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Banarvon Taylor hauls in a pass from the
Bethel game.
MCKENZIE, Tenn. (November 24, 2007) – The
Bethel Wildcats have made two consecutive
playoff appearances and in those they have
faced The University of Saint Francis
Cougars from Fort Wayne, Ind. two
consecutive times in the NAIA Football
Championship Series Quarterfinals. For the
second consecutive time, special teams play
was the Wildcats downfall and for the second
consecutive time, the Cougars scored with
less than a minute remaining to win. This
time it stung more than it did last year.
With three seconds to play, Saint Francis
running back Taylor Vieck caught what
appeared to be a harmless 6-yard pass from
Jeff Wedding at the Wildcat 26 as regulation
ended. Get the teams ready for overtime
right? Nope, Bethel was flagged for an
unintentional facemask. That moved the
Cougars to the Wildcat 21 and because the
game cannot end on a defensive penalty, St.
Francis was able to run an untimed play.
What resulted will be hard for any Bethel
player, coach or fan to delete from the
memory banks. The Cougars’ Rhys Barnhart
who previously attempted and connected on
one field goal all season (33 yards) booted
a 39-yard field goal for a 30-27 win. It
was Barnhart’s third field goal of the game.
It lived up to its billing as the “Game of
the Decade.” It had hard hits and big
plays. The momentum changed countless
times. The Cougars who came into the game
ranked #3 in total offense per game (515)
took the opening kickoff and drove to the
Bethel 15. Facing third and eight, Bethel
linebacker Wade Vandergriff sacked Wedding
forcing St. Francis to kick a 34-yard field
goal.
Bethel got a great return of 47 yards from
Julian Tyler on the ensuing kickoff to the
Cougar 38 yard line. Bethel senior
quarterback Ronnie Jankovich hit senior
wideout Antonio Brown, Sr. for a 16-yard
gain; an offside penalty placed the ball at
the USF 17. Brown, Sr. then slipped in to
take a direct snap and he sliced through for
a 17-yard touchdown run. The Bethel defense
held USF to a three-and-out and the offense
went to work from the BC 30. Jankovich
found Joevaris Carter on a slant route for a
37-yard pick up to the St. Francis 33.
Bethel worked to the 18 before attempting a
field goal that Matt Wininger pushed wide
right.
Saint Francis was able to take the lead as
the second quarter began when Wedding’s pass
was deflected by Bethel’s BJ Banks in the
end zone, but it made its way to the hands
of Zach Rainey and the Cougars led 10-7.
Bethel went on a 13-play drive that used
7:07 of the clock but the ‘Cats stalled on
the USF 21. Bethel attempted a 38-yard
field goal that sailed left. The defense
held and the offense was able to retake the
lead. Senior running back Adrain Smith
finished off a 10-play drive with a
three-yard score and Bethel led 14-10. With
30 seconds remaining in the half, the
Cougars changed the momentum again.
Wedding’s second pass to Bo Thompson went
for 38 yards to the Bethel 4 yard line.
With three seconds on the clock, USF decided
against kicking a field goal. Wedding faked
a hand off and went around the right side
for the score. As the half came to an end,
the Cougars had grabbed the lead 17-14.
Huntingdon High School
football coach Jimmy Pritchard (left) and
McKenzie High School coaches Wade Comer and
Randy Thomas (third and fourth from left)
accept plaques from Bethel Athletic Director
Glenn Hayes (second from left) during
halftime of the Bethel football game
Saturday. Members of the high school teams
flanked their coaches during the
presentation.
Bethel was unable to do anything with the
second half’s opening possession. But, USF
struck quickly as Daniel Carter got free
down the far sideline and a 54-yard TD run.
With the score, the Cougars had jumped out
to a 10-point advantage 24-14 early in the
3rd. After Bethel was stopped on offense
again, USF added to their lead on Barnhart’s
second field goal of the game, this one from
35 yards out for a 27-14 score.
As the final frame began, Bethel got as far
as the USF 41 before punting, but the ‘Cats
defense was up for the challenge forcing the
Cougars to punt. With 8:40 left in the
game, Bethel got the spark they needed on a
third and one from Smith, who bolted through
the line and ran 65 yards to the USF 3 yard
line. Terrance Bell darted in on the next
play to bring Bethel within six, 27-21. The
Bethel defense “bent but didn’t break” as
the Cougars took it to the ‘Cats 30-yard
line. Facing fourth and nine, Wedding
completed a pass to Carter but he was
stopped short by Markee Robinson, Brandon
Looney and Cliff Barna. Bethel’s offense
responded as Bell went 30 yards for his
second touchdown. However, the PAT was
blocked leaving the score 27-27. With just
over a minute to play, the Cougars started
from their 25-yard line. Wedding kept the
drive alive by scrambling 14 yards on third
and ten to the USF 37. Wedding then
completed two passes to get the Cougars to
the Wildcats’ 33. Two holding penalties
pushed the Cougars back to their 48. Facing
first and 29, Wedding found Rainey for a
20-yard gain to the Bethel 32. After an
incompletion, three seconds remained on the
clock.
The play of the game that will be talked
about for a long time happened. Wedding
floated a pass to left halfback Taylor Vieck
that looked innocent enough, almost as
though the USF coaches had resigned
themselves to overtime. With no time
showing on the clock, a piece of yellow
cloth lay on the field, the head referee
broke the news that an incidental face mask
had been called on the defense. The face
mask had not been held on to, it had not
been used to aid the tackle and it wasn’t on
purpose. It was a glancing touch of the
metal on the front of the helmet that put
Saint Francis five yards closer and gave the
Cougars one last untimed play. Barnhart
came out to kick the winning filed goal, but
was “iced” by Head Coach Dino Kaklis twice
with the Wildcat’s remaining two timeouts.
As he finally lined up for the kick, the
stadium was almost silent. Then, a
collective groan of the Bethel faithful and
the cheers of the Cougar fans filled the air
as the ball crossed field goal bar by a
scant three feet. If the penalty would not
have been called and put USF five yards
closer, the kick would have fallen short.
If the referee would not have made the
decision to let the innocent play go, the
teams could have settled the game “on the
field” in overtime. That didn’t happen, and
USF ended the Wildcats season 30-27.
Offensively, Smith led the ground attack
with 18 carries for 144 yards and a
touchdown; Bell had 12 carries for 89 yards
and two touchdowns; Brown, Sr. carried four
times for 29 yards and Jankovich ran 11
times for 18 yards. Jankovich was 8 of 15
passing for 129 yards. Brown, Sr. was 2 of
4 for 13 yards. Ricky Currie had three
catches for 21 yards; Will Cripps had two
grabs for 33 yards; Brown, Sr. had 2 for 26
yards and Joevaris Carter had one catch for
37 yards.
Defensively, Markee Robinson led the way
with 15 tackles; Wade Vandergriff had 10
stops and a sack; senior Cliff Barna had
nine stops; Chancy DePriest had 8 tackles;
Van Alexander had seven tackles and one for
loss; Justin Cobb and Dustin Finch each had
six stops; Marshall Varnum had five and
Brenton Ford had four stops and a tackle for
loss.
Bethel’s season ends with the best record
(11-2) since football was reinstated in 1993
and their highest national ranking of #4. |
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