BCR Week 7 Notebook: St. Bede 6-0 for first time in 36 years

St Bede’s Callan Hueneburg (5) tries to power past Bureau Valley’s Cameron Lemons during the first quarter Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022 at St Bede.

The last time the St. Bede football team started 6-0 .....

Ronald Reagan was in his second term as President.

The Soviet Nuclear reactor at Chernobyl explodes, releasing radioactive material across much of Europe.

The Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrates 73 seconds after launching, killing all seven astronauts on board.

The Oprah Winfrey Show debuts nationally.

A gallon of milk costs $1.06.

A compact car costs $10,439.

A gallon of gas costs 93 cents.

The year was 1986, when the Bruins won their first six games of the season while playing in the Corn Belt Conference under head coach John Bellino.

The Bruins beat Plano (32-0), Marquette (22-6), Hall (8-0 in OT), Clinton (40-0), Normal U-High (18-10), Mahomet-Seymour (27-7) for 6-0, and then Bloomington Central (20-7) to go 7-0.

They lost their Week 8 game to Olympia, 19-12.

St. Bede bounced back to beat Pontiac 27-0 in Week 9 and then lost to undefeated Amboy 20-13 in the first round of the playoffs at home.

The last time St. Bede won six straight games was in 2016, from Weeks 3 to 8.

The last time they won seven straight games was in 2004 from weeks 3 to 9 in the Big Rivers Conference.

The most wins in program history is 10, when the Bruins finished 10-3 with a 31-6 loss to Moweaqua Central A & M in the Class 2A State semifinals.

Bruins head coach Jim Eustice said the St. Bede Community “is very excited and we are proud. Our kids believe in what we do and are having fun.”

A look back

A closer look at the school record Hall senior Mac Resetich broke two weeks ago was another night of gridiron greatness. His seven touchdowns eclipsed the six-score night by former Red Devil great Leon Mavity in 1958.

Mavity’s six touchdowns in 1958 also came against Mendota. Hall won 39-14 with Mavity scoring on runs of 69, 2, 23 ,30 and 40 yards with a TD reception of 30 yards.

Mavity led the state in scoring with 27 TDs in nine games. He went on to Colorado University and played in the 1963 orange bowl, starting at defensive back in a 27-6 loss to LSU. He was drafted by the Baltimore Colts, but went to Canada instead and played with the Toronto Rifles.

Melvin Baima, who is a 100 year old from the St Bede class of 1939, presents the game ball as his two great grandsons Ryan and John Brady along with Abbot Michael Calhoun look on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022 before the Homecoming game against Bureau Valley.

Quick counts

• Before Saturday’s Homecoming game, 1939 St. Bede graduate Melvin Baima presented the game ball along with his great grandsons John and Ryan Brady, the Bruins captains

Baima, who is 100 years old, served in World War II.

• At 6-0, St. Bede and Princeton, who will meet for the Three Rivers East Conference championship Friday night, have both qualified for the playoffs.

Rockridge (5-1) and Annawan-Wethersfield (5-1) have qualified for the playoffs with their fifth wins last week. L-P (4-2) needs just one win to become playoff eligible while Monmouth-Roseville, Hall, Newman and Mendota remain hopeful at 3-3. Mon-Rose gains a forfeit win, its fourth, over Riverdale this week,

• Princeton shut out Newman for the second straight year Friday night (37-0) and for the third time in six years including goose eggs in 2015 (2014) and 2021 (41-0).

• Hall’s Mac Resetich has now rushed for 735 yards and 10 touchdowns in his last two weeks, including 306 yards and three scores in Friday’s 25-16 win at Kewanee.