The Bartholomew County Bears sixth-graders celebrate their Central Indiana Bantam Football League semifinal win Sept. 28 at Southport.
Submitted photo
The Bartholomew County Bears sixth-grade football team lost three games during the regular season, and the past two weeks, they’ve avenged two of those losses.
Saturday morning, the Bears will try to avenge the third of those losses when they play their nemesis, Indian Creek, in the championship game of the Central Indiana Bantam Football League. The game will be at 10:10 a.m. at Shelbyville.
“The boys are juiced,” Bears coach Levi Deckard said. “They’re ready to play. We feel like we have a good game plan, and all we have to do is go out and execute it, and I think we’re going to bring home another championship.”
The majority of this group of Bears have won four CIBFL championships, including the past two in a row. They had lost only three games since Kindergarten going into this season.
This year, the Bears (7-3) lost to Beech Grove 28-6, Southport 15-8 and Indian Creek 20-8. The Bears have gained revenge in the CIFBL tournament with a 34-21 win against Beech Grove and a 13-12 victory against Southport.
“This team is not accustomed to losing,” Deckard said. “They’re usually the bullies. Other teams had it out for us this year. They basically were shown that they were not the best, no matter what. They worked really hard, and us coaches came up with game plans and got back to basics. They’re actually preparing for different opponents and learning how to go after different opponents and making adjustments and learning how to develop.”
Deckard, who played at Columbus East, has been this team’s head coach for past two years. He is joined on the coaching staff by Joe Campbell, Andy Hatfield and Evan Johnson.
Bartholomew County Bears’ Joey Campbell (32) carries the ball as tackle Gibson Deckard blocks during a game this season.
Submitted photo
Landon Staley is the Bears quarterback, and Joey Campbell is leading rusher. Gibson Deckard and Ethan Haynes also carry the ball, and Brooks Devers is the leading receiver.
Bartholomew County Bears Maddox Hunt (53) and Waylon Hatfield (25) combine on a tacklle during a game this season.
Submitted photo
The offensive line consists of Landry Scruggs, Aaron Spoonemore, Liam Lacefield, Steve Davidson and Sullivan Reigle. Linebackers Scruggs and Reigle are the top defensive players, along with Silas Johnson, who plays defensive line and linebacker and also plays multiple positions on offense.
The Bears, who practice at Taylorsville Elementary and play their home games at East, have 23 kids on the team, representing most of the elementary schools in Bartholomew County.
“Most of them started in the second grade,” Levi Deckard said. “I think it’s very cool that this last year playing in the youth league, it’s come down to these two teams (the Bears and Indian Creek).”
Although Saturday’s title game will mark the end of the CIBFL season, the Bears are planning to host a scrimmage against Franklin on Thursday at East. Joe Campbell also plans to take them to another couple of tournaments.
“We have so many memories, and these boys have worked their tails off for this,” Joe Campbell said. “We are not the biggest. We are not the fastest. We don’t have the most talent. But they have heart and they have outstanding coaches and families who build them up to be the winners they are.”
The group will be split up after this year, with about half of the team heading to Northside Middle School and the other half headed to St. Peter’s Lutheran, where they will play on the Central Middle School team.
“This is a pretty special group,” Levi Deckard said. “Every year, we’ve given them a little bit more, and they always consume knowledge and they just continue to get better.”
