Oakmont comes up short at Bear River

The Pioneer Valley League race figures to be tight, and that was evident Friday night in Lake of the Pines as Oakmont visited Bear River in a back-and-forth battle of 3-1 squads. The Bruins prevailed 24-21 despite not having head coach Tanner Mathias, who was sidelined due to disciplinary reasons, as reported by The Sacramento Bee. The team was instead coached by Jeff Baggett, a longtime assistant and Bear River alum. Mathias will return to the sideline this week. Mathias praised his team for its resilience and grit in Friday's win, noting how the Bruins found a way to win no matter what was thrown at them. "This team is a group of fighters," Mathias said. "They fought, came out strong, did a great job, ended up making a handful of mistakes and letting them back in it. We had the composure to sit through it and finish the game the way that we wanted to finish it. That felt a lot like what we have done all season. We wanted to get back to what their goal is and that's to play old-school Bear River football. It felt a lot more like that Friday night." The Bruins were led by bruising senior running back Elijah Hickman, who pounded the Oakmont defensive front for 156 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. Bear River ran for 238 yards. "Elijah was a game changer for us. He stepped up and helped our offense get moving," Mathias said. "You know, against Wheatland, we sputtered and couldn't get things moving or get things going on the ground at all. I think we totaled 21 rushing yards against Wheatland. He took that personally and took it as his challenge to help lift the team up. He had multiple carries of 21 yards or more by himself. He just wasn't going to be denied." Bear River trailed 14-10 at halftime but took the lead early in the fourth quarter on a rushing touchdown by Lincoln Williams. The Vikings responded with a 78-yard touchdown run by Beau Ogles, but the Bruins punched right back with a quick scoring drive to pull ahead 24-21. With eight minutes to go, Oakmont still had its chances to win. The Vikings drove from their 18-yard line to the Bear River 7 but couldn't punch it in. A holding call on Oakmont made it first and goal from the 17. Ogles threw incomplete, then hit Quin Duran in the flat for an 11-yard gain to the 8. An incomplete pass led to a 25-yard field-goal attempt, but Marcus Vasquez missed wide right. Two plays later, the Bruins fumbled a handoff and Oakmont's Aiden Barnhard recovered with about 1:30 to play. Two incomplete passes and a sack forced the Vikings into a fourth down at the 34-yard line. Ogles threw a pass into the end zone to Jayden Beasley, but it was broken up Austen Mertens. Oakmont coach Jake Messina thought it was pass interference. "It was a heartbreaker; it was rough," Messina said. "It seemed like every time we were getting ready to cement it, a flag would come out. I thought Jayden got mugged on the pass to him, but there was no call. It is what it is; onward and upward." Oakmont's touchdowns all came on the ground from Duran, Kendall Barber and Ogles. The Vikings (3-2, 1-1 PVL) travel to Center (1-4, 1-1) on Friday night. Bear River (4-1, 1-1) will host Lincoln (4-1, 1-1) for homecoming as both teams look to stay alive in the league championship race. Mathias said he looks forward to welcoming the Fighting Zebras to town and reigniting the rivalry, which has been dormant since 2017. "As far as our programs go, yeah, both of these programs have been strong programs in our area for a very long time. I remember playing against Lincoln when I was in high school and those guys were always very physical," Mathias said. "I'm really excited about the game from the physicality point and the just history of it. It should be a good matchup."