On Friday, October 13th, the Bears traveled to face region rival Northview Titans. In a defensive battle, the Bears made just enough plays to edge Northview by a score of 17-10.
Matt McCree opened up the scoring with a 39-yard touchdown on Cambridge's first drive of the game. The drive started with great field position in Northview territory set up the Titans' botched snap. The snap forced the Titans to punt from their own one-yard line. The teams exchanged field goals until Northview finally broke through to tie the score at 10-10 with 1:33 remaining in the half.
Ridge Polk opened up the second half with a bang. The junior returned the half's opening kickoff all the way to the Northview 36-yard line. The offense capitalized, and Evan Kuykendall punched in the one-yard touchdown. The Bear defense shut down Northview for the rest of the half. An interception by Tyler Wald late in the game helped to seal the 17-10 victory for Cambridge.
The Cambridge defense turned in their best performance of the season. Northview only managed nine rushing yards all game. Much of this statistic came from a fantastic pass rush. The Bears recorded six sacks on the night, all from different players. Tyler Wald dominated with five tackles including a sack, forced fumble, and interception. James Poinsette contributed a fumble recovery off of a poor snap on a Northview punt. The Bears hustled to the football all night, and the three turnovers proved key in the victory. Bennett credited his defense saying, "we just took advantage of some good opportunities and some tremendous effort to get to the football".
The Cambridge offense struggled at times. The Titans limited Hogan Dykes a 31% completion rate, 45 yards passing, and two interceptions. "Northview gets some credit for that," said Bennett. "They did a good job on our wide receivers and disrupted the timing of routes to made some great plays". Evan Kuykendall shined. Kuykendall put up 79 yards on the ground and a touchdown. "He took control of the game and kept our offense on the field for some crucial drives and a score," Bennett praised.
The third straight victory is significant for the young Bears squad. "This past week, I saw pure joy about a win, it was really good to see," said Bennett of his team.
The Bears do not have much time to enjoy the win. Coming into Bear stadium this Friday is an extremely talented Alpharetta Raiders team. The Raiders boast an average of 31 points a game on an offense featuring a Division 1 running back and a three-year starting quarterback.
However, the Bears never back down from a challenge. Bennett told his team in practice "I want you to do it better than you ever have, Believe!".
The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m.
article by Jack Sadighian