Since opening the season with a tough overtime loss against Austin Vandegrift, the Brennan Bears have been on a tear.
The latest example of their dominance occurred Friday night when they paired a quick-strike offense with a stout defense in a 44-0-victory against O’Connor at Farris Stadium.
In senior Aiden Martin’s case, he showed out on both sides with a 46-yard touchdown on an end around coming out of the slot. He also factored in the Bears’ efforts on defense in the secondary.
“It’s amazing,” Martin said. “The coaches are putting me in great positions to be successful, and so I really just have to deliver on it. The conditioning is a little different, but I had to get used to it after the first two games.”
The No 4 Bears improved to 4-1 overall with their third shutout in the last four games. They are also 3-0 in District 29-6A. O’Connor dropped to 2-2 and 1-1.
Tenth-ranked Harlan is also 4-1 and 3-0 after downing Marshall 59-14 on Thursday. If history is any indication, the Bears and Hawks could be headed for a showdown for the district title in the final week. Since 2020, either Brennan or Harlan has won the district champion.
But, that’s the future.
For now, the Bears are focused on building on the momentum from Friday’s victory. After a 28-21 overtime loss against Vandegrift, the Bears posted wins against Reagan (63-0), Taft (56-7) and Sotomayor (49-0).
“Vandegrift was a great test,” Martin said. “We saw the level we were at, and we were able to see our growth points – like tackling, finishing third down conversions. I’m extremely proud of our guys. Going into that next practice (after Vandegrift) we were extremely focused and we just had to get back.”
They want that to continue over the second half of the season.
“Our mindset had to be that we’ve got to be humble all the time, no matter what,” junior linebacker Johnas Brewster said. “No matter who we play. We’ve always got to humble.”
As long as their playmakers produce, that shouldn’t be a problem.
Nicholas Oliver Jr. returned a kickoff 58 yards for a touchdown to give the Bears a 9-0 lead midway through the first quarter. Martin’s touchdown one minute into the second quarter put the Bears ahead 16-0.
Junior Jayshawn Mitchell, a rising national college recruit, caught a 66-yard touchdown pass from a scrambling Jeremiah Conwell with 1:16 left in the second quarter for a 23-0 halftime lead.
Mitchell added a 1-yard scoring run, and Oliver scored on a 23-yard touchdown catch in the second half.
Brewster was in on a host of tackles, including a pair for losses that led to a safety on a bad snap to the back of the end zone for a safety and a 2-0 lead with 6:33 in the first quarter.
The Bears yielded 169 yards, while gaining 461. Brennan kept the Panthers out the zone despite a couple of short fields.
“What was working well for us was our d-line,” Brewster said. “They had a big push up front, and the backer had to come over and it. Everyone rallied to the ball. Eleven people to the ball, and we were playing with all our heart.”
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This article originally published at Big plays, stout defense propel Brennan to blowout win against O’Connor.
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