On Friday, October 20th, emotions rattled Bear stadium. The Bears faced Alpharetta in an effort to remain in playoff contention. The night featured homecoming, senior night, and the final home game for the Bears and their fans. In a valiant effort, the Bears made multiple stops on long Alpharetta drives. The Raiders recorded 258 yards to the Bear's 90, but the Cambridge seniors refused to quit. The Bears battled all the way to the end. Despite this, Alpharetta made just enough plays to escape the Bear den with a 14-6 victory.
Bennett gave his team high praise saying, "this is the team I thought we had, one that would fight to the end, it just took us a little too long to get going".
The Raiders came into the game averaging 31 points a contest. The Bear defense did not care. Alpharetta continually moved the ball on drives, but the Bears stood tall. The Raiders only found the endzone twice. Alpharetta struggled to get past the Bears on critical plays, converting only three of ten third-down attempts.
"We honestly didn't do anything different," said Bennett of the performance. "We knew some of their tendencies based on formations. Alpharetta changed that up in the second half but we adjusted".
The seniors led the way for the Bear defense. The top three tacklers were all senior players: Zach Furr, Matthew Briesemeister, and Tyler Wald. Furr led the group with seven total tackles. Senior Will Covington played a significant role as well. The linebacker recorded 5.5 tackles and played snaps on both sides of the ball.
The Cambridge offense struggled to consistently move the ball. However, a clean game with no turnovers (minus a last chance play by Evan Kuykendall with time running out) allowed the Bears to stay in the game. Senior Evan Kuykendall continued his key role on offense with 32 yards receiving and 14 yards rushing on the night.
Victor Valentine turned in a great performance. The senior kicker converted both field goal attempts and even nailed a 42-yard field goal early in the game.
Although the loss hurts, the seniors and the rest of the Bear squad get the chance to suit up for one final game against North Atlanta. The Bears will take two weeks to prepare with a bye week before the matchup.
Bennett is proud of his seniors. "This group has been getting smaller every year, so the ones that stayed, I am very proud of them" said Bennett.
The game will kickoff on Friday, November 3rd at 5:30 p.m. in Grady stadium.
Go Bears!
article by Jack Sadighian