Swede Football Wins Season Opener

Bethany head football coach, Jamie Cruce, has his first victory under his belt with 17-14 road win over the McPherson College Bulldogs in the football Swedes season opener.

Cruce, who took over as head coach in January, was excited to see his young team's determination on the field.

"I think anytime you have a coaching change combined with the fact that we have a majority of new players in our program, it's a boost to see the fruits of your labor," Cruce said.

Cruce said with a young team he wasn't sure how they would react in the season opener.

"I think it would have been easy for them to be down when McPherson scored to take the lead right before the half," Cruce said.

Although the Swedes were down 3-7 at the half, Cruce said the team came out the second half "hungry to regain the lead and that lead to our victory."

"I feel the main reason for our success was due to the fact that our kids kept playing hard throughout all four quarters of the ball game. We continued to play physical football and concentrated on eliminating some of the mental errors that we had in the first half," Cruce said.

"Our guys kept battling and that was exciting to see," he added.

Cruce doesn't think that a certain number of wins and losses necessarily makes a successful program.

"We must continue to strive to meet our potential as players and as coaches we must ensure that our players are well prepared for each week's test," Cruce said.

He added that the team definitely has some corrections to make this week in preparation for Saturday's non-conference game against Briar Cliff University.

"All in all we were pleased with our effort. We must continue to learn how to be crisp in all aspects of the game,"

Cruce said Briar Cliff, who seems to have good size on both offensive and defensive lines, play in a very competitive conference.

"We must play a hard, physical game in order to be successful. This will be their third game and our second," Cruce said.

He added that because Briar Cliff reported to preseason camp two weeks earlier than the Swedes, they should be more polished at this point in the season.

"We must strive for fewer mental errors to be successful," Cruce said.