Call it a blessing, call it a curse, but the Vestal Golden Bears enter the season guaranteed a berth in the Section IV Class A Finals.  As it was a year ago, Vestal and Union-Endicott are the only two teams in Class A in Section IV leaving them looking ahead to the playoffs with wide eyes.  However, Vestal Head Coach Tank Anderson told his team on day one of training camp that yes, they will play in that game, but it's 10 weeks away and anything can happen.  It may sound cliche, but the "one game at a time" mentality is a mantra in Golden Bears camp.  Senior Captain Andrew O'Hara says their goal is to just win the next game, and the next game, and as he says "if we go undefeated, that would be perfect."

It'll take a big effort from the Golden Bears, who like many other schools, lost a lot of players to graduation, specifically veteran leaders Nick Wegmann, Zach Cook and Pat Carlin.  While Anderson says you can never replace guys like them, there's always guys called upon to step up.  The Bears offense will rely on junior quarterback Nick Davis, wide receiver O'Hara and Justin Dennis, and a few players coming up from JV's last year that are sure to turn some heads.

The Golden Bears get the honor of starting their season on the same field they hope they finish, the Carrier Dome.  Week One, Vestal travels north to face Section III's East Syracuse-Minoa on Friday, September 5th at 8:00.