The Bethel Bees fell short Friday night, suffering a soul crushing 30-8 loss at home against the Covington Buccaneers. This was a departure from the usual hustle the Bees have displayed this season. The Bees previously suffered a loss to Northridge in their season opener, but that was only by a single point in a game that remained close the entire time.
Coach Scott Clodfelter didn’t mince words when asked where he felt the team had gone wrong this week. “Turnovers. That and Covington in a really good program.”
“We didn’t deserve to win,” Clodfelter went on to say. “They did.”
Bethel has actually been an outstanding program this year, carrying a 2-1 winning record before their loss to the Buccs. They brought home a 21-10 win last week against Dayton Christian and they dominated Mississinawa Valley 42-2 the week before. Even the best high school football programs have their off nights, and Friday was certainly Bethel’s.
One of the breakout stars of this season has been Bethel’s Running Back, Josh Wills. Of Wills, Coach Clodfelter said, “Offensively he’s stepped up. He’s close to 800 yards this season.” The Bethel head coach didn’t only have praise for Wills, however. “We need more from him defensively,” Clodfelter said, but also noted that Wills has made “major improvement from last year to this year.”
One player who does bring his A-game to the defensive side of the ball is Ian Anderson. Anderson is like a brick wall on the field, proving himself on many occasions to be the proverbial immovable object.
“We’re pulling hard right now,” Clodfelter said when asked where he felt the team’s strengths were. “Up front we’re better, we’re stronger. We’re not getting driven off the ball as much as we were last year.”
Wills and Anderson weren’t the only players Coach Clodfelter felt gave their all on the field. “Hunter Shelley did a really nice job,” Clodfelter said, “and Alex Allen did a really nice job blocking.”
A loss this one-sided is always hard for a team to digest. From here the Bees need to look toward their next game at Tri-County North with optimism. They have a good program with several good, key players. Next week’s game marks the halfway point of the season, and it will decide if the Bees move into the second half of the season as a winning team or a losing team.
This year’s Bethel Bees have a great program, but they need to keep one thing in mind. They need to make sure every time they take the field that they do, in fact, deserve to win.
