Wheaton, Bethel meet again
By Jason Bailey
for D3sports.com
| Wheaton (Ill.) scored on the last play of the game
to defeat Bethel last season, and it hasn't been
forgotten. Photo by Scott Pierson, d3photography.com |
It wasn’t any easier to stomach on video.
A Bethel pass-rusher leaps over a running back’s attempted
block. The Wheaton quarterback scrambles right as four defenders
converge. A flick of the wrist, an athletic catch in the end zone
and the Thunder beat the Royals 29-26 on a 5-yard touchdown pass on
the game’s final play.
“Looking at that kind of makes you sick knowing that you let
it slip away based on not doing the right thing,” Bethel
linebacker Ross Petterson said. “On that final pass, it just
feels like you got punched in the gut, and you can’t even
believe what happened.”
But don’t read too much into the dramatic ending of last
year’s regular-season meeting between Wheaton and Bethel.
When the teams meet again in a second-round playoff game Saturday,
the past battles will mean little (Wheaton also edged Bethel 10-7
in a driving rainstorm in 2008).
“What it means is that we’re two very evenly matched
teams,” Wheaton coach Mike Swider said. “Both games
could have gone either way, and we realize that. We’re not
idiots. It’s a difference of one or two plays, and the
outcome is the other way.”
That small margin of error is why neither Wheaton (10-1, 6-1 CCIW)
nor Bethel (10-1, 7-1 MIAC) are stuck in the past. Both teams
earned Pool C bids to the postseason after losing to an undefeated
conference champion (North Central and St. Thomas) that received a
No. 1 seed in the playoffs. And now that there is a rare
opportunity to reach the national semifinals without meeting
UW-Whitewater or Mount Union, looking backward isn’t the best
way to move ahead.
The real advantage of those previous matchups is knowing what to
expect: A heavyweight fight.
In Bethel’s corner is Logan Flannery, who has 1,516 rushing
yards -- his fourth consecutive season with more than 1,000 yards
-- and 15 TDs in 11 games, averaging 6.5 yards per carry. The
wrecking ball pounded Wheaton for 281 rushing yards in two games
combined and is running behind an offensive line with four
consistent starters since the start of last season. Bethel coach
Steve Johnson isn’t hesitant to say Flannery is one of the
best backs in the country.
“He has great vision. He’s really tough, and
he’s not really that big, but I think he kind of surprises
defenders how powerful he is,” Johnson said.
“It’s hard to explain. I don’t think he could
either. He’s just a running back who was born to
run.”
Flannery, the MVP of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic
Conference, was instrumental in Bethel’s 28-20 first-round
playoff victory over Wartburg. He recorded 182 offensive yards,
scored on the ground and in the air, and added a 2-point conversion
for good measure. His attention, however, has quickly shifted to
the latest installment of a “fun rivalry” with
Wheaton.
“Their defense is good, and we have to stay poised and not
get frustrated, because they’re going to make big plays and
we’re going to make big plays,” Flannery said.
Wheaton has definitely had ups and downs. Despite a balanced
attack led by quarterback Jordan Roberts -- four rushers and two
receivers have more than 400 yards -- the dual threat has needed to
deliver several stirring comebacks. The Thunder scored 24
unanswered points in the second half of a 31-24 regular-season
victory over Carthage, then upped the ante by scoring 22 unanswered
points in the fourth quarter to beat Coe 31-21 in the first round
of the playoffs.
“We don’t give up. We can finish games. And we want
it,” said linebacker Cory Hart, who started last week’s
comeback with a crucial third-quarter interception.
“We’re not the biggest, strongest, fastest athletes,
but we’re a team and we play like we’re playing for
something.”
That team effort includes a Thunder defense that has forced 35
turnovers and shut down several top running backs in the College
Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. Wheaton receiver Freddy Ellis
said one message has been repeated clearly this season: “We
are a physical football team, so let’s keep swinging and see
if they can keep up with us for four quarters.”
There’s no doubt -- whatever team gets knocked out Saturday
will know exactly what hit them.
