Twelve Bridges football rages on as coach honors brother, killed on duty in 1999

“Hometown Heroes” week happens just about every Friday throughout the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section.

It’s a chance for high school football programs to honor first responders and military members. It’s not unusual for a police helicopter to hover over midfield and then have a crew member winch down to deliver the game ball.

On Friday, at Placer County’s Twelve Bridges High School, the event carried even more meaning. Twelve Bridges coach Chris Bean was at midfield before the game against Placer in honor of his brother, Sacramento Police Department Officer Bill Bean Jr. who was shot and killed in the line of duty in 1999. The Placer County Sheriff’s Office helicopter delivered the game ball Friday night before a rivalry game.

The Sacramento Bee-ranked No. 5 Raging Rhinos used that ball to defeat the No. 17 Placer Hillman 49-24 to seize control of the Foothill Valley League.

Twelve Bridges (7-0, 2-0 in league play) now has a 27-game regular-season winning streak. Placer is 4-3 and 1-1.

Shaun Jones of the Hillmen and Chase Wyhlidko of Twelve Bridges are among the top runners in the section, but Jones went down on the team’s second series with an injury and did not return. Wyhlidko, meanwhile, carried the ball 12 times for 132 yards and touchdowns of 2, 36 and 4 yards.

Twelve Bridges quarterback Connor Frontiera was an efficient 13-for-18 for 211 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including a beauty over the middle to Dylan Amos for a 48-yard strike.

Raging Rhinos four-year starting left tackle and University of Nevada commit Colton Hogge did not start Friday night, bothered by a sore shoulder. Sophomore Emmett Summit started in place of Hogge at arguably the most important offensive line position. Summit played well as Frontiera was not sacked, and Summit was also all over the field on defense.

“This is his first start,” Bean said of the 6-foot-5, 280-pound sophomore. “So, we’re excited about that. He was probably really nervous. I saw him outside (before the game). Yeah, he was pretty nervous, no doubt.”

Remembering fallen officer

Bean said the special football drop was organized by one of his assistant coaches.

“John Schofield is a Placer County sheriff’s deputy, and he’s big into all that side of it,” Bean said before the game. “We let him run with it, he does a great job. You know, the helicopters come in and it’s cool. The helicopter is named Falcon 30 after my brother, because he was a Colfax Falcon guy (and wore No. 30). So, they’ll be dropping the ball to me and my dad. We are so excited about that.”

Bill Bean Jr. on that fateful 1999 day was with his partner and attempted to stop a man wanted on an outstanding warrant. After a vehicle pursuit, Officer Bean exited the patrol car and the suspect opened fire, striking him several times. One round entered through the armhole in his vest. The suspect was captured several hours later after a manhunt. He was convicted and sentenced to life without parole in 2003.

Bill Bean Jr. had been a standout athlete since his days at Colfax High. He was a starter for the Sacramento Police Department at free safety in four Pig Bowls, the annual fundraising game between local police and fire departments.

Rhinos are all the rage

Chris Bean is in his fourth season at Twelve Bridges, and the Raging Rhinos have been in the playoffs all four years; earned a section Division IV title last year; and played in the CIF Division II-A final two weeks later, a loss to Palos Verde High of Los Angeles County.

Expectations are high for the Raging Rhinos. Tradition has been set, a winning culture established. That brings pressure, Bean said, but so far his team has handled it.

“You know, it wasn’t your typical start because so many of my coaches had come with me from Lincoln High School,” Bean said. “I think the cool part about it was we got to kind of look at what we did right at Lincoln and what we did wrong at Lincoln. So, when we got over here, we were kind of, for the most part, able to hit the ground running. And I think when you hit the ground running with stability, with some inertia, some momentum, and throw in a heck of a lot of really talented football players, then, sure, I think that’s why we are where we’re at.

“I think it’s just a great combination of, you know, the timing of everything.”

Bean said playing Placer every season in the old Pioneer Valley League while he was at Lincoln gave him a lot of respect for head coach Joey Montoya and the Hillmen. It’s never easy playing against the vaunted wing-T offense, Bean said, and preparations for the scheme that relies on deception starts well before the week of practice leading up to the game.

“I believe that what Joey Montoya has done at Placer over the past 15-20 years has really been the standard,” Bean said. “I think they won something like 10 out of 11 (PVL titles), and we always seemed to be chasing Placer. He has the culture and happens to have a nice pipeline and some really talented football players that kind of roll through.”

What he does with the wing-T is better than anybody he’s seen, Bean said. It forces his players to play assignment football. “If you get caught watching the backfield, and it’s a car crash back there, and you get caught watching, the next thing you know, a kid’s running by you. You have better stay disciplined. You better be accountable. You better communicate.”

The hard part, Bean said, is players can do it for a series or two.

“The problem is doing it for play after play after play after play that, you know, for kids who are used to 30 second clips on TikTok, it can be a little bit challenging to be locked in,” Bean said.

With the Placer problem solved for another season, at least during FVL play, Bean can relax for a few minutes and reflect what he’s help build, where the lights each Friday rival that of the neon and spotlights from Thunder Valley Casino across Highway 65.

“I just think I have a lot of really quality people that have invested into this community and I get to be the one that’s kind of out front and getting interviewed,” Bean said. “But there are so many people behind the scenes that are making this a really special place to be right now.”

This story was originally published October 10, 2025 at 11:01 PM.