Bell-Jeff football completes season for first time since 2012
As far as the numbers go, Bellarmine-Jefferson High’s 2015 football season, its first foray into eight-man competition, was rather forgettable.
So too was Saturday afternoon’s season finale, as the Guards lost on the road to Chadwick, 62-0, to conclude a 0-8 campaign.
However, the season might well be the starting point of the football program’s resurgence, disappointing numbers or not.
Saturday marked the finish to a full season, the first such feat for the Guards football program since 2012 and the realization of a goal that Bell-Jeff set out to accomplish before the season.
“Unfortunately, 15-year-old kids had to take this on, which is the past [two] years not finishing a season,” Guards Coach Fred Martinez said. “It’s been an albatross we’ve carried.
“Dadgummit, they did a great job finishing it, though. I’m so proud of my boys.”
Throughout the trevails of the season, Martinez’ positive outlook has navigated the Guards.
“As a coach, I knew what was happening,” he said. “It was imperative to stay positive.”
On the negative side, the Guards were down, 30-0, after the first quarter on Saturday and 48-0 at the half against the Dolphins (5-3). Similar to Bell-Jeff, Chadwick was an 11-man program that recently dropped down to eight-man as a freelance squad.
Despite the lopsided loss, Saturday was the completion to a season after the program looked to be in serious peril over the last two years.
“Every day, [the players] came to work and had smiles on their faces,” said Martinez, who pointed out the contributions of his five seniors, particularly captains Cristian Posis and Brandon Jimenez for staying with the program. “They knew the history and they stayed with it and they wanted to change it.”
Following a 4-7 campaign in 2012, which saw the Guards tally the program’s last victory on Oct. 27, 2012 with a 55-28 triumph at St. Genevieve, the 2013 season saw Bell-Jeff go 0-7 with multiple forfeit losses and an early cancellation to the season.
In 2014, Bell-Jeff played only junior varsity football, but struggled to the tune of an 0-5 record in a season that also ended prematurely. Thus, the program is on an overall 22-game game losing streak and a 17-game varsity skid.
Thus, while Saturday marked the end to a 0-8 season, it was also the conclusion to a completed campaign and perhaps the next step in rebuilding Guards football.
Looking forward began on the busride home, Martinez said.
“We’re definitely jumping on it,” said Martinez, who added that the immediate plan is to continue playing eight-man football next season. “Now we’ve got to end the losing streak. It’s time to win. That came from the boys. It was exciting to hear that.
“We’ve beaten the past, now it’s time to end the losing streak.”
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Grant Gordon, grant.gordon@latimes.com
Twitter: @TCNGrantGordon
