Stars, Hard Work Align in BVU Victory by the Lakeshore
Marching band, cheerleaders, and volunteers celebrated the Beaver football team's dramatic 27-point second-half comeback during Community Night, capping off a thrilling evening of competition on Peterson Field at J. Leslie Rollins Stadium.
On a moonlit Saturday night along Storm Lake’s lakeshore, stars and hard work aligned to cap a thrilling evening of competition on Peterson Field at J. Leslie Rollins Stadium.
Quarterback Dylan Laughlin’s pass to Josh Lange for a touchdown culminated a 27-point second-half comeback for the Beavers, stamping a 27-24 victory that wasn’t assured until 37 seconds later when a Concordia University kick sailed wide on the game’s last play, touching off a celebration as the Beavers moved to 2-0 on the young season.
In a larger sense, this victory represented more, perhaps a series of chimes for the University’s Victory Bell.
“Oh, my goodness, it is time once again, ladies and gentlemen!” said junior linebacker Mason Wickett as he led his teammates, arm-in-arm, through a rendition of the BVU Alma Mater, a fun football rite.
The BVU Marching Blue, piloted by the tireless Tiffany Wurth, director of bands, joined in, doing its best to keep pace with players who, caught up in the emotion, raced through a pair of stanzas.
A section of students joined 22 members of the cheer and dance squads, singing and smiling and taking pictures of their football-playing classmates and one another. Each student has a story that results in their place in Beaver blue and gold, ranging from the fifth-year senior starting on her master’s to the well-traveled transfer finding a collegiate home to the fresh-faced freshman finding his footing for the first time.
“President Merchant told me how proud he was of our team, our staff, and how thrilled he is with the culture of our program moving in the right direction.”
Grant Mollring
BVU freshman cheerleader Alondra Melendez didn’t travel far to Buena Vista University. She’s a Storm Lake resident and the first of her family to attend college. The gravity of this night wasn’t lost on her mother, Maggie Reyes, who watched her daughter, sporting a BVU bow and pom-poms, rev up the crowd.
Maggie Reyes didn’t have the chance to attend college, due to a family tragedy decades ago. She’s grateful for the newfound Education for Service program that offers free tuition to students like her daughter who commit to AmeriCorps service within Buena Vista County. The education paired with important service will make Buena Vista County, and our world, a better, stronger place.
And while the miraculous comeback came on an historic first night of football for Melendez and her mother on the shores of Storm Lake, it continued a lifelong tradition for Steve Bodholdt, a BVU Beaver who was honored prior to kick-off as Jack Denholm, director of athletics, presented a plaque to celebrate Bodholdt’s 40 years of volunteer service as a member of the football chain gang.
Bodholdt played both offense and defense for four years for the Beavers while a collegian and kept a spot on the field, the sidelines, specifically, all these years later marking first downs as games played out each fall. Three members of his family joined him on the chain gang Saturday.
“In my 40 years on the chain gang, tonight is the first time I’ve ever been on the home sideline,” Bodholdt said. “It’s different, but my heart is on this sideline.”
Maybe there was some symmetry or an aligning of the stars in his spot on the home side as this represents the first autumn without the steady presence of BVU super fan Jim Bisenius of Schaller. Bisenius, an Emmetsburg native who graduated from BVU in 1971, coached football for years in the area high school ranks. He attended every BVU home game for a half-century, often occupying a spot on the south edge of the home sideline.
Bisneius passed his love for the sport to his family and hundreds of youngsters in and around Schaller and Early where he taught, coached, and served as an insurance agent and community pillar. The patriarch of BVU’s 1996 “Family of the Year” died last January and was remembered for his love of Beavers football at his funeral. Surely, he was beaming as the team broke into the Alma Mater late Saturday night, by the “beauteous lake resplendent."
The story wouldn’t be complete without an encore mention of the band, 36 members strong in its march onto the field after a 21-year absence. President Joshua Merchant, BVU’s own “Music Man,” who gave Iowa a try, to quote the state’s famous musical, led the charge to resurrect the marching band program.
Merchant captured the band in video as it entered the stadium to start Community Night, an evening featuring free admission, free popcorn, and a fantastic full-throated home crowd. Clad in a BVU shirt and shorts, Merchant joined hundreds in raising his arms in victory as the last-second Concordia kick sailed wide. He sang with the players, accompanied by the band, then made his way to the field, where a firm postgame handshake and hug with Grant Mollring, BVU’s head coach, awaited.
“President Merchant told me how proud he was of our team, our staff, and how thrilled he is with the culture of our program moving in the right direction,” said Mollring. “It was such a rewarding effort for everyone.”
Everyone. From the musicians to the cheerleaders; from the community members and volunteers to the players, their parents, and more. Everyone at BVU had a hand in defending the lake on a memorable moonlit Saturday night.
