Bethel football topples Kansas Wesleyan to break 13-year drought
Bethel football topples Kansas Wesleyan to break 13-year drought
A fierce fourth-quarter comeback puts the Threshers over the Coyotes for the first time since 2008.
SALINA — It took a three-hour weather delay, day-long postponement, two trips to Salina, flooded locker rooms, and a drama-infused second half for the 22nd-ranked Bethel football team to conclude its game against 9th-ranked Kansas Wesleyan on Sunday night.
But for the Threshers and first-year head coach A.B. Stokes, it was all worth it.
That’s because when the final whistle blew, Bethel had defeated the Coyotes for the first time since 2008 — and the team promptly celebrated by letting the words of Father Abraham ring piercingly throughout JRI Stadium.
“We had a pick-six early and I think that was a great way of showing how strong our defense is,” Stokes said. “And I loved the way our offense played tonight. [Offensive coordinator Reggie] Langford called a very clean game. We didn’t put our defense in too many bad spots.”
The scoring got started on the first series of the Sunday restart when Kansas Wesleyan quarterback Tony White connected with Drevon Macon on a 41-yard strike midway through the opening quarter.
Then, with the Coyotes leading 7-0, Brenden Sanders undercut a pass from Richard Lara to bring the Threshers back even at 7 with 3:25 left in the first quarter. Just two minutes later, quarterback DJ Ciers found Brayden Francis streaking down the middle of the field for a 24-yard touchdown.
Four minutes into the second quarter, Aaron Main knocked home a 32-yard field goal to trim Bethel’s lead to three. The Threshers then responded with a strong 62-yard drive that ended with disaster in the form of an 81-yard blocked field goal return for a Coyote touchdown.
Kansas Wesleyan took a 17-13 lead into the break, and for a moment, Bethel knew they were in all-too-familiar territory — but Stokes’s group wasn’t deterred.
“We got down early but we’re prepared for moments like [that],” Stokes said. “It’s all about our guys giving everything they’ve got and believing in themselves. They did that tonight and it’s what we want to do every week.”
It took 11 minutes for the second-half scoring to kickstart when Logan DeMond drilled a 32-yard field goal to cap a 12-play drive for the Threshers and cut the Coyotes’ lead to just one, 17-16. Kansas Wesleyan immediately answered with a 12-play drive of their own — this one resulting in an eight-yard rushing touchdown by Tyler Boston.
When the horn sounded on the third quarter, the Coyotes held a 24-16 lead. Then, that resilience Stokes mentioned showed through in a fourth quarter that cemented history — one in which Bethel outscored Kansas Wesleyan 14-0.
With 6:24 left in regulation, Ciers snuck his way into the end zone from one yard out, then proceeded to Houdini his way to pay-dirt again for the two-point conversion to knot things up at 24.
The Thresher defense followed suit and forced a Coyote punt, setting up the Bethel offense with arguably its most important drive for the program in over a decade — two minutes and five seconds to do something no Thresher team had been able to do in 14 years.
Just four plays later, senior running back Chantz Scurry crossed the goal line with 24 seconds on the clock to hand Bethel a 30-24 lead. Kansas Wesleyan would be unable to answer, thus handing the Threshers the historic six-point victory.
“It was just all the hard work we put in,” Francis said. “It was the coaches believing in us … Coach Stokes at the beginning of the week told us that he’d made up his mind that we were going to beat [Kansas Wesleyan] and we just bought into that mentality.”
The win improves Bethel to 3-0 overall and in conference play. The Coyotes drop to 2-1. The Threshers will be back in action on Saturday at Thresher Stadium at 7 p.m. when they host Ottawa.