Cats Host Phoenix on Homecoming
MCKENZIE, Tenn. - Saturday at 1 p.m. the Bethel Wildcats and Cumberland University will meet on the gridiron for the 35th time. It is the most against an opponent in program history for the Wildcats. Cumberland has a 20-12-1 advantage in the series. The Cats have won the last two meetings. The series is 5-5 in the last ten meetings. They first met back in 1993.
Stats:
https://bethelathletics.com/sports/fball/2023-24/boxscores/20231021_baob.xml
Watch:
https://www.bethelathletics.com/watch
Listen:
https://www.thefarmradio.com/farm-sports-and-events
Tickets:
https://bethelathletics.com/tickets
It will be Homecoming for the Wildcats.
The Match-up:
The No. 10 Wildcats enter the fray at 6-1 and 1-1 in MSC action. CU is 3-3 and 1-2. Bethel is 4-1 at home while the Phoenix arrive in McKenzie with a 2-2 road mark.
The teams have two common opponents in Georgetown and the University of the Cumberlands. Both squads beat UC while both lost to Georgetown.
Bethel is second in the nation in scoring, averaging 47.0 points per outing.
It will be the 496th game in program history with Bethel's record at 200- 287 -8. Win number 200 came last week with Bethel's 44-7 victory over Roosevelt.
Last Game:
Bethel:
For much of the first half the No. 12 Wildcats struggled on offense against the visiting Lakers of (RV) Roosvelt University.
The only score late in the half had come at the 4:06 mark of the first period when Joaquin Collazo III hit J. D. Dixon on a 30-yard touchdown pass. The extra point failed, and the Cats led 6-0.
What had not struggled was Bethel's defense. The Cats held RU to just 38 total yards on offense in the half, but it was the last play of the half that proved to be huge in the eventual outcome.
A field goal attempt by the Lakers was blocked by Demetrice Gilbert. Cortez Eatmon scooped the ball up and went 98 yards for a Wildcat touchdown as time expired. Andrew Welch nailed the point after to give Bethel a 13-0 lead at the break. The scoop and score on a blocked punt is the longest in program history.
The Lakers scored their only points of the games at the 7:1 9 mark of the third quarter when Quarterback Carson Budke found Keonta Nixon for a 19-yard touchdown pass.
After the score, the Wildcats begin to click on offense. Welch hit a 21-yard field goal. Collazo teamed up with Avont Burrus for a 64-yard touchdown pass and the Wildcats held a 23-7 lead after three.
The fourth quarter was all Bethel. Collazo had a one-yard touchdown run. He later passed to Dixon for another score. Mitchell Faulkner capped off the scoring with a 13-yard run. The Wildcats won 44-7 to up their record to 6-1 while Roosevelt dropped to 4-3. It was the first meeting ever between the two programs and was the 200th victory in program history.
The Wildcat defense held the Lakers to just 97 yards in total offense. The Wildcats rushed for just 76 yards but had 406 passing yards. Collazo was 23-of-35 with 367 yards. Burrus caught eight passes for 141 yards. Dixon had seven receptions for 150 yards.
Javonte Carter, Gilbert and Darrien Lewis had interceptions. Lewis also had a fumble recovery. Carter led the Cats with six tackles while Lewis followed with five total stops.
Cumberland:
No. 14 Georgetown defended Toyota Stadium on Homecoming as they defeated Cumberland 42-14.
Cumberland could not get in a rhythm offensively early in this game and the Tigers had big plays to get up and continue to push the lead out. The Phoenix finally started moving the chains and finishing in the endzone in the fourth, but at that point it was too little, too late.
The Phoenix took care of the football, but a couple of short drives gave Georgetown their chances. Luke Holloway was the biggest factor for Cumberland on offense in this one rushing for 120 yards and two touchdowns. He also completed 7-of-18 passes for 61 yards.
Cumberland went for 273 yards of offense and eclipsed the 200 -yard rushing mark yet again. Georgetown on the flip side had 369 yards of offense and their best game of the season passing the ball going for 226 yards through the air.
Georgetown quarterback Gehrig Slunaker completed 14-of-21 passes for 226 yards and three touchdowns. Running the ball, Darius Neal ran for 87 yards and a score and Isaiah Cobb added 56 and a touchdown.
GC's JC Shegog caught four passes for 100 yards and a touchdown while Dillon Warren accounted for two touchdowns one receiving and one kick-off return for a touchdown with four catches for 52 yards.
Coaches:
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.
The Wildcats were 11-1 last year. Jasper picked up his first conference coach of the year honor after guiding Bethel to its sixth overall title. The undefeated regular season was the first in program history. Bethel was ranked No. 4 in the national poll. Coach Jasper was named NAIA Region 1 Coach of the Year.
Coach Jasper's career record is 32 -16 overall and 19-13 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 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 bachelors degree in university studies. Mike and his wife Allison, along with their children Davis Reid, Millie Claire and Samuel David reside in McKenzie.
