First in a series of stories profiling top high school football players by position. Today, Bear Bachmeier, Murrieta Valley quarterback.
It’s early June, and the gloomy, overcast sky that has engulfed the Los Angeles basin morning after morning has disappeared, replaced by surprising sunshine while traveling south on I-15 past a stretch of rolling hills toward Murrieta, where a Bear is coming out of hibernation right on time for the start of high school football practice.
Bear Bachmeier, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound junior quarterback at Murrieta Valley, is the third brother to distinguish himself in a community that fills its stadium like a Friday night in Texas.
First there was Hank, who played quarterback and went on to Boise State and Louisiana Tech. Then there was Tiger, a genius of a student and prolific receiver now at Stanford. Left behind is Bear, another terrific student and top athlete ready to prove the third Bachmeier boy will be as good as, if not better than, the other two.
“Everything is unusual about those guys,” Murrieta Valley coach George Wilson said. “Nothing is standard.”
It starts with the boys having lived in a forest. Their home in the gated community of Rancho Capistrano is on top of a mountain off Ortega Highway near Lake Elsinore that is surrounded by the Cleveland National Forest. Phone reception goes away climbing the hills during the half-hour drive toward their three-acre property.
“We went caveman,” Bear said. “We’re in the middle of nowhere.”
Their parents, Mike and April, have four boys and one girl. Mike went to the Naval Academy and was a Marine. April is from Thailand. They like the peacefulness of their surroundings, though the boys have seen plenty in the wilderness.
“Growing up, we saw mountain lions and coyotes,” Bear said. “We saw deer being eaten by coyotes.”
The steep roads have been used for training by all the children — the youngest is a seventh-grade quarterback called Buck, Cougar or Puma depending on the day.
“The way we grew up and our lifestyle has definitely made us able to adapt to any environment we’re in,” Bear said.
Bear’s hair is getting long, though not as long as brother Tiger, who has shoulder-length hair.
“He could be in a 1970s rock band. It’s that long,” Wilson said of Bear’s hair.
Bear passed for 2,853 yards and 26 touchdowns last season and rushed for 644 yards and 18 touchdowns. He’s built with the body of a linebacker, and while opponents might be happy if no receivers are open, Wilson has a warning.
“It’s wild to watch,” he said. “Sometimes our best play is nobody is open, then they have to try to tackle him.”
The challenge for Bear this season is navigating life without Tiger as his primary target. Tiger caught 97 of Bear’s passes last season. Vista Murrieta coach Coley Candaele saw Bear play from the bleachers and said, “He was the strongest, fastest, most impactful player.”
Can it continue without Tiger?
“We got a great receiving corp,” Bear said. “You can’t replace a Tiger, but I’m excited. We have some young guns that want to be thrown into the fire.”
The high school football season opens Aug. 17 in the Southland. Here are top quarterbacks to watch this season.
Bear is like a coach on the field. He has the clearance to change plays and change blocking schemes whenever he sees something he can exploit.
“Bear is in the conversation for top quarterback in his class,” Wilson said. “He has a mix of everything.”
At a time when the quarterback position is changing and players with versatility and speed have become more appreciated than the old drop-back passer, Bear fits right in.
Here is the Los Angeles Times’ nine-part series on top returning high school football players.
“When you look at the great quarterbacks right now, they are evolving, not necessarily into running quarterbacks, but quarterbacks that have the ability to run like the Jalen Hurts, the Patrick Mahomes, the Josh Allens,” Bear said. “I piggyback my game off what they do, but also the non-physical intangibles such as leadership and accountability.”
In a season in which the class of 2025 quarterbacks in Southern California is really good, Bear has the ability to rise to the top.
Monday: Chatsworth Sierra Canyon running back Dane Dunn.
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