The Olympia High School homecoming game was on September 30th, when the Bears fought off against Bethel. Unfortunately, the Bears lost the game by a score of 13-21. Bethel was 3-1 coming into the game, 2 games above Olympia. 

Before the game, Nick Mullen, head coach of the Bears, was focused on preparing for Bethel. Mullen had previously gone to Bethel as a student, so this game meant more to him due to its opponent. “It always feels good to beat your old team,” Mullen stated. When asked about what expectations Mullen put on the team, he simply said “to win.”

The Bears decided to focus more on passing than running, especially during the first half. The Bears fell to 21-6 at halftime to Bethel, which was mainly caused by sloppy offensive play and penalties. When asked at halftime what the key to coming back into the game was, Mullen said to up the intensity. “It’s like a street fight out there. Both offense and defense gave up good fields, that’s the type of thing we have to capitalize on.”

From the start of the third quarter and onward, the defense showed more tenacity and even got a turnover to swiftly shift the momentum. That momentum was not enough, however, due to the offense stalling out after one second-half score. Despite the excellent student section of Olympia staying intense and passionate throughout the entire game, Olympia falls to 1-4 after a disappointing homecoming loss. 

Cale Allen, Olympia running back and middle linebacker credited Mullen for giving an impassioned speech at halftime. “I’d do anything for that guy,” Allen said. The energy at the game was evidently excellent. Bob Kickner, Athletic Director at Olympia, praised the student section for their performance during the game. “They were fantastic. We had a capacity student section from the trench to the top.”