Cats Travel to Northern Pines of Georgia to Battle No. 9 Reinhardt
Waleska, Ga, - The Bethel Wildcats hit the road to the northern pines of Georgia for week two action this Saturday as they travel to Waleska to battle the No. 9 Eagles of Reinhardt. Kick-off is slated for 11 a.m. CST.
The Wildcats were ranked No. 25 in the College Football Network Top 25 poll released by that organization Monday morning. The first NAIA regular season poll will be released September 12. The Wildcats received votes in the NAIA Preseason Poll.
The Matchup & Series
The game will be the 479th game in program history. Bethel is 185-285-8 all-time
Bethel plays in the Mid-South Conference. RU competes in the Appalachian Athletic Conference. The Eagles were the preseason pick to win the AAC. The MSC did not conduct a preseason poll.
It will be the eighth meeting between the two with RU holding a 5-2 advantage in the series. The Wildcats won 31-21 in 2018. Bethel beat Reinhardt 34-33 last year. Both wins were at Wildcat Stadium.
Game Coverage:
Live video: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/reinhardt/
Live stats: https://www.reinhardteagles.com/sports/fball/2022-23/boxscores/20220903_yh82.xml
Tickets: https://www.reinhardteagles.com/general/2020-21/Online_Tickets
Last Week:
(BU)
The Wildcats opened their 2022 season Saturday hosting Arkansas Baptist. It was the first ever meeting between the Buffaloes and the Wildcats.
With temperature in the in the low nineties at kick-off the Wildcat offense matched the heat, posting 21 points on the board in the first quarter to lead 21-0 after one. Newcomer Joaquin Collazo and J D Dixon teamed up for the first two scores. Collazo hit Dixon on a 57-yard strike at the 7:14 mark to put the Cats up 6-0. The point after by Austin Abbott gave Bethel a 7-0 margin. They teamed up again at the 4:54 mark on a 20-yard pass play. Jacious Clark blocked a Buffalo punt deep in ABC territory. The football was scooped up by Marques Taylor at the five yard line. He scored to give the Cats the 21-0 lead.
Stavonski Wilkes scored on rushes of five yards and seven yards in the second quarter and the Cats led 35-0. Abbott hit all five point extra point attempts in the half.
Atavian Ray scored the only Buffalo touchdown of the day on a 69-yard run in the third stanza. Bethel answered with 42 straight points to coast to the big win. Rushing scores by Terrance Roberts, and Cam Jordan highlighted the third quarter explosion. Collazo threw another touchdown pass connecting on a 64-yard throw to Cobey Johnson. The Casts led 56-7 after three.
Jordan had another rushing score in the fourth. Throw in scores by Demetrice Gilbert and Taylor Yancey and Bethel put up the most points in a game since 2018. Andrew Welch hit all six of his point after attempts.
The Wildcats outgained ABC 484-214. The Cats were balanced on offense with 243 rushing yards and 241 passing yards. Collazo was 8-of-15 in the air for 241 yards and his three TD passes. Roberts finished with 90 yards rushing on 16 attempts. Dixon had three receptions.
Jakobe Griffin led Bethel on defense with 10 total tackles. The senior now has 321 career stops which puts him just four behind Tyler Murray and Jeremy Beaulieu for the all-time lead in program history. Darian Burns had six tackles while Markel Crawford followed with five in the game.
Coach Michael Jasper was pleased with the win, "We are extremely proud of this program today. It feels good to go out there and execute at a high level in all phases. We will get to work on the things we need to correct and move forward to Reinhardt but I'm proud of this entire program today."
Reinhardt traveled to Alabama to take on #24 ranked Faulkner University last week. It was a hard fought and intense affair with the Eagles winning 34-27.
In addition to the season opener win, this was also Coach Miller's 50th career victory as head coach.
Head Coaches:
Michael Jasper is in his fourth year as the Head Coach of the Wildcats in 2022-23.
Before becoming the head coach Jasper served as the Assistant Head Coach and worked with the defensive line. Prior to that he held the titles of Offensive Line Coach and Run Game Coordinator and oversaw the strength and conditioning program.
