Ciers, Madison lead Bethel football past McPherson on Fall Fest
Ciers, Madison lead Bethel football past McPherson on Fall Fest
The QB/WR duo led the offense again as the defense shines with big performances.
On Fall Fest Saturday the Bethel football team took on McPherson in its first divisional game of the season.
The Threshers won their fourth consecutive Fall Fest game by beating the Bulldogs 33-24.
“Fall Fest is a great night to interact with so many Bethel alumni and supporters, so to get the win tonight was special,” head coach A.B. Stokes said.
On the first play of the contest, Bethel looked to start fast and did just that when quarterback DJ Ciers found receiver Trevon Madison for a 72-yard touchdown just seconds into the game. Kicker Carson Sauseda’s point after attempt was blocked, the first unsuccessful PAT of his career at Bethel.
“Before the first play of the game we talked about if there was no wind then we were going to call the play,” Madison, a junior from Detroit, Mich. said. “When I saw the signal before I lined up, I knew that if DJ had time to throw, it would be a touchdown. After scoring that one I felt like it really set the tone for the game and the guys really fed off the energy well.”
Both McPherson’s first and second drives of the game were stopped when Brenden Sanders picked off a pass in the first drive and Robin Neely intercepted a pass in the second drive.
“Our defensive guys had really good practices over the bye week, so I expected them to play well,” Stokes said. “I was grateful to see their hard work pay off during the game.”
The Threshers found themselves in field-goal territory after Neely’s forced turnover and Sauseda made a 32-yarder, giving Bethel the 9-0 lead after one quarter.
“My interception was all thanks to the effort and focus I’ve put in the last two weeks,” Neely from Houston, Texas said.
Before halftime, the Bulldogs found themselves in field-goal range to narrow the Thresher lead, trailing 9-3.
On the opening drive of the second half, Sauseda came through once again for Bethel with a 39-yard field goal to bring its lead to nine once again.
McPherson got themselves in the end zone to cut Bethel’s lead to two and its defense forced the Threshers to punt. However, the punt was muffed and a Bethel player recovered the ball on the Bulldog 21-yard line.
Ciers found himself in the end zone at the end of the drive for the first time in the contest, putting Bethel up 19-10.
The defense for the Threshers was again unstoppable in this contest as Jaric Woodley forced a fumble early in the fourth quarter that would turn into a Jairo Castillo Jr. trip to the end zone.
After the Bethel defense forced a three and out, Ciers found Madison for the second time with a 19-yard touchdown pass.
With a 33-10 deficit, the Bulldogs answered with a touchdown and two-point conversion followed by a successful onside kick that led to another touchdown to bring the deficit to 33-24 with just over a minute left.
McPherson tried another onside kick, but was unsuccessful as the Threshers recovered it and finished out the game with the win to snap a two-game losing streak.
Madison led Bethel with six receptions for 127 receiving yards along with two touchdowns. Ciers once again showed out for the Threshers with 158 passing yards, 152 rushing yards, and a touchdown on the night.
“I’m glad that I’m able to contribute to the team whenever I’m needed to,” Madison said. “This game resulted in my first career 100+ yard receiving game and I had two touchdowns to go with it so it felt really good.”
The Thresher defense stood tall as Kade Miller tallied 13 tackles, Tate Seabolt added 12, and Grant Godsey tallied up 11. Neely and Sanders added two interceptions and Castillo Jr. added a touchdown to his résumé. The defense held the Bulldogs to just two total rushing yards on the night.
“As a defense we are starting to put it together as a unit,” Neely said. “We will only get better from here.”
The Thresher football team will be back in action on Saturday as they take the trip south to Winfield to take on No. 14 Southwestern. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.