Bell spreading the word on new system.

Byline: Shawn Miller The Register-Guard

There was a point last spring when Marist coach Rory Rosenbach questioned his new offensive system.

The stereotypical image of a frustrated coach - pulling out his hair, dropping his clipboard and looking to the sky for help - Rosenbach was nearly forced to watch practice through his fingers, the way a boy would when his parents said not to peek, as his Spartans struggled to adapt to the spread offense.

Whether it was players running into one another, forgetting a route or, notably, not understanding the terminology, all Rosenbach could do was smile, because there's no crying in football - at least not in spring drills.

He wondered, was the offensive change too much for his athletes to handle?

One athlete in particular answered the question with a resounding no: senior quarterback Ryan Bell, who guided the team through those difficult spring workouts and has helped lead the fifth-ranked Spartans (9-2) to the quarterfinals of the OSAA Class 4A football playoffs - where they host Yamhill-Carlton at North Eugene on Friday at 7 p.m.

Bell was the first player Rosenbach told about the offense, which Marist had unsuccessfully used off and on the past two seasons.

"I don't ever think the key to the season has to do with X's and O's," Rosenbach said. "I think the key to the season has to do with the kids. The kids believe in Ryan and they play for him. They know that when the game is on the line, that he's going to find a way to get it done."

In his first full season of starting, the senior signal-caller has emphasized the word "spread" in the offensive scheme.

Bell has thrown for 2,258 yards and 18 touchdowns, connecting with 15 different receivers - including a trio with at least 39 catches and 450 yards each.

"At the beginning of the season, it was kind of hard to grasp what the offense was," Bell said. "But we've just been running it in and out everyday. It has just clicked."

Senior Colton Thomas, who has known Bell since they were 8 years old, leads the team with 48 receptions for 676 yards and eight touchdowns - enough to make him rave about the new system.

"Lots of passing," Thomas said with a smile. "We are getting the ball quite a bit. It's a lot of fun."

Not far behind on the stat sheet, receivers Gianni Carter and Jeff Bedbury have snagged 44 and 39 receptions, respectively.

"We always joke around about who is going to get the most catches and who has the most catches in the game," said Carter, who is second in yards with 528 and touchdowns with four.

"Everybody gets the same amount of balls, basically."

With the running game struggling early in the season, Rosenbach relied on Bell, who then turned to his receivers.

Thomas, Carter and Bedbury, among others, responded, and the Spartans averaged 38.6 points per game this season.

"Just his presence really helps us not get down when something goes the other way," Bedbury said of Bell. "He's a really good leader."

Bell has been a catalyst on the ground, rushing for 354 yards and seven touchdowns. In fact, Marist is well-balanced in the rushing game, with four players accumulating at least 250 yards each - led by Bryson Black with 514 and six touchdowns.

Chad Swenson, who has a team-high 14 touchdowns, has rushed for 451 yards, and Bobby Edwards has 253 and four scores.

The Spartans, who average more than 209 yards passing per game, rush for more than 177 each outing - producing one of the most-balanced offensive attacks in the state.

As proof, Marist's two losses this season were to Sky-Em League rival and top-ranked Sisters - 53-36 - and to cross-town foe Sheldon, ranked third in Class 6A.

Against the Irish, the Spartans scored 14 points - tied for the second most against Sheldon this season.

Rosenbach praises his offensive linemen, although they were some of the most difficult players to get to buy into the system change.

"We were going at a tempo that we hadn't gone at," said Rosenbach, who lost arguably his most talented lineman in Bronson Durrant to a season-ending torn miniscus midway through the season.

"And we ask them to do a lot in the screen game, to get out and make blocks down the field, which is sometimes hard for the big, fat guys. They don't like to get out there and run around, but they've done a great job of it."

The system change came after the team struggled in the I-formation last season. Rosenbach, wanting to utilize his team's greatest strength - its speed - decided to attend a conference in Houston in the offseason put on by Troy University, which has been diligent with helping high school coaches understand the spread offense.

A rejuvenated Rosenbach returned and convinced Bell to dive into a new playbook, a task that wasn't difficult.

Rosenbach's quarterback developed his knowledge of the offense and used his leadership skills to become a catalyst for the team, and week by week the Spartans have gained insight about the system as well as confidence in it.

"Defenses aren't really ready for the speed that we play at," Bedbury said. "If we go at the speed we want to go, no one in the state will be able to hang with us.

"Our team is built around speed. It's all quickness for us. This offense really utilizes that."

Although the rushing game has been favored slightly - approximately 56 percent of the plays - Bell has developed an aerial attack that leaves defenses tired and confused, and his receivers happy.

"I just try to pass it around, try to get everybody the ball just so (defenses) are not keying in on one player," Bell said. "That's what this offense is. It's trying to spread the ball around."

Which means, of course, the answer to Rosenbach's question is yes - the system works.