- Mascots came together Monday to raise money for charities
- They played a game of football against the Lehi Little-League football team
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There is a reason BYU football coach Bronco Mendenhall leaves No. 00 on the sideline come game day.
Cosmo, along with 16 other collegiate and professional mascots, took the field of play in the eighth annual Mascot Bowl on Monday to raise money for the “Firemen and Friends for Kids” and “Bear Hugs for Kids” charities.
The mascots played in front of a packed house against the Lehi Little-League football team, featuring seventh and eighth graders at Lehi High School. Although the team of mascots nicknamed, “the Mascots,” had a definite size advantage (other than the Utah Jazz’s Little Bear), the team lacked focus and barely held off Lehi for a 35-28 win.
[/media-credit]“You tell them to run a running play and they run a passing play, you tell them to run a passing play and they run a running play,” he said. “But it was all fun. I think the fans got a kick out of it.”
The Mascots were called for numerous penalties, including tackling the referees and sacking the opposing quarterback before the ball was snapped.
Hornacek tried to get his team to concentrate, but the Mascots had other ideas.
“They’re mascots; they like to entertain, they like to be goofy,” he said. “I tried to tell them to play a little bit of football, but there was only so much I could control.”
Lehi little-leaguer Connor Arnell didn’t care the Mascots tried to cheat the entire game.
“We didn’t mind because we were laughing,” he said. “It was funny when they were swan diving over the line of scrimmage and running through our linemen before the play started.”
Cosmo saw limited action on the field, mostly because he elected to spend the majority of his time in the stands with fans. When he did play, he failed to make the most of his opportunity. He dropped a pass in the end zone and was unable to haul in an interception on Lehi’s final drive. Fortunately, the Mascot defense held off Lehi until time expired and won the game.
The star of the game was Bear, the Utah Jazz mascot who is also in the Mascot Hall of Fame. With the game tied at 28, Bear returned a kickoff for a touchdown with only 1:25 remaining in the fourth quarter to put the Mascots up for good.
Even though Lehi came up short, the players enjoyed their time playing against some of their favorite mascots.
“It was super tough because they were really big and fast, but it was way fun,” Arnell said. “We usually just watch the mascots at games, but it was really cool to be in the game with them.”
