Lava Bears earn share of IMC title

With a 42-7 victory against Summit, Bend ties Mountain View for top spot

By Beau Eastes / The Bulletin

Published: November 07. 2009 4:00AM PST

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Bend quarterback Chase Clair eludes a tackle by Summit’s Keith Mouser Friday night at Summit High School.
Rob Kerr / The Bulletin

Needing two touchdowns to break Bend High’s single-season scoring mark, Lava Bear senior running back Kyle Brown wasted little time against host Summit on Friday, finding the end zone three times in the first half of the Lava Bears’ 42-7 Intermountain Conference rout over the Storm.

Brown, who scored on runs of 2, 3, and 44 yards, ends the 2009 football regular season with 30 touchdowns and 180 points scored, both of which are Bend High records. (The previous record was held by Matt Sieverson, who rushed for 28 touchdowns as a senior in 2003 before going on to play at Oregon State University.)

With the win in what was the regular-season finale for both teams, the Lava Bears (5-1 IMC, 8-2 overall) clinched a share of the league title for the first time since 2003. Bend will be the IMC’s No. 1 seed entering the Class 5A state playoffs by virtue of its victory over conference co-champion Mountain View, which also finished league play 5-1.

The Lava Bears will host a second-round game on either Nov. 20 or Nov. 21 against the winner of next Friday’s first-round contest between Lebanon and Glencoe.

Since opening the season with a 35-14 loss at Glencoe, Bend has won eight of nine games.

“After that loss to Glencoe, everyone bought in,” said Lava Bear senior linebacker Kenny Norgaard, who recorded three tackles for losses against Summit. “This feels great.”

Bend dominated in the first two quarters and grabbed a 35-0 lead by halftime. In the first quarter alone, Brown scored twice and quarterback Chase Clair connected with Aaron Rodriguez for an 8-yard touchdown pass to give the Lava Bears a 21-0 advantage.

“It’s kind of special,” Bend High coach Craig Walker said about winning a share of what will be the last IMC title with longtime conference rivals Hermiston and Pendleton in the league. (In changes approved by the Oregon School Activities Association effective starting in 2010, Hermiston and Pendleton will no longer be part of the IMC.)

“We were one game away (from the league championship) in 2006 and one game away in 2007,” Walker said. “But with this group of players, we weren’t afraid to talk about being IMC champions.”

Brown ended the night with a game-high 150 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries. The Lava Bears gained 327 yards on the ground while holding Summit to just 16 yards rushing. For the game, Bend put up 350 yards of total offense to the Storm’s 54.

Brett Campbell led Summit with 69 yards rushing on 17 carries, but Storm quarterbacks Greg Heise, Brian Gallagher and Justin Huckins combined for minus 69 yards rushing on eight carries.

Summit (0-6, 0-10) scored its lone touchdown in the fourth quarter when Huckins, who also lined up as a receiver on Friday night, hauled in a 25-yard pass from Heise with 2 minutes, 16 seconds left in the game.

Beau Eastes can be reached at 541-383-0305 or at beastes@bendbulletin.com.