Not until 4:30 a.m. Saturday did two buses transporting the Baldwin Park High football team and cheerleaders from a Division 11 football playoff game at Big Bear arrive home.
There were more than four hours of delays traveling down the mountain because of black ice, coach Robert Maxie said. It was a little scary, he said, but the fun part was beating Big Bear 28-21 despite a snow storm in the second half.
“It wasn’t as bad as it seemed,” Maxie said. “We bundled up pretty good. None of my kids had played in the snow. We couldn’t see the numbers, couldn’t see the hash marks.”
Afterward, the celebration included throwing some snowballs.
“I would take snow any day over rain,” Maxie said.
The only issue was getting home. Players were stranded on the bus with little food other than eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
“They literally talked themselves to sleep like babies,” Maxie said.
Next up is another road game at Portola.
“I told my kids moving forward no matter where they send us, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “We went through the toughest road experience.”