In 2021, the Wildcats were 7-4 overall, 4-3 in the Mid-South Conference and 2-1 against opponents ranked in the top eight in the country. Coach Jasper's career record is 16-14 overall and 9-12 in conference play.
Before joining the Bethel staff, Jasper served as Offensive and Defensive Line Assistant at Bishop Timon High School in Buffalo, N.Y.
Mike spent three years in the National Football League with the Buffalo Bills, New York Giants and Carolina Panthers.
Coach Jasper played for the University of Tennessee at Martin in 2005 and was a starter on their 2006 Ohio Valley Conference championship team. After redshirting at Middle Tennessee State University, Coach Jasper joined the Bethel University Wildcats and was as an offensive and defensive lineman from 2008-2010. He was the first-ever Wildcat drafted to the NFL in 2011 with his selection by the Buffalo Bills.
He graduated from Bethel University with a bachelor's degree in university studies. He and his wife Allison along with their children Davis Reid, Millie Claire and Samuel David reside in McKenzie. Their rescue dog is named Caine.
Jasper is the 12th head coach in Bethel football history.
James Miller is in his fifth year as the head coach of Reinhardt after leading the Eagles to the NAIA national championship game in his first season (2017) and three trips to the NAIA Football Championship Series in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
A former football player at Virginia Tech, Miller has been with the Eagles since 2014, and has served as the program's recruiting coordinator in addition to being in charge of the offensive line.
The Eagles (9-1 in 2020) hope to build on last year, where they made yet another appearance in the NAIA Football Championship Series Quarterfinals. Reinhardt is the five-time defending Appalachian Division champions within the Mid-South Conference.
Did You Know?
The 2022 Football Media Guide is available on the Bethel Athletic page. Keep up with the Cats this season with the on-line version at https://en.calameo.com/bethel-university/read/003316375f35c839aee6f
Find out all you need to know about this year's team and their opponents. Bio's Records, Stats, and current rankings are all available. Get all the information about YOUR Wildcats!!!!!!
Seventeen different states are represented on the Bethel squad.
Homecoming will be celebrated this year on October 22. The week includes the 2022 Hall-of-Fame Induction ceremonies. The Cats will host Thomas More University. Kick-off is slated for 1 p.m.
Game Officials:
Referee – Bill Humphrey
Umpire – David Duffy
Head Line Judge – Paul Holba
Line Judge – Joe Dansby
Side Judge – Paul Bishop
Field Judge – Perry Colley
Back Judge – David Rogers
2022 Bethel University Football Staff
Head Coach - Michael Jasper (4th season)
Associate Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator - Chris Springer (5th season)
Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator - Jay Bright (2nd season)
Offensive Assistant - Montgomery Allison (1st season)
Defensive Line Coach - Troy Brewer (1st season)
Director of Sports Performance - Brighton Hill (1st season)
Senior Defensive Analyst - Terrell Jackson (2nd season)
Defensive Run Game Coordinator/Linebackers Coach - Dustin Kincaid (3rd season)
Assistant Offensive Line Coach - Austin Kisrow (1st season)
Special Teams Coordinator/Defensive Backs Coach - Cody McCallister (4th season)
Pass Game Coordinator/Wide Receivers Coach - Greg Meyer (1st season)
Half Backs/Tight Ends Coach - Bret Peterson (2nd season)
Assistant Special Teams/Assistant Wide Receivers Coach - Hunter Scott (1st season)
Running Backs Coach - Jake Sisk (1st season)
Assistant Defensive Line Coach - Jamel Warren (1st season)
Next Week:
The Cats return home to battle Point University next week. The game begins at 1 p.m. with Bethel holding a 1-0 margin in the series. It will be Weakley County Schools Day.
Golden Boosters and sponsors for Bethel Athletics this year are:
West Tennessee Public Utilities
Smith & Smith Optometry
Copies Unlimited
Steven Morton & State Farm Insurance
Trevathan's Electrical Services
Maddox Insurance LLC
Block City Pizza
Carroll Bank & Trust