Their rescue dog is named Caine.
Phoenix Head Football Coach Tim Mathis is the sixth head coach since Cumberland restarted the football program in 1990. Mathis is entering his fifth season as the Phoenix Head Coach.
Mathis is 18-26 at Cumberland.
Mathis served as an assistant coach for 10 seasons at Shorter University when the Hawks started their program in the NAIA in 2005. He was the team's offensive coordinator during his last five years at Shorter, including during the transition to NCAA Division II.
Mathis was a member of the Shorter staff for the inaugural season in 2005 and served five years as the team's offensive line coach. The Hawks led the NAIA in rushing, won the Mid-South Conference championship and earned the program's first-ever postseason playoff berth in 2008. Two players earned All-America honors and a dozen offensive linemen were named All-Mid-South during those five seasons.
He moved into the role of offensive coordinator from 2010-14, working with running backs for two seasons and quarterbacks and fullbacks the final three. Shorter ranked second nationally in rushing at 310.9 yards per game and posted 30.5 points per contest in 2010 and ranked third in the country in rushing (271.9), averaging 30.0 points per outing in 2011, the program's last in the NAIA.
Prior to his time at Shorter, Mathis worked four years at Trion City Schools in Trion, Ga., coaching the offensive line all four seasons as well as serving as defensive coordinator for two years. He was also the wrestling coach for two years and the golf coach for two seasons.
Mathis earned his bachelor's in History with a minor in Political Science from Georgia Southern in 1996 and received his master's in Leadership from Shorter in 2010. He is married to the former Mesha Layman and the couple has two children - Abby and Hunter.
Did You Know?
- Joaquin Collazo was named the MSC Offensive Player of the Week earlier this week. It is the second time this season and sixth time of his career he has captured the award.
- Three other Wildcats have won the award this season. Demetrice Gilbert, Jaylen Taylor and Andrew Welch were named Player of the Week earlier this season.
- Coach Michael Jasper was among those inducted into Bethel's Athletic Hall of Fame this week. The ceremony took place on Friday. Coach Jasper was inducted as a result of his playing career at the school. He was joined by:
Dave Jesse-Men's Basketball
Ariel Montague-Women's Track
Tom & Patty Kahlden- Contributors
For ticket information, call Kristie Stephenson at 731-352- 6428.
Congratulations to the inductees. Senior Director of Athletics Brad Chappell will present each inductee their Hall-of-Fame pin in pregame ceremonies.
The 2023 Football Media Guide is available now on the Bethel Athletic page. Keep up with the Cats this season with the on-line version at: https://www.calameo.com/bethel-university/read/003316375ff645033edbb
- Fans can purchase a Gold Lot Season parking pass for 90.00. The Gold Lot is located directly behind the stadium entrance. Fans can also park in the Purple Lot for 50.00. The Purple Lot will be located directly north of the stadium. If spaces are still available after season passes are sold, they will be sold on a game-to-game basis at 10.00 each. Both lots will be staffed by Bethel security and lot attendants. There remains free parking on campus in front of Crisp Arena and areas north of the stadium and the reserved parking areas. To secure your parking pass in advance, visit the ticket and parking links on the main athletic page. https://bethelathletics.com/tickets
- Also, visit our website under tickets on how you can purchase a tailgate ticket for selected games and share a pre-game meal with family and friends.
https://bethelathletics.com/tickets
- Bethel University Athletics and Worthy Road Studios, a leader in sports streaming, announced a partnership between the two for coverage of Bethel Athletic events beginning this year.
Under the newly announced partnership, Worthy Road Studios will stream all home football games and selected home basketball games.
The agreement will feature upgraded production. Features such as slow-motion instant replays and different camera angles will be included.
Worthy Road Studios also produces live broadcast of the Jackson Rockabilly Baseball team, Union University, Trenton Peabody, Jackson Christian, University School of Jackson and Trinity Christian Academy sporting events. The Ballgame Blitz, the best source for West Tennessee, is all produced by Worthy Road Studios.
Be sure to like and follow Worthy Road Studios, the Ballgame Blitz on Facebook and subscribe to Worthy Road Studios YOU TUBE Channel.
The Ballgame Blitz is also on Twitter, so you can follow the sports broadcasts there as well.
Bethel games are available with audio coverage again this year on WEIO, 100.9 and www.thefarmradio.com
Other games and sports are carried on the Wildcat streaming service at: https://bethelathletics.com/watch
Golden Boosters and sponsors for Bethel Athletics this year are:
West Tennessee Public Utilities
Smith & Smith Optometry
Steven Morton & State Farm Insurance
Trevathan's Electrical Services
Carroll Bank & Trust
Nicky Jo Stafford Real Estate
City Florist
Anchor Transportation
Centennial Bank
Mazza Painting
Hometown Health
Hometown Hangout
Next Week:
The Wildcats will be on the road at Faulkner. Kick-off from Montgomery is slated for 1:30 p.m.