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By Jeff Oliver

Published: Wednesday, October 3, 2012, 12:01 a.m.
Updated: Wednesday, October 10, 2012

It's been a long time since the Bentworth Bearcats were on the winning end of a game like the one they were involved in last week.

Bentworth beat Vincentian, 57-28, for the team's first win of the season.

How strange was it for a Bentworth team to score 57 points?

That number was more than the team scored the entire season a year ago.

It was the most points the Bearcats scored since a 55-46 loss to Serra in 2009.

First-year coach Bob Niziol welcomed the big night for his team, saying, “It was nice for us to be the winning team in score like that.”

While Bentworth is 1-4, Niziol was quick to point out that his team has been more competitive than it has in the past.

In the first game of the season, the Bearcats lost, 28-21, to West Greene in overtime when the Pioneers scored a touchdown and made a two-point conversion to win the game.

Also, in a 27-9 loss to Frazier, the Bearcats had a 9-6 lead early in the fourth quarter before falling apart.

“We've been more competitive, for sure, but I'd like to see us be more competitive in all of our games,” Niziol said.

One of the bright spots for the Bearcats has been junior running back Ben Carlisle, who rushed for 263 yards and scored four touchdowns against Vincentian.

“He's a really good kid, very fiery and intense,” Niziol said of Carlisle, who was ejected from the Frazier game after getting in a fight. “When the game starts he is all business and ready to go. As coaches we had to tell him what he did against Frazier cost him and cost the team. He felt really bad.”

Niziol said that he expects Carlisle, who stared in the backfield last season as well, to attract interest from some small colleges before he is through.

“ I would think some feelers will be sent out (by colleges) in the summer,” Niziol said.

Niziol said he and his staff are working hard to change the culture of losing at Bentworth, but it won't happen over night.

“We're hoping to change that culture,” he aid. “So far, it seems like there is more excitement in the hallways at school. Kids come up and say they are going to play football next year.

“But I will really know if we are changing the culture in January when I see how many kids show up to start lifting weights.”

Chances are, there will be more than what showed up this past January.

Jeff Oliver is a sports editor for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-684-2666 or joliver@tribweb.com.

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