The Kodiak Bears are headed to the high school football 9-man state championship for the first time ever. The Bears will face off against the Student Wrestling Development Program Archangels of Fairbanks on Saturday night, Oct. 17, in Wasilla.
KMXT's Katherine Irving spoke with the Bears’ head coach Rich Gonzalez and assistant coach Dan Farmer about the team's unexpected rise to the top, and what prep they're doing for the big game.
Editor's note: The below excerpt from this interview is not the full transcript and has been lightly edited for clarity and length. Listen to the full interview by clicking on the audio link.
Katherine Irving, KMXT: Tell me about the game last week [Oct. 9], you guys won. What was the atmosphere like at that game?
Rich Gonzalez: I tell you that was probably the best home game we've had, both on the field and with the crowd there. Before the game started, we took a look at the stands and it was crowded, it was standing room only. It wasn't until the game started that it hit us how loud the crowd was being. Nikiski is a tough team. You know, obviously we were in the playoff game together for a reason. That game could have gone either way.
KMXT: Now you’re going to state championships. Is this something that you expected at the beginning of the season?
Gonzalez: So when I took over as a head coach, I gave myself three years to turn the team around, and what I meant by that was get a couple of wins, start moving in the right direction. Never did I expect to be playing in the state championship in my third year. This year we started out from the very first practice. When we tell the kids, 'hey, let's get a break,' they usually do a little chant, 'Bears on me, Bears on three, one two three Bears.' This year we started out with doing 'State on me, State on three,' and they've been chanting that at the end of practice, at the beginning of practice, and they really bought into it. And I mean, they're just playing at a whole different level this year.
KMXT: Are there other changes that you made this season that got you to this point?
Dan Farmer: Bringing it down to the basics. The foundation of football is blocking and tackling, and you know, emphasizing those. 'Okay, now we can move on. Okay, now we're going to run this play.' How do we force them to play our game, adjust to us instead of us adjusting to them? And it's not easy.
Gonzalez: Especially when you have kids stepping on the field with no football experience. We both come from backgrounds where, by the time you were playing in high school, if you didn't know what you were doing, you weren't playing. I remember my first year as the offensive coordinator, stepping on the field and saying, ‘All right, guys, let's set up. We're going to run this,’ and the head coach then telling me, ‘Hey, coach, you're going to have to explain to them what each position is and how they line up.’
And that just was a whole different level of understanding for me. I think we're seeing the success this year because of what we've taught these kids over the past three years, and then in the fourth year, they're finally putting it to use. I think the fruits of our labor are finally showing.
KMXT: Championship is this Saturday, upcoming Saturday?
Gonzalez: Yes, Saturday at Reddington High School at 7 p.m. That's up in the Wasilla area. We're still working to see if we can get it livestreamed. We're excited.
KMXT: What are you fine tuning in these last few days before you leave?
Gonzalez: We're playing a very tough student wrestling development program. They're a private school. They're wrestlers, so they're very well coached. They're flawless in their execution of their plays. We're just kind of looking at film, showing them, you know, ‘hey, this is where we made mistakes, this is where we need to improve,’ and then taking that onto the field and adjusting what we need to adjust to to hopefully come out on top Saturday night.
KMXT: What has been the most exciting or rewarding part of your season so far?
Gonzalez: Watching the kids, their smiles. Every once in a while, you know, we'll be in the lead, and I'll just kind of walk down the sideline by myself and just watch the kids and watch the excitement in their face and see how happy they are.
Farmer: Same here. Watching these kids grow together, doing something and becoming successful with it. It's hard to believe we got one more game. But guess what? It is the game. It is the pinnacle. We are here. I can't believe it.
Gonzalez: Win or lose, it's been a really exciting, successful season. But we would rather win.
