Friday Night Lights: Bear Power

Four years ago, a group of freshmen in Box Elder started their football careers. At the time, there were no expectations. The Bears had never been strong in football. But these players had the foresight to dream big and now, four years later, that dream is becoming a reality.

Brandon The Boy, Jerrod Four Colors, Bodis Duran, Jake Jones and Shane Ketchum have all had illustrious sports careers at Box Elder and all five have played important roles in waking the Bears football program from decades of hibernation.

"There is a perception that Native American teams aren't very good when it comes to football," Box Elder head coach Neal Rosette Jr. said. "And these boys wanted to change that. They wanted to show that Native American teams can be good at football, that they can compete and make the playoffs. They have worked really hard to make it happen and their hard work is the biggest reason for the success of the football program."

There is no question that it took a ton of work to get the Bears where they are today. They may be 4-0 and looking like state title contenders this season after knocking off Geraldine/Highwood, Valier, Sunburst and North Star in impressive fashion, but it hasn't always been that way.

During the 2012 season, the first for this year's seniors, the Bears didn't win a game. They were 0-8. Then, in 2013, the Bears went 3-5 and missed the postseason by a single game thanks to a loss by Valier.

In 2014, it was heartbreak again - Box Elder finished 4-4 but needed one more win to make the postseason. The decisive loss came against Sunburst, which beat Box Elder and earned the tie breaker. The killer though, is that at one point in the game, the Bears were up 19 points, then The Boy got knocked out of the game, and they ended up losing 54-39. And still, the senior class that also includes Elias Duran, Jerod Four Souls and Ryan Lasley hadn't reached their goal of making the playoffs, despite all the progress they had made.

"(We) definitely have been angry and down," The Boy said. "I always believed, and it took a while for us as a team to believe and when we started to do that and work harder, we finally are starting to win."

And so with their goals yet to be reached, the Bears got to work this past offseason. They lifted weights, they worked out and they pushed each other to become quite possibly the greatest football team in the history of Box Elder High School.

"We knew we could be good as freshman," Four Colors said. "But, we knew it was going to take us putting a lot of work in and that's what we did. This summer we were texting each other all the time, asking if we wanted to go lift and stuff like that. We push each other to get better."

And get better they did. A lot better.

Before the season began, many pundits viewed the Bears as playoff contenders, but few saw what was coming - not even in Box Elder. Yet, when the Bears paid a visit to defending Six-Man state champion Geraldine/Highwood and defeated them 50-6 that alerted everyone, including themselves to just how good they could be.

"It hasn't been easy," Rosette Jr. said. "We have played some tough teams. I think that we knew we were going to be good, but I don't know if we expected to win the way we have."

But it didn't stop there, even against three more traditional playoff contenders, Valier, Sunburst and North Star, the Bears rolled. Thanks to a high-flying offense that scores 49 points per game behind the play of The Boy, an All-State signal caller, Four Colors a standout receiver, Duran, the team's running back, Jones a skilled tight end and Ketchum, who can dominate on the ground and as a pass catcher, Box Elder has destroyed the competition.

Three of the team's four games this season have featured a running clock. And thanks to an outstanding defense that's led by the fierce pass rush of Four Colors, and surrenders only 12 points per game, the Bears are winning by an average of 27 points.

"We knew we were going to be good even as freshmen," Bodis Duran said. "It took time, but now everything we put into it is paying off. It feels good to have the support of the community and to make them proud and have them congratulate us.

"It means a lot and it feels good," The Boy said. "As for my class, we have been at the very bottom. Didn't win a game my freshman year. Won three my sophomore year and four wins, then me getting hurt my junior year. Being the quarterback and the leader every year with a little success so far feels great. Feels good to win in something we have been wanting to win in for a long time."

However, the thing that makes the Bears great, is that they aren't satisfied just making the playoffs or having a good regular season. They want to win championships and make history. And if they beat Denton-Geyser-Stanford on Oct. 24, they will likely make some.

"I don't think any (Box Elder) team has ever won a conference championship in football," Rosette Jr. said. "And if they did it, was a long time ago. It's been a long time since we made the playoffs. So, if we could win our conference and host a playoff game, it would be very exciting for our community."

It remains to be seen how far the Bears can go this season, but the idea of adding a state championship in football to the classes' 2014 Class C state basketball titl, has crept into their minds, if only for fleeting moments.

"We have talked about it some," Four Colors said. "It would be great to be remembered for something like that. It would be something you could tell people about for a long time."

There is little doubt that the Bears will make some kind of history this season and even if they ultimately fall short of a state title, their season will still be a resounding success and not just because of the wins, but because of how they may have altered the landscape of Native American high school football in Montana forever.

"It will be history in the making for sure," The Boy said. "And a very great thing for our community. I understand what is at stake and what we can do. I keep that in the back of my mind, for now, we just want to take it one game at a time. I think the biggest thing we need to do is stay focused on getting closer to our goals by taking steps and next is focusing on our rival this weekend."