'I want to do this for Bellevue.' Tigers win flag football game after season canceled

BELLEVUE, Ky. – Winners never quit. Quitters never win.

Aaron Vogt and the other seniors on the Bellevue High School football team never gave up on their football dreams until they were forced to last week.

They and their teammates came out on the plus side of the scoreboard one last time Friday night after winning a game at their home, Gilligan Stadium.

They took advantage of their chance with a 22-14 win on the scoreboard. The Bellevue Tigers played a flag football game against a team of adults from the community, including members of the Bellevue police department, city administration and representatives of local businesses.

The game was a fun relief for the high school players, who abruptly had the rest of their varsity season canceled last week after a series of injuries left them with 15 available players. The team had lost all seven of their games by lopsided margins.

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The program has been known for winning state championships in 1977 and 1979 and had four straight winning seasons from 2010-14 when this year's seniors were in elementary school.

“I just knew I had to do this for my city,” Vogt said. “I had to do this for Bellevue. I know I’m not the best football player out here. I know I’m not going DI or getting a crazy athletic scholarship. That’s not why I’m out here. I’m out here because I want to do this for Bellevue. I knew I couldn’t give up on my team because I didn’t want anyone to give up on this city. This city deserves a football team and the culture that it brings.”

Flag football game idea came from the Bellevue police chief

The day after the school administration announced the cancelation, Bellevue city police chief Jon McClain approached the administration with the idea to have a flag football game.

“We asked the team at our senior dinner, and they were all on board,” Bellevue athletic director Jim Hicks said. “I don’t think they knew what they were getting into. Some of the comments were, ‘I can’t believe these guys are all that fast.’ But they had a good time. Everybody pitched in; they did it. It was great to see the support for those kids.”

Bellevue’s players were led by freshmen Tristan Woodyard and Jordan Pendleton, who played quarterback. Woodyard was the starting QB during the season and Pendleton was the leading rusher.

Their counterpart on the adult team, called The First Responders, was Trevor Stellman, a former standout quarterback at Conner High School and former head coach at Thomas More University. Stellman, who works with the school district, was recruited to the game by Bellevue head baseball coach Rob Sanders, who coached Stellman in high school football.

Stellman made the Tigers' defense work with several long bombs that mostly fell incomplete, but the Tigers, with the help of an occasional timely penalty call, came out ahead with big plays of their own.

Pendleton intercepted Stellman and ran untouched for a touchdown of more than 50 yards to open the scoring in the first half.

Bellevue’s second touchdown was all seniors, with Ethan Noonchester catching a touchdown pass, and Steven Meyers catching a pass for a two-point conversion that put the Tigers ahead to stay at 16-14.

Pendleton scored again on a receiving touchdown and senior Keegan Rizzo intercepted a pass late in the game to hold off the First Responders.

“Being able to play with all these freshmen, and being able to coach them and help, it’s really something memorable,” Noonchester said. “It sucks that our season got canceled, but I’m glad the community came out and gave us one last game.

Other seniors were Vogt, T.J. Southwick, John Stiner, Chandler Campbell and James Long. Long was injured but went out there for one play. Noonchester said he tried to flip the ball to him for a TD on his score but wasn’t able to.

The seniors admitted that losing every game gave them some of the biggest struggles they’ve ever had.

“I felt a lot more free (tonight),” Noonchester said. “During games, it was really stressful, especially with the scoreboard being so far gone most of the game. It felt good having a close game and being able to contribute.”

Vogt said he wrote his college essay on the team’s struggles.

“Coming out here and losing every week. It sucked,” he said. “It was probably one of my worst experiences ever because you’re taking hit after hit, loss after loss. It’s one of the worst feelings going to school on Monday and feeling like you’ve disappointed everyone. And they’re telling you that you disappointed them. It’s not a good feeling, but it’s made all of us so much tougher. We know how to fight adversity now.”

Bellevue players hope the event can bring excitement to 2023 season

The high school players will consider this an even bigger win if they can suit up for real next fall, and they hope the enthusiasm for the event will carry over.

“We had to fight through every single practice, every single game,” Vogt said. “When you have only 19 guys out there, it’s rough. I’m so glad we have this community and I hope that tonight isn’t the end of this spirit. I hope this continues to next season. I feel we’re going to need more numbers next year, more people. We have a good coach, we have good athletes and they’re going to be great.”

For the seniors, there are still plenty of high school memories to gain. Several members of the team will be playing other sports as the year goes on.

And they’ll have an extra appreciation for pride in their hometown.

“It’s home,” Vogt said. “You know everyone here. Everyone knows everyone. You can wave to everyone on the streets. I love it here.”

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Bellevue football players win one last game at home