BANGED-UP BETHEL HOSTING THE LIONS.Byline: Chris Cocoles Daily News Staff Writer No Travis Alkire. No Erik Aude. But Bethel Bethel, in the Bible Bethel (bĕth`əl) [Heb.,=house of God]. 1 Ancient city of central Palestine, the modern Baytin, the West Bank, N of Jerusalem. Christian High School Christian High School, also known as CHS, is in O'Fallon, Missouri. The school mascot is the Eagle and the school colors are teal and black. Their women's soccer team has won many state championships. still had enough to take out Valley Christian Academy in a regular season meeting. So what can the Lions do when the Eagles' have a full nest? The question will be answered at 1 p.m. today, when Bethel hosts the Santa Maria Santa Maria, city, Brazil Santa Maria (sän`tə mərē`ə), city (1991 pop. 217,592), Rio Grande do Sul state, S Brazil. It is a major railroad terminus and the site of an important military base. school for the CIF-Southern Section eight-man (large schools) championship. Though Valley Christian comes into the game on a roll, the 9-1 Lions have won seven straight games via the 45-point mercy rule A mercy rule, also well known by the slightly less polite term slaughter rule (or, less commonly, knockout rule and skunk rule), brings a sports event to an early end when one team has a very large and presumably insurmountable lead over the other team. , the Eagles haven't stopped rolling in a 10-0 season. With several players banged up, including the loss of leading rusher Alkire and key defensive end Aude, the Eagles, ranked first in the division, beat the Lions 32-14 on Sept. 27. ``We scored 14 points in the last two minutes to break open a close game, but we were really banged up,'' Bethel Christian coach James Vondra said. ``We had just played two tough opponents (Rio Hondo Rio Hondo may refer to:
A year ago, that could have plagued the Eagles. But improving senior quarterback Tyler Thompson tossed three touchdown passes that day, and Bethel never looked back, outscoring its 10 opponents by 340 points. Two months, two days and 1,679 rushing yards later, Alkire is ready to go and Aude anchors an underrated defense. ``Today Travis won't play on defense so he can concentrate on running. Last time (Valley Christian) didn't see our running game. I don't think they'll be ready for it,'' Vondra said. Few opponents have subdued sub·due tr.v. sub·dued, sub·du·ing, sub·dues 1. To conquer and subjugate; vanquish. See Synonyms at defeat. 2. To quiet or bring under control by physical force or persuasion; make tractable. 3. Bethel's powerful offense or cracked the defense led by defensive ends Aude and John Wangsgard. ``John has been our quiet leader on defense. Teams have been running away from Erik. (Wangsgard) is our big hitter,'' Vondra said. Passing teams have been shut down by cornerbacks Brandon Eggerth and Mark Carl, who just happen to be the Eagles' starting wide receivers. They have combined for 13 interceptions. ``Our success is not just because of our offense. We've scored a lot of points, but it's been set up by the defense,'' Vondra said. The Lions, led by All-CIF running back Mark Kirby and wide receiver-linebacker Kevin Wright Kevin John Wright (born December 27, 1953, North Fremantle, Western Australia) is a former Australian cricketer who played in 10 Tests and 5 ODIs in 1979. He was a wicket-keeper. , are as good a team as the Eagles have faced all season. But it might not be enough. ``This is the most balanced team we've faced all year. They can pass and throw,'' said Vondra, whose Eagles routed a West Shores team that passed on almost every down. ``We had to make some adjustments at West Shores because they ran some trick plays and formations,'' Vondra said. ``But we won't have to change much of the game plan for Valley Christian. It's what we've seen most of the season.'' And that has spelled doom for Bethel's opponents. |
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