Bell Just One of Liberal’s Concerns

Liberal head coach Wade Standley and Bishop Carroll head coach Alan Schuckman both think Carroll senior quarterback Blake Bell has bright days in his future. The 6’6″ 220 pound signal caller has throw for 1,808 yards and 21 touchdowns. He’s rushed for 13 touchdowns which leads 8-0 Carroll. Last year he amassed 3,240 passings yard with 37 touchdown passed and 12 rushing touchdowns. The son of former NFL player Mike Bell verbally committed to Oklahoma. Liberal’s not referring to Bell by his name this week. They are calling him “10” because that’s the number he adourns in green and gold on Friday night. So the respect for Bell is there. But Standley says there’s more to the 8-0 Eagles than Bell. “They’ll be the best team we’ve faced this year,” Liberal’s first year head coach said. “They’re very balanced, efficient, and well coached. They do a great job in their throwing game just apart even from Blake Bell. He’s obviously is a great player. Their receivers run good routes. Their receivers catch the football. They do a good job there and on defense they play a “4-3″ defense who plays well as a unit.” There seems to be symetry to the universe when Carroll and Liberal play for the district eight title, something the teams did consistently during the 80’s, 90’s, and early part of this decade. Carroll has won two straight since the series resumed. They won 44-37 at Redskin Field in 2007 when they were the state runner up. The Eagles gashed LHS 62-32 last year at Carroll Field in West Wichita. The teams didn’t meet in 2004 or ’05. LHS last beat BC in 2003. Alan Haskell, Gary Cornelsen, and Rich Anderson combined to go 12-1 against Carroll from 1990 to 2003. They didn’t meet in 1991. Memorable plays like “The Catch” by Jason Andrews on a “hail mary” from Trace Haskell in 1997, “The Strip” by Caleb Cline to prevent a touchdown and give Liberal the ball in 2001, and “The Stand” by LHS defensive back Chris Hill and the 2003 Angry Red defense stopping a Carroll wide receiver three straight time in the end zone. The game will air Friday night on Talkradio 1270 and kscb.net with Redskin Pre-game at 6 PM and kickoff at 7 PM.