHS.
Sunday St. Cecelia’s will have their annual fall dinner. Then on Monday it’s time for the state football quarter-finals at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls!
Also on Monday girls’ basketball practice begins. Then on Wednesday we’ll start the annual Phonathon appeal to alumni.
Thursday Student Council meets.Then next Friday we hope the Bears will be back at the UNI-Dome for the state football semi-finals.
That’s the “Bear Facts” for football play-off week. Thanks for listening, and be sure to tune in every week to hear all the latest news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
