Owen football hits the air with the The Bear

Local radio station to broadcast Warhorse games in upcoming 2023 season

Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
August 17, 2023

Black Mountain-based radio station, 96.1 The Bear, will broadcast all Owen football games in the upcoming 2023 season. Photo by Fred McCormick

The entire 2023 Owen football season is coming to the local airwaves, beginning with a pre-game show at 6:30 p.m., Friday, Aug. 18, when the Warhorses travel to Enka to open the campaign.

Black Mountain-based radio station, 96.1 FM and 1350 AM The Bear, will broadcast 10 regular season contests and debut a weekly coach’s show, featuring Owen head coach Zach Gibson.

Carrying the Warhorse action was an “easy fit,” according to Canio Costanzo, who will call the games alongside Derwin Williams.

“Owen football has a rich history of success, and when the owner purchased this radio station he was committed to providing local programming,” said Costanzo, whose career as a broadcaster includes time as the play by play announcer for the Hickory Crawdads. “What’s more local than high school football?”

Each broadcast will feature a 30-minute pregame show, including an interview with Gibson, who is entering his second season on the Owen sideline, and a 15-minute post-game show. All games will be available on The Bear’s FM and AM stations and can be streamed live at 96.1thebear.com.

“I look at high school football like it’s the Super Bowl,” Costanzo said. “I take stats during the game and use a spotter chart. We want the listeners to feel like they’re at the game, so we do a lot of prep work going into each week.”

The Bear will introduce a Saturday morning coach’s show, from 9 - 10 a.m., in the coming weeks.

“We plan to have Coach Gibson join us for that show, and bring in players and assistant coaches as the season progresses,” Costanzo said.