2025 in review:
- 2-6, 0-2 in 4A South East Idaho Conference
- Missed state
Coach's resume:
- Head coach: Houston Reynolds, 3rd season
- Overall record: 4-12
- Assistant coaches: Cameron Crane, Nate Wuthrich, Pat Johnson, Mason Garbett, Cody Miller, Chris Clausing, Colin Maughan, Jaden Crane, Trevor Neal, Nolan George
Returning starters:
- 8 offense
- 9 defense
Three years removed from a state championship, Bear Lake finally gets a fairer fight.
The Bears won the 2022 state title in 3A. Since then, they've spent three seasons up in 4A, a jump defensive coordinator Cameron Crane says explains most of the program's recent struggles far better than the record does.
"We went up a division, and that's what changed everything," Crane said. "Our offensive linemen are 180 pounds, and their defensive linemen are 225 to 250. We just haven't been able to hang with the size and speed differential."
Bear Lake's enrollment sits right at the threshold for 3A classification — meaning for three years, an essentially 3A-sized school was competing against schools nearly twice its size.
Add in an unusually young roster — Bear Lake started as many as 11 sophomores in 2025 — and a new, complex offensive system still being installed, and the 2-6 finish came with an asterisk, in Crane's eyes.
"We were super young, new system," Crane said. "It's taken a couple years for these kids to really wrap their heads around what we're trying to do."
That system, brought in by head coach Houston Reynolds, a former BYU offensive lineman, is a read-heavy, West Coast-style passing attack — a departure from the straightforward run schemes most of Crane's past staffs have used.
"It's a lot of individual reads for all of our kids," Crane said. "If the defense does this, you go here. If they go there, you go somewhere else. It's not just dive, open up the two-hole and go."
But Bear Lake now returns nearly its entire roster, all of whom have a far better grasp on the offense.
Senior Dax Perkins returns at quarterback after leading the offense for most of last season. He'll do this while simultaneously running a lawn-mowing business with around 30 regular clients.
"He's a hardworking kid, a smart kid," Crane said. "I think he had one day off this summer between baseball, football and basketball. Dax looks good, strong arm. He works his butt off for us. Really excited for that kid's season."
Perkins will be without Jack Hume, who tore his ACL playing pickup basketball this summer and was expected to be the offense's top receiver and top safety.
But he will have senior Brox Birch, a do-everything slot tight end.
"Brox is a freaking stud," Crane said. "He's put on a ton of mass since his freshman year, and he'll be one of our biggest threats offensively."
Senior Tate Ewing should help too. He'll give the Bears both a game-breaking receiver and a lockdown corner.
"He's shifty and explosive," Crane said. "It looks like he's jogging, and then he just takes off."
Senior linemen Rowdy Barrus and Kutler Keetch anchor the front, while senior Preston Wright, now settled in at defensive end after starting his career at linebacker, brings a physical edge.
"He's our enforcer," Crane said. "That mean, tough, nicest kid you'd ever meet off the field — but you don't want to meet him on the field."
Junior Tyke Carlisle returns at running back and middle linebacker after tearing his ACL just before last season.
"He's back and looks really good," Crane said. "He's a freaking stud, man — a load. We had to rein him in during our scrimmage or he'll go too hard. We're very excited for our first game for Tyke."
Junior Landon Davidson steps into a weak-side linebacker role after a strong offseason in the weight room.
The offensive line remains the biggest question mark, with as many as three sophomores in the mix up front.
But the goal hasn't changed.
"I'm hoping we can get six wins," Crane said. "We've been two and six, two and six. We sure don't want to be that again. I think five or six is within reach, and once you get some momentum, kids start believing — and winning's contagious."