Despite a 3-5 mark, the Bears had some bright spots this season

LAUREL — The Laurel-Concord-Coleridge Bears ended the 2023 campaign with a 3-5 record on the gridiron, which was not what they had hoped for, but a closer look at the season’s results shows they weren’t far off from what they had hoped.

The Bears opened the season with a 26-13 win over Guardian Angels Central Catholic and then lost a close game to Wisner-Pilger, 32-20. The Gators made the playoffs.

Next was a trip to Plainview, which finished the season undefeated and was recently beaten in the second round of the Class D1 playoffs.

A big win over Homer in game four, 68-15, before Crofton, which recently came down from 11-man football, ran away from Laurel-Concord-Coleridge.

The Warriors are still in the Class D1 playoffs and are still unbeaten.

A win over Wakefield followed, 48-12, before the real meat of the season came the final two weeks.

Hartington-Newcastle came to Haskell Field for game seven of the season. The Wildcats were the hottest team in the area at the time after dropping their first four games of the season.

The score ended up 40-20 in favor of HNS, but after the Wildcats sprinted to a 38-6 lead early, the Bears righted the ship in the second half to try to get back in the game.

Two red-zone stops by the Laurel-Concord-Coleridge defense wasn’t enough, however, and the Bears dropped to 3-4.

The final game of the season was a shootout with Tri County Northeast with the winner heading to the playoffs and the loser staying home.

The Wolfpack ran away from the Bears 50-14 in arguably TCNE’s best game of the season.

“The season did not end the way we had hoped,” LCC head coach Alan Gottula said. “We lost to five playoff teams. We worked hard throughout the season and continued to focus on getting better, making this team a pleasure to work with.”

This year’s seniors will be missed. “This year’s seniors have been a part of 25 wins over the past four years,” Gottula said. “They will definitely be missed.” This year’s seniors include Bradyn Urwiler, Carter Kvols, Dylan Taylor, Landen Leonard, Brock Koranda, Jackson Hall and Kayton Hall. Taylor was the leading passer on the team in 2023, completing 60 of-134 passes for 635 yards and six touchdowns. Gibson Roberts completed 9-of-19 aerials for 146 yards and a score. Kvols was the leading target, hauling in 30 passes for 410 yards and four touchdowns. Leonard caught 12 passes for 144 yards and one score. Roberts grabbed six passes and scored a couple of touchdowns through the air. Eli Haisch was the leading rusher for the Bears, gaining 411 yards on 74 carries and scoring seven touchdowns. Urwiler carried the ball 57 times for 324 yards and four scores; Taylor toted the ball 68 times for 306 yards and four touchdowns.

Caleb Erwin carried the ball for three touchdowns, Carter Korth scored three times, Tyler Boysen scored twice and Tanner Thompson scored once.