Germanna Bears bear down, claw and kick way to championship

Rob Lewis wanted to play ball.

 And when he began taking classes at Germanna Community College last year, he wanted to feel connected.

He heard Germanna had a men’s club flag football team that played in a league. But he learned it had disbanded.

 Lewis thought to himself, “You know what, I’m going to be here and it’d be nice to represent the school.”

Rob Lewis, center, during a GCC Bears time out

 So, with much support from GCC Student Activities, Lewis founded the Germanna Bears Flag Football Club.

 He set up practice times at Loriella Park, hoping people would come out for the team.

 They did.

  And in their inaugural season, the Bears took the Fredericksburg Field House Men’s Flag Football League spring championship, finishing 6-3 and beating the second-place Ducks in the title game, 31-22.

  League play at the Field House, which  is seven on seven indoors on a small arena style  field enclosed with Plexiglas and netting on an artificial turf surface, is totally alien to the kind of back yard two-hand touch quality most associate with flag football. The game the Bears play is surprisingly fast and intense. Everyone is an eligible receiver and the pressure on quarterbacks to get rid of the ball before being “sacked” is high.

The Germanna Bears go on offense

 

  A good field goal kicker is a deadly weapon in the Fredericksburg Field House Men’s League and the Bears may have had the best in Andy Clohan, who was the place kicker for the varsity football team at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point before transferring to Germanna.

 “He’s clutch,” Lewis said. “He’s really good.  He adds another dimension. A lot of times you get near the goal line and when it comes down to fourth down you can play it conservative when you have a good kicker. If you get those (field goal) points it makes a big difference.”
 

A Bears opponent team from Spotsylvania huddles.

The championship Bears team’s roster consisted of Andy Clohan, Collin Douglas, Tyrone Ellis, Jon Kimmel, Robert Lewis, Tyler Ricchiuto, Antonio Russell and Brandon Wilson.

 The Bears are well into the summer season at the Field House now and considering whether to play in the fall, Lewis said.  Either way, he said, they will continue to practice at Loriella Park and play pickup games from about 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Sundays. He said all Germanna students are welcome to come out. For more information, call (540) 834-1004.

 

 Bears players watch and wait to enter a game.