No. 8 Football Cats Open Season at Point University
VALLEY, Ala. – Coming off the best season in program history, the Bethel University Wildcats open the 2023 campaign facing Point University August 26 with kickoff slated for 6 p.m. CT. Point is located in West Point, Georgia but the game will be played in Valley, Alabama.
Bethel opens the season ranked 8th in the nation. Two other MSC programs were ranked in the national poll released Monday. Lindsey Wilson was 9th while Georgetown was ranked 21st.
Live stats:
Bethel (TN) at Point | PrimeTime | Sat, Aug. 26, 2023 7:00 PM EDT (pointskyhawks.com)
Watch:
FB: Point University vs. Bethel University - YouTube
There will be no local radio for the game.
The Wildcats won 28-3 win over Point last year in McKenzie.
It was just the second meeting between the two programs. The only other game was a 48-21 Bethel win in 2019.
After a scoreless first quarter, Point scored first on a 42 -yard field goal by Giovanni Martinez. The score came at the 14:51 mark of the second quarter.
The Skyhawks led by that score at the half.
The Wildcats found their groove in the third stanza. Joaquin Collazo found JD Dixon from 32 yards out and after an Austin Abbott point after Bethel led 7-3. The pass capped off an 11 play, 73- yard drive.
Bethel upped their lead to 13-3 early in the fourth quarter with a Terrance Roberts five-yard run. Abbott's PAT made it 14-3.
Dixon struck again catching a 13- yard pass from Collazo with 11:57 left in the game. Abbott nailed the extra point and the Cats led 21-3.
Collazo and Darius Prather put the game away with 9:07 left as they teamed up on a 39- yard pass. Abbott made the point after, and Bethel won 28-3.
Bethel had a 294-to-48-yard advantage in passing and outrushed the visitors from Georgia, 131-108.
Collazo was 15-of-19 in the air. He was also Bethel's leading rusher with 29 yards.
Dixon caught four passes for a game high 111 yards. Prather had three receptions for 101 yards.
Jerwin Young led the Cats with five total tackles. Jaylon Sanders, Darel Middleton and David Riggan followed with four stops. Riggan and Nick Andrews each had a fumble recovery for the Cats.
The Skyhawks finished 4-7 last year.
2023 Season Preview
The 2022 Wildcats became the first Bethel team in modern day program history to win 11 games in a season and be undefeated at that mark. The 2018 squad was 10-0 during the regular season. Bethel's longest winning streaks prior to last year had been 10 in a row in 2007 and 2018.
Bethel finished the regular season at 11-0 and 8-0 in league play. The Cats were 6-0 in home action and 5-0 on the road. Add all that up and the Wildcats won the tough Mid-South Conference Championship to gain the automatic berth to the playoffs. It was Bethel's sixth appearance in the NAIA FCS Playoffs. They last appeared in 2018.
The then No. 4 ranked Wildcats saw their season end with a 27-17 loss to No. 12 Keiser at Wildcat Stadium in McKenzie. Bethel is 3-6 all-time in the series. Prior to 2018, Bethel had not appeared in the championship series since 2012. The No. 4 ranking during the year was second best to when the Cats were ranked No. 3 in 2018.
Bethel was one of two MSC teams to make it to the playoffs. Lindsey Wilson was also in the field.
Bethel defeated three Top 10 ranked teams with wins over Reinhardt, Georgetown and Lindsey Wilson. All three wins were road victories.
Following a season like 2022 will be difficult but with talented returners and another outstanding off-season recruiting class expected to contribute, the 2023 squad appears to have an opportunity to be even better.
Bethel's Joaquin Collazo III had 29 touchdown passes on the season. That is the third most ever by a Wildcat quarterback. Collazo's touchdowns ranked fifth in the NAIA while his 279.7 yards per game was sixth in the country. He also caught one touchdown during the season. Nolan Chowbay holds the Bethel record for most passing touchdowns in a season at 30. Collazo had 3, 331 passing yards on the year which led the MSC and ranked second in the NAIA. He passed Nolan Chowbay as the all-time season leader in passing yards as a Wildcat. Chowbay had 3,232 in 2021. Collazo returns this season as the leader of the offense. Collazo was voted as the Craig Mullins MSC Offensive Player of the Year and was named to the AP All-American Second Team.
JD Dixon had 1,002 receiving yards which is second best in his career. Dixon had 1, 116 in his freshman season. Dixon has 61 receptions on the season with 10 of those being for touchdowns. During the season, Dixon became the all-time program leader in receiving yards surpassing Quincy Walden who had 1, 577. Dixon enters the season with 2,118. Dixon returns for his junior season. Dixon was 1st team all-conference last year.
