Bear River ushers in new era with midnight practice

A new era is underway at Bear River High School and so is a new tradition. While most athletes were asleep in their beds early Monday morning, the Bruins were on the field, strapping up the helmets at 12:01 a.m. to get a practice in at the first possible moment allowed by the Sac-Joaquin Section. The Bruins held a senior picture night for banners and team photos, followed by a bonding evening of watching a movie together before practice began. Head coach Jeremy Kerr enlisted the help of the cheer squad, who were also having a bonding night, and coordinated a playful ambush of the team with squirt guns. "It was awesome," said Kerr. "The whole point of this thing is building memories, building a community and making it bigger than just the football team. There's parents out there that were helping. It was really a pretty cool, coordinated effort. Once all the craziness died down, then we got to stretching and were able to have a little scrimmage in just our helmets." While there was no contact allowed in the first practice, Kerr said he was happy to see the eagerness from the team as they took the field for the first time of the 2025 season. "We want to set the tone. We want to lead the way and we want to play as quickly as the season allows us to play," said Kerr. "We're eager for the new season and we're just going after it." The first week of practice is just an acclimation period. The first two days are in helmets only, then the next three are in helmets and shoulder pads before full contact is allowed next week. Kerr says the excitement and buzz around the Bruins is strong in Lake of the Pines, and he feels they are as prepared as ever for this season in a tight Pioneer Valley League. "I've been a coach here for many years. I played here and looking back, I don't remember having this much competition in the summer since I've been here," said Kerr. "We played Twelve Bridges, we played Placer, we played Nevada Union all in seven on sevens. Then we also went to South Lake Tahoe and there were 10 different teams up there as well." Kerr said the summer of competition has helped the Bruins prepare for the season, and it is coming fast with the opener against Lindhurst slated for Aug. 22. He said this team is sharp mentally and has made things go smoothly through the first practice session. Said Kerr, "Our knowledge of our defense and our knowledge of our offense is leaps and bounds further than I expected. It looks pretty good."