TORRINGTON – Since being a little kid, football was the sport Beau Bivens wanted to play at the collegiate level, and on Tuesday, the Torrington High School senior quarterback signed his National Letter of Intent to continue his football career at the University of Nebraska-Kearney inside Willi Gym in front of many family, friends, teammates and classmates.

Bivens leaves Torrington with a 15-5 record as a starter and holds or shares four school records, including tied for single season touchdowns with 19 (tied with his older brother Breyden), career passing yards with 2,995, career touchdowns thrown with 37 and single game passing yards with 282.

“There isn’t a better school to be at. The community as a whole, every single game, practices, and it doesn’t matter what sport, this community loves to support it,” Bivens said. “At football games, the stands were full and all the way around the field, people lined up. Over the last four years, I’ve built a family with these guys, especially the coaches. These guys are my family, and it’s something special you usually don’t get to build.”

Growing culture at UNK was something he wanted to be a part of. The Lopers have had three consecutive winning seasons. In 2019, the team went 7-5 and took part in the Mineral Water Bowl. UNK went 2-0 in a COVID shortened season before going 10-3 in 2021, reaching the second round of NCAA Division II playoffs.

“It’s a beautiful place in this world. It’s a booming town. It’s a growing town,” Bivens said. “I like the culture they have growing there. In the last couple years, they went from a nobody school to winning a lot of games. It’s a great atmosphere, and it’s a place I want to be.”

Bivens also says having family in the area helped in the decision.

During his time at THS, Bivens faced a lot of adversity. His freshman year, he dislocated a hip. His junior year, he broke an ankle during the semifinal round of the playoffs.

Through it all, he didn’t waver, and he didn’t let it slow him down.

Bivens attributes THS head coach Russell Stienmetz and offensive coordinator Robb Nicolay for helping him become the football player he has become.

“Everything I learned here I’m going to take on and try to learn more,” he said. “Without these two (pointing at Stienmetz and Nicolay) I wouldn’t be the football player I am. They’ve taught me everything I’m going to take on.”

Bivens plans to get a business degree.

“He gets his teammates to play hard. A very positive person. It didn’t matter if we were down at halftime, down in the third quarters, he’s like ‘We’ve got this fella’s,’” Stienmetz said. “He has a lot of confidence in his team, and he will carry that with him when he goes to Kearney.”