By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
Scoring 63 points is not to be taken lightly, even in these parts. The Bossier Bearkats hadn’t put up that many in four seasons, until they rallied for a 63-25 homefield win over North Caddo to open the season last Friday night.
That’s right, they rallied. The Titans cashed in a turnover with a touchdown on a double pass trick play, and went up 12-0 just three minutes into play.
Previous Bossier football teams recently might not have been able to overcome such a nightmare start, but Gary Smith’s third Bearkats squad rose up and roared back.
That resiliency, and firepower led by two Bearkats basketball players, makes Bossier the first Shreveport-Bossier Journal Team of the Week for the 2025 high school football season.
In preseason, Smith had faith this year’s team was ready to show the progress of the program. Not long after the opening kickoff, that was put to the test and the Bearkats stood tall.
“We had a lot of things go our way, after a pretty rough start. Things didn’t look good, but our kids handled it better than they’ve ever handled adversity, never got their heads down, and got back into the game,” he said. “Once they turned it over a couple times, we got our foot on the gas and never let up.”
With a 56-man roster, nearly double the 32 that greeted Smith in his first season (2023) in charge, the progress is evident, and was on display Friday.
“Injuries and a lack of depth has plagued us the last couple of years, and hopefully that won’t be much of an issue this season,” he said. The key asset is attitude, however.
“We have a lot more confidence this year. Our kids believe they can win, when before there was always some doubt. This is a good group of kids.”
Bossier’s comeback was sparked by a quarterback change. Sophomore Montrevell Lewis moved over from receiver to run the offense, and not only steadied things, he made plays. The basketball player accounted for five touchdowns – rushing for four in a 156-yard night on 14 carries, and throwing for another as he went 9 for 11 for another 135 yards.
Another Bearkat hooper, freshman running back Demareya Bates, also lit it up. He scored four TDs while posting 113 yards rushing on 13 carries.
“Wish we had more of those guys,” said Smith, chuckling. “They’ve got some talent in that gym.”
The Bearkats’ big men – on the football field – had a good night and are being counted on to set the tone this fall, said Smith.
“The offensive line can be the strength of this team. They’re pretty big, had a good offseason in the weight room. We have three seniors (K.J. Sims, Isaiah Cortez and Lamarcus Harris) who we’re counting on to lead us,” he said. “We are putting it on their shoulders for us to be successful.”
Bolstered by the resounding win, Bossier hits the road to take on a pair of Class A area stalwarts in the next two weeks, visiting Glenbrook Friday and then Logansport.
“Our main goal is to make the playoffs, and we think we need 4-5 wins to get there. With the schedule we play, in the district we play, that’s pretty tough. It seems like these first few weeks are must wins for us,” said Smth, who doesn’t flinch sharing that with his players.
“We put some pressure on them and they responded well last week.”
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com