Bonde’s Bearcat drive

LENOX — A local son looks to keep up the Friday night football tradition in Lenox this season.

Cole Bonde, a 24-year old Bedford native and volunteer assistant last year with the Tigers, will take the helm and joins Michael Nardini as co-coaches for the fall football season, replacing Matt Malausky.

Nardini is a former Buena Vista University offensive guard from Madrid who works as a counselor at Lenox. He also coached at Madrid.

Bonde is treating his first few weeks as coach with an open mind, but fully intends to incorporate much of what he learned from his team’s championship pedigree at Northwest Missouri, where Bonde attended for four years. Donning the number 39, Bonde played linebacker as a Bearcat and appeared in all 15 games during the Bearcats’ undefeated, national championship-winning campaign.

“I’m still learning. There’s a lot to learn,” Bonde said. “I’m bringing a lot of what I learned at Northwest. We’re one team. Everybody has a job. We’re not after individual accolades.”

Those unfamiliar with Bonde are unlikely to have seen him much on Friday nights a year ago after the new coach spent time up top in the booth above the home stands.

But for those from the Lenox-area, Bonde may seem familiar for another reason.

Bonde is a Taylor County resident and Bedford Bulldog graduate. He knows all about the rivalry and friendly bragging rights that come with the territory between the two intra-county foes. He remembers the playfullness that came from the shared Bedford/Lenox wrestling squad, with the results carried over from other sports.

Locals may recall the then senior in 2012 running for 1,484 yards, 14 touchdowns and being a ravenous (team-leading) tackler while wearing No. 3 when the Bulldogs were still an 11-man squad.

While the Bulldogs and Tigers didn’t play in football in recent years until Bedford’s move to 8-player ball in 2016, the two have long been frequent competitors in near every other sport.

The 2017 Tigers overcame significant injuries to key players a year ago after a 1-3 start to make the playoffs once again, but lose several key gears in the wheel heading into this fall. Bonde knows that the loss of seven senior starters will weigh heavy, but hopes his team of nearly 30 athletes embraces the challenge.

“They’ve had some great success in the past years,” Bonde said of past Tiger teams. “It makes it that much more exciting for us. We’ve got to get the kids ready. It comes down to it’s one team, doing the best that we can with the numbers that we have. It’s an exciting time.”

Bonde hopes one thing above all else carries over from his Northwest days. As a Bearcat, he enjoyed the practices, the games, the trips. Coaches in Maryville preached enjoying their time there.

This fall, Bonde hopes the Tigers are doing just that, enjoying themselves. The Taylor County product sure intends to do so.