Bethel Comes Back to Take Home Opening Win

There were times when the Bethel High football team’s offense seemed stuck in neutral, while the New Fairfield Rebels built up a nine point lead. But with time running, the Wildcats (2-1) came up big, and were able to walk away with a thrilling 29-23 win thanks to a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns from Brian Birdsell.

“We showed a lot of courage tonight,” coach Jason Gill said. “We were down pretty much the entire game, and they kept fighting. I’m very proud of my entire team, the coaching staff, everybody.”

After cutting the deficit to two early in the fourth, the Wildcats faced a fourth and two from the Rebels’ 39 with less than five minutes left. With the game hanging the balance, Gill called a timeout and delivered a simple message to his team.

Right after Gill jogged off the field, senior Brandon Schmidt connected with William Quinn for a 22-yard pass, setting the Wildcats up deep in Rebels’ territory.

“Just do what you’ve been taught to do,” Gill said. “That’s all we really expect out of our guys. They work hard in the offseason and in practice, and we just wanted to execute the way that we taught them to execute.”

Following the big completion, the Wildcats returned to the ground, where Birdsell and Schmidt picked up the final 17-yards, capped off with Birdsell’s second touchdown run of the game.

“It’s just a matter of executing,” Gill said. “You’ve got to execute when it’s time to execute. When you’re asked to do something, we need to get it down and just keep on fighting. Even if we came out on the bottom, and we didn’t quit, that would have been fine. We kept fighting, kept working hard, kept pushing forward and that’s really all that matters.”

The Wildcats pushed their lead to six when Schmidt hit Cal Daniels on a slant for the two-point conversion. Daniels finished with three receptions for sixty yards, including a touchdown.

“He was injured our first two games,” Gill said. “But he’s back and he had a fantastic game. He’s got some great hands.”

Bethel’s defense kept the Rebels’ under pressure throughout the final three minutes and limited them to a Hail Mary attempt that came up well short of the end zone and was intercepted by Birdsell as time expired.

“We knew they had to pass,” Gill said. “Your d-line doesn’t need to worry about playing the run, so they obviously can pin their ears back and try to get pressure on the QB. Our secondary did a nice job of keeping everything in front of them, and there really wasn’t anywhere for them to go, that was the key.”

Birdsell got the comeback going with a pair of big runs late in the third, part of an 80-yard, 11 play drive that was capped off with a 3-yard touchdown by Birdsell. He finished with two touchdowns and 114 yards on 17 carries.

“Brian’s a tough kid,” Gill said. “When he gets the ball he’s hard to bring down. He worked hard, he’s definitely a big part of the win along with the offensive line, the quarterback, everybody.”

The game appeared to be in jeopardy early in the third following two lost fumbles by the Wildcats that allowed the Rebels’ to build up their nine point lead.

“Turnovers are the worst thing that you can do,” Gill said. “You turn the ball over and the other team capitalizes on it, that could be deadly. It cost us the game against Pomperaug, and it could have cost us tonight’s game, but we kept fighting, kept working hard and things worked out alright.”

After New Fairfield scored on its’ first possession, Bethel’s Andre Hayles blocked the extra point, and the Wildcats took the lead a few minutes later when Quinn scored on a toss from five yards out.

Trailing 16-7 late in the first half, Schmidt completed a 37-yard touchdown pass to Daniels. Schmidt completed 5-of-7 passes for 97 yards and ran for another 77.

Defensively the Wildcats were led by Phil Daluz and Peter Serencsics. Daluz finished with nine tackles while Serencsics had seven.

“Phil is a outstanding defensive lineman,” Gill said. “He gets off blocks quickly and he’s always around the ball. He’s got a hell of a nose for the ball, whether they run to him or away from him, he’s always right in there.”

The Wildcats’ next game is Thursday at Oxford High at 4 p.m.