By Rick Martin

The Mt. Shasta Bears dropped their opening game of the 2009 season on Friday, falling to defending Division-IV titlist, Modoc, 24-14.

The Bears came in with just a handful of returning starters in the fold, and a lot of questions about how players would respond in new roles. And despite the loss, some of those questions were answered. Tim Jaegel – playing his first ever game at QB – threw for a pair of TDs and led the Bear offense on several long series. Colin Waterman and Brendan Hickey made some nifty catches downfield, and the running back corps – led my Mark Maumasi, Dustin Dutra and Bryson Brooks – performed very well against a stout Modoc defense.

But it was that defense, along with a slew of returning players from last year’s undefeated title team, that kept the Bears at bay and allowed the offense to put the game away for Modoc.

The visiting Braves marched deep into Bear territory on their first drive of the game, but were stymied on 4th-and- 3 at the 10 yard line. But, the defense got the ball right back by forcing a punt, and Modoc would not be denied a second time. Junior QB Webb Dunn threw a 25-yard TD pass to TE Jeremy West to get them on the board. The extra point try was wide, leaving the score 6-0.

The Bears – who had had little success moving the ball to that point – then put a nice series together, moving to the Modoc 40 on a 25-yard pass from Jaegel to Waterman, and  a Maumasi 19-yard run. But a turnover on the exchange between QB and center would kill the drive, and Modoc capitalized quickly on a 17-yard scoring run by Dunn to make it 12-0.
Mt. Shasta answered right back, however, marching downfield in just 1:55 for the first points of the season. Jaegel hit Hickey on a pretty 42-yard catch and run down the near sideline, and then finished the drive with a crisp pass to a streaking Waterman for the score, making it 12-6 just before the half.

The Braves had the ball first after intermission, and would embark on a 7-minute drive that ended with a 5-yard Dunn pass to all-league WR Ulysses Gonzalez, and an 18-6 lead.

Then, it was Mt. Shasta’s turn for a long drive, burning up over six minutes on a drive that saw Jaegel hit Klayton Davis in the front corner of the end zone for another score. On the play, Jaegel had to scramble away from pressure, while staying inbounds and behind the line of scrimmage. At the last possible second, he threw a perfect strike off his back foot to Davis, who had come all the way across the field to make a sliding catch in front of a Modoc defender. On the extra point, Jaegel threw the ball high to Waterman, but the big junior receiver went up to snare the ball, bringing the Bears within 4 points at 18-14.

But the Baves were not fazed, using a handful of big plays to march downfield and into Bear territory. They reached the 20-yard line, but then appeared to stall, as the Bears took advantage of a penalty and a sack to force them back to the 37-yard line and a long 3rd down try. But in the best play of the night, Dunn dropped into the pocket, waited out the rush and then calmly threaded the needle between a pair of defenders for a 37-yard scoring strike to Gonzalez. The extra point was no good again, but the Braves enjoyed a 10-point advantage with just over seven minutes remaining.

The Bears went to Jake Padula under center for their last series, moving Jaegel to tight end, but the move didn’t pay off. Padula was picked off by Gonzalez, who returned it deep into Bear terriotory and allowed Modoc to run out the clock.

The JV Bears won their game, 8-0, over the Modoc JVs. Jordan Hannah went 42 yards for the game winning TD in the third quarter, with Keegan Snure adding the 2-point conversion.

Mt. Shasta hosts Yreka on September 4. The varsity game will be broadcast live on KCWH-FM radio 102.3/101.7.