More than 20 San Diego Eagles and members of their families ventured out to Alpine, Calif., in East County Saturday to visit the exotic animal sanctuary “Lions, Tigers & Bears.”
The group went on a tour of the facility after viewing a video that told the story of the sanctuary and the sad plight of too many exotic animals in this country and throughout the world.
We saw the lions, tigers, and bears as promised, but also jaguars, leopards, bobcats, and other animals that had been rescued from awful circumstances and given the right to spend the rest of their lives in comfort and safety.
Visitors also find safety, as each animal enclosure is surrounded by two layers of fencing, including an exterior layer that is electrified. The fencing makes photography of the animals somewhat problematic, but it is the point of this sanctuary that these animals are not on exhibit.
Below are photos from the visit. You can see much better photos and find out much more about the organization at Lions, Tigers & Bears.
A brown bear being fed.
Grizzly
A tired Himalayan bear
The King
White lion
Following the tour, most of the Eagles gathered at the nearby Mike Hess Brewing tasting room for repast and refreshments.
I don’t know that one could call BC’s performance against Duke Friday night “competitive,” but to some extent it felt as if it was in the second half. Sadly, even that modest level of play was a highlight of the current season.
Behind 31-14 in the third quarter, the Eagles then out-scored the Blue Devils 17-7 to close the gap to 38-31 at the end. Scoring a field goal with 17 seconds remaining, BC attempted an onside kick, but it was recovered by Duke.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Emmett Morehead played the entire game, in place of the injured Phil Jurkovec. Morehead became the first BC quarterback on record (since 1981) to throw four touchdowns in his debut as a starter and the first to throw four or more since Dennis Grosel against Virginia in 2020. He’s also only the third BC quarterback to throw for 300+ yards in his first start, joining Mark Hartsell (338 yards against Michigan, 1994) and Jurkovec (300 vs. Duke, 2020).
Morehead was 27 of 45 passing, for 330 yards, four touchdowns, and no interceptions.
I leave it to others to gauge to what extent Duke’s weakness at pass defense (next to last in the ACC) was a factor.
Duke might have watched the BC-UConn game, because they did something very similar on their opening drive. Starting at its 10-yard line, Duke was a little less efficient than the Huskies, but the Blue Devils got the same result. They went 90 yards in six plays for the touchdown, with QB Riley Leonard running 60 yards up the middle for the score.
I was tardy to the gamewatch and listened to the first seven minutes of the game on XM radio. I heard the BC radio broadcast. When Duke scored that early touchdown, I could see in my mind’s eye analyst and former Eagle football player Peter Cronan’s shoulders slump as he said, “They practiced against that play every day.”
Duke was ahead only 10-7 after the first quarter, but expanded that lead to 24-14 at halftime. Duke had gained 254 yards, exceeding the Eagles’ offense by 109 yards.
While gaining 174 yards in the fourth quarter, compared to 19 yards for Duke, BC scored only 10 points, three more than the Blue Devils.
Overall, the Eagles gained 405 yards in offense, 15 more than Duke. It was the second game in a row that BC gained more yards than its opponent in a loss.
Leading rusher for the Eagles was freshman Alex Broome, with 49 yards on 10 carries. BC wide receiver Zay Flowers had six catches for 65 yards and two touchdowns, while Griffin had five receptions for two touchdowns.
Highlights
BC falls to 2-7, 1-5 in the ACC. Eagles travel Saturday to meet North Carolina State at 12:30 pm PT.
Credit this image of a dumpster fire to BC Interruption, used with their game report yesterday.
Playing a team that had never beaten BC in 14 previous attempts, the Eagles honored Halloween weekend by treating UConn yesterday to five turnovers of possession and a ghoulishly ineffective offense. The Huskies took the win, 13-3.
The Boston Globe, which had been generally positive in its coverage this season, said the BC loss brought an “extremely disappointing season” to “a new low.”
Playing in East Hartford, Conn., before 25,000 fans, UConn took the opening kickoff from BC and, following a 10-yard penalty, scored the game’s only touchdown two plays later on a 62-yard pass. BC’s opening drive, in response, failed on fourth-and-one. The Eagles have failed to score on each opening drive this season.
The Huskies kicked a field goal to go up 10-0 and that was the scoring for the first quarter. In the opening quarter, UConn gained 136 yards total offense, the Eagles 16 yards.
BC opened the second quarter with an 11-play, 79-yard drive that was its first offensive threat of the game. Even then, with fourth-and-goal on the two, the Eagles opted for a field goal and their only points. Later in the quarter, BC had a drive featuring a 45-yard pass from Jurkovec to Garwo, but Jurkovec threw an interception in the endzone from the 12.
Halfway through the third quarter, Jurkovec took a hard hit and left the game. He was replaced by Emmett Morehead for the remainder of the game. Jurkovec later sat on the sideline wearing a brace on his right knee. In the middle of the final quarter, UConn recovered a BC fumble on BC’s 32 and later scored the final points of the game.
UConn’s win was its first over any Power 5 opponent since 2016. Earlier this season, they gave up an average of 49 points to their three previous Power 5 opponents. The Eagles are now 4-12 in their last 16 games and 14-17 under coach Jeff Hafley.
Overall, the Eagles ran more plays (68 to 58), gained more yards (335 to 280), had fewer penalties (2 to 10) than the Huskies, but inefficiency was their hobgoblin. Three interceptions and two lost fumbles stymied sometimes good efforts. Connor Lytton also missed a 43-yard field goal with 16 seconds remaining.
Jurkovec was again BC’s leading rusher, with 29 yards. The Eagles rushed for a total of 76 yards. Jurkovec was 12 of 19 passing for 155 yards, no TDs and two interceptions. Morehead completed 9 of 18 passes for 104 yards and an interception.
Normally BC’s star performer, Zay Flowers was haunted during the game. Targeted seven times for passes, he had two receptions for 35 yards. He dropped what could well have been a long touchdown pass. His single rushing attempt was for a loss of 10 yards and he even muffed a punt reception.
Highlights
BC falls to 2-6, 1-4 in the ACC. Their next four opponents — Duke, N.C. State, Notre Dame, and Syracuse — all have winning records. Absent an upset, BC is looking at its first season with nine or more losses since 2015. Game against Duke is Friday, November 4.
