The 2009 Bastrop Bears had a remarkable year and overachieved by everyone’s expectations.
Bastrop won its first district championship s

ince 2001 and returned to the playoffs after a four-year abcence.
The Bears (9-2) defeated Westlake and Pflugerville and flirted with perfection all the way up to their final game of the season.
Here is a week-by-week look back at the 2009 Bastrop football season as recorded by sports editor Michael Adams:

Week 0: Bastrop 34, Hays 14
KYLE — Josiah Monroe threw four touchdown passes and had over 300 yards of offense as the Bastrop Bears defeated Hays for the second year in a row.
No overtime was needed this time as Bastrop had control of the game before halftime.
Bastrop’s defense was able to shut down the smashmouth running attack of the Rebels and held Hays to under 100 yards rushing.
The Bears also forced two turnovers.

Week 1: Bastrop 10, San Marcos 7
BASTROP — Mother nature put an end to Bastrop’s celebration of the opening of its new stadium.
A thunderstorm suspended the game with 4:52 left in the second quarter as the Bears led the San Marcos Rattlers 10-7.
The game was cancelled at 9:45 p.m., more than one hour after the initial lightning delay.
It was later confirmed by the University Interscholastic League that the game was official and Bastrop was the winner.

Week 2: Bastrop 12, Shoemaker 6
KILLEEN — It was 11 years in the making, but the Bastrop Bears finally did it.
Bastrop defeated the Shoemaker Grey Wolves 12-6 on a very wet Friday night at Leo Buckley Stadium in Killeen to get its first 3-0 start since 1998.
The win avenged last year’s 36-15 thrashing the Bears suffered from the Grey Wolves.
Bastrop’s defense salvaged a sloppy game overall for the Bears, holding Shoemaker to 238 total yards offense, forcing two turnovers and getting a safety for the first score.
The weather played havoc again as IH-35 near Belton was flooded and caused several fans some long delays.

Week 4: Bastrop 41, Pflugerville 26
BASTROP — If anyone doubted Bastrop’s legitimacy as playoff contenders in District 25-5A, they couldn’t after Bastrop’s domination of Pflugersville.
The Bears handled the Panthers through three quarters and knocked off the defending District 25-5A champions 41-26.
Lee McMillan put the Bears ahead in the first quarter with a 49-yard field goal and then Bastrop scored 28 unanswered points in the second quarter, including a 30-yard punt return by Justin Fronceck on a blocked punt by the Bastrop defense.

Week 5: Bastrop 23, Connally 19
PFLUGERVILLE — The Bastrop Bears defense shut down Connally and held the Cougars offense without a touchdown and picked up a 23-19 win at Cougar Stadium.
Connally helped Bastrop with 17 penalties for 145 yards, two of which brought back Cougar touchdowns.
Bastrop got on the scoreboard after a 6-yard touchdown pass to Mustafa Akbar from Josiah Monroe.
Connally kicker Kevin Del Aguila was 4-for-4 with field goals. Three came in the second quarter to give the Cougars (1-4, 0-2) a 16-14 lead at halftime.
Lee McMillan kicked a 43-yard field goal with 5:21 left in the game, but Connally threatened late in the quarter.
A Cougar fumble was recovered by Kyle Myers with 1:34 left and sent the Bears into victory formation.

Week 6: Bastrop 24, Westlake 21
AUSTIN — Leaping up in the air, Bernard Blake pulled down an interception late in the fourth quarter and stole away Westlake’s “Mojo.”
Blake’s interception secured the biggest upset in Central Texas as Bastrop defeated Westlake 24-21 at Chaparral Stadium.
It was the most defining win of the season for the Cinderella Bears, who already had a win against Pflugerville, the other District 25-5A powerhouse.
The win also put Bastrop in control of it’s own destiny and made the Bears a favorite for the district title.
Josiah Monroe had another standout game with 273 passing and 64 rushing yards with three touchdowns, including a game-winning touchdown pass to Josh Taylor with 5:22 left in the fourth quarter.

Week 7: Bastrop 31, Anderson 28
BASTROP — It’s been four years since the Bastrop Bears have earned a berth in Texas football playoffs. The wait is over.
Bastrop defeated Anderson 31-28 and got help with wins by Bowie and Westlake to seal up their first playoff berth since 2005.
More importantly, Bastrop took over sole possession of first place with an Austin High loss to Pflugerville.
It wasn’t easy for the Bears, as Anderson frustrated a usually stingy Bears defense, converting 4-of-5 fourth down conversions, scoring on a fake field goal and rushing for 317 yards.
Bastrop even trailed at halftime 14-12.

Week 8: Bastrop 14, Austin 7
AUSTIN — It didn’t matter how ugly it was, the Bastrop Bears found a way to win.
In what has become a weekly tradition, the cardiac kids from Bastrop held on to a lead and had its defense come up big to secure a win.
Bastrop defeated Austin High 14-7 Thursday night at House Park Stadium in Austin, and like wins against Connally and Westlake, the Bears defense forced a big turnover at the end of the game.
The win moves Bastrop (8-0, 5-0) to within one game of clinching the District 25-5A Championship outright and could do so Friday at home with a win against last-place Akins or with a Westlake loss.

Week 9: Bastrop 35, Akins 21
BASTROP — Bastrop clinched at least a share of its first district championship since 2001 in front of 3,500 screaming Bastrop fans.
The Bears defeated Akins 35-21 at BISD Memoiral Stadium and moved to within a game of finishing the regular season 10-0 for the first time since 1966.
Josiah Monroe had 355 yards of offense, including 237 yards passing, and three touchdowns.
Auston Shipley caught a touchdown pass to move his streak to nine straight games with a touchdown reception.
Bastrop’s defense held the Eagles to 16 yards of offense in the first half.

Week 10: Bowie 34, Bastrop 14
AUSTIN — Brelyn Sorrells and the Bowie Bulldogs put it all on the line and ended Bastrop’s hope for its first undefeated season since 1966.
Down 13-7 late in the second quarter, Josiah Monroe threw his first of two interceptions with the Bears threatening in the red zone on the Bowie 16-yard-line.
On the Bears first possession of the second half, Monroe marched Bastrop down to the Bowie 13-yard-line when the turnover bug hit Bastrop again.
Still trailing by six, Monroe put Bastrop inside the red zone after a botched Bowie punt put Bastrop on the Bulldogs’ 35-yard-line, but the Bears failed to convert on fourth down.

Bi-District Playoff: New Braunfels 41, Bastrop 21
SAN MARCOS — New Braunfels made Bastrop play catch up in its first playoff game in four years and the Bears were unable to answer the challenge.
The Unicorns put an end to Bastrop’s magical season with a 41-21 win at Bobcat Stadium in San Marcos.
In the Bears first playoff game since 2005, Bastrop’s playoff inexperience showed early in the game.
New Braunfels (8-3) held the Bears (9-2) out of the end zone the entire first half and to just 116 yards of offense.
New Braunfels built a 17-0 lead, which included a touchdown on its first possession of the second half.
Fighting from behind, Bastrop answered on its first offensive series with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Auston Shipley.