Palmer Ridge football’s mascot is the Bear. But on Friday night against the Mesa Ridge Grizzlies, the Bears were more like chameleons, adapting to whatever situation the hosts threw at them.

Palmer Ridge scored three rushing touchdowns en route to a 35-7 win at C.A. Foster Stadium, improving to 5-0.

Bears junior quarterback Knox Tinlin was knocked out of the game in the first half. In his absence, senior Cole Harris stepped in.

“Pretty much my job when I’m on team every week, I’m running back, receiver, quarterback, I can play it all. So when I heard my name called nothing went through my head other than let’s go win this game,” Harris said.

Much like he was for the Bears in practice, Harris was versatile in the game. The Bears employed a run-heavy offense for much of the game, especially the first half but had no points to show for it late in the second quarter. Despite entering Friday’s game with a 1-3 record, Mesa Ridge’s defense was stout early on, denying the Bears on two separate red-zone drives.

“That record doesn’t mean anything, that’s a very talented team. They got athletes all over the place,” Bears coach Zach Carlton said of the Grizzlies. “That’s a really good staff there, so hats off to them. We knew this game was going to be a challenge 100%.”

In Palmer Ridge’s final drive of the half, the Bears switched it up, throwing for a majority of the snaps. Harris was up for that task as well. He threw the game’s first touchdown, finding fellow senior Eli Stewart for the 20-yard score.

Harris opened up the second half by converting a crucial third down with his legs and capping off the drive with short-yardage score to double Palmer Ridge’s advantage.

Following that score, the Bears recovered an onside kick but Harris threw an interception on the next play. Mesa Ridge scored right after as senior quarterback Leland Frescaz found senior wideout Kobe Dooley for a 76-yard touchdown to make it 14-7.

But Harris and the Bears’ offense were ready for the adversity.

The Bears’ offensive line dominated the trenches and paved the way for Harris and senior back Jackson Mabe to march down the field, gaining chunks of yards and chewing valuable time off the clock. Mabe punched the ball in at the goal line to restore Palmer Ridge’s two-score lead.

These Bears aren’t the same Bears of the late 2010s, led by Ty Evans and a potent passing offense. They’d much prefer to beat their opponents on the ground, wearing down opposing defenses. Much like Harris, Palmer Ridge is adaptable to any style of play.

“Hats off to our offensive line and our offense in general. They did a great job controlling the clock in that second half there, especially the third quarter. Even though we gave up that 14-0 lead, they were able to manage that situation and burn the clock out on them,” Carlton said. “We’re gonna fit our systems to what kids we got. If we need to throw it, we’ll throw it, if we need to run it, we’ll run it and whatever kids we got we’re gonna put them in the best situation possible.”

Palmer Ridge’s defense took over after the Mabe score as defensive backs Michael Toth and Zak Crisler sealed the win by intercepting Frescaz on back-to-back drives for Mesa Ridge.

Toth’s pick led to another lengthy drive for the offense and a second score from Mabe whereas Crisler took his pick all the way back for six.