Friday Night Kickoff

Ok... "Take My Breath Away"

Now that my bad recall of 1980's Top Gun soundtrack lyrcis are out of the way... What else can I say.

The St. Joe Bears have had a few close games since Elliot Uzelac took over the helm of the program prior to the 2006 season.

Two games with Battle Creek Central come to mind, in 2006 St. Joe got a field goal from Ethan Schweir with 5 seconds to go to beat Battle Creek Central 24-21.   A year ago, the Bears defeated the Bearcats 19-18 in a back and forth game all night long.  This year's Lakeshore game comes to mind, the Bears 21-18 winners as the Lancers lose a fumble with under a minute left.

Other than those three games, the Bears have not had a game decided by anything less than at least a touchdown.  The Bears really haven't had to play in close games, but they've won all of those close games.

Jay Nimtz's 36 yard field goal with 12 seconds remaining and Sean Guinane's 2 yard run for the 2 point conversion in the overtime gave the Bears a 32-31 victory in the first round of the MHSAA playoffs, setting up a rematch of the last two district title games as St. Joe hosts Lakeshore, the Lancers had little trouble with Charlotte in a 42-7 win on Saturday afternoon.

 BTW, Here is the video of the Guinane 2 point conversion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaxbWz90l5U

If you ask me, St. Joe needed a close ball game.  Other than the win over Lakeshore, the Bears have jumped out to huge lead in all the games.   The Bears needed to play in a close ball game after having easy wins against Benton Harbor, Mattawan, and Kalamazoo Central.

BTW as I type this, the sprinklers are on again in the Notre Dame game... not the ones on the field,  the ones from the eyes of the Notre Dame players after falling in the 4th overtime to Pitt 36-33.   I am going to enjoy watching Jeff Jeffers cry over this one on Channel 16.  (Sorry Jason)