First team all-conference receiver Avont Burrus returns. Burrus caught 41 passes with five of those being for touchdowns. Eighteen different players caught passes last year for the Wildcats. Eight different players had touchdown receptions. The Cats passed for 32 touchdowns while giving up ten on the year.
Terrance Roberts will be back. Roberts led Bethel in rushing yards with 796. Roberts was a MSC 1st Team All-Conference performer. The Wildcats rushed for 22 scores on the season while the defense yielded just eight on the year.
Four different Wildcats captured MSC Player of the Week Awards. Collazo won the award four times. Calen Warren, Demetrice Gilbert and Marquese Taylor also were named MSC POW's. Gilbert was named the NAIA Player of the Week. Gilbert and Taylor return for the 2023 campaign. Gilbert was 1st team all-conference.
Offensive Lineman, Jackson Surratt also helped anchor the offensive line and was a 1st team all-conference selection.
The Wildcats averaged 37.8 points per game and yielded just 13.0 per outing. Bethel averaged 415.3 yards in total offense per game.
The Cats scored 35 touchdowns on 54 Red Zone possessions this year.
Bethel had 26 sacks on the season and was led by Jaylon Sanders who had 5.5 on the year. Bethel's defense had 18 interceptions on the season.
Senior Jakobe Griffin led the squad in total tackles with 106. Griffin is Bethel's all-time career leading tackler. He was 1st team all-conference.
Bethel's defense posted 106 TFL's during the regular season.
The Cats will need to look to replace several key members of last year's squad. The afore mentioned Griffin along with the likes of Devious Christmon, Davius Prather, Brandon Moore, Quashawn Ford, Caleb Hall, Anthony Hughes, Cole Lyles, Tyler McCoin, Nick Andrews, Cobey Johnson and Darel Middleton. Lyles, Moore and Middleton were 1st team all-conference selections. Prather, Ford and Andrews were 2nd team all-conference players.
Helping to replace the key members lost will be reserves from last year and an excellent group of new faces.
Offensive newcomers:
RB Martize Smith (University of the Cumberlands)
WR Jaylen Taylor (Cumberland University)
WR/KR Tyler Ball (Iowa Wesleyan)
OL Tyrell Winn (William Jewel)
Defensive Newcomers:
S Jaren Rainey (East Carolina)
S Brian Hughes (Kentucky Christian)
DB Jaylon Beasley (Marshall)
CB Cortez Eatmon (West Florida)
DL Anthony Shipton (Texas State)
DL Deris Jackson (Arkansas State)
Michael Jasper is in his fifth year as head coach of the Wildcats. Coach Jasper also serves as Associate Athletic Director of Internal Operations.
Before becoming the head coach, Jasper served as Assistant Head Coach and worked with the defensive line. Prior to that he held the titles of Offensive Line Coach and Run Game Coordinator, as well as overseeing the strength and conditioning program.
Jasper picked up his first conference coach of the year honor after guiding Bethel to its sixth overall title. Bethel finished No. 7 in the national poll. Coach Jasper was named NAIA Region 1 Coach of the Year.
Coach Jasper's career record is 26-15 overall and 17- 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 commented on the season and team. "I'm extremely excited about this upcoming season. We have some amazing young people in our program that have bought in and been hard at it this summer. Our staff is as strong as it's ever been, and we are all ready for the task at hand. This is another opportunity to come together and have a great season in the best conference in the NAIA."
For a complete look at Bethel football visit https://bethelathletics.com/sports/fball/index.
2023 Bethel University Football Staff
Michael Jasper - Head Coach
Chris Springer - Associate Head Coach, Defensive Coordinator
Jay Bright - Assistant Head Coach, Offensive Coordinator
Dustin Kincaid – Special Teams Coordinator/LB Coach/ DOFO
Terrell Jackson - Senior Defensive Analyst
Bret Peterson - Halfbacks/ Tight Ends
Troy Brewer - Defensive Line
M D Daniels- Pass Game Coordinator/ WR
Kyle Wallace- Defensive Backs
Jamel Warren- Linebacker Assistant
Bryce Missey-Running Backs
Davius Prather- Offensive Assistant/ WR
Cobey Johnson- Offensive Assistant/ QB
Kiel Parkhurst- Offensive Line Assistant
A.B. Holloway- Defensive Assistant
Caleb Hall- Special Teams Assistant
Carrie Staal- Marketing Content Director