Poet John Donne must have been able to see into the future when he wrote, “No man is an iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; … And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee ….”
On Friday, the “Bell” tolled for the Heritage Academy football team.
In front of a standing-room only crowd, senior quarterback turned tailback Brandon Bell was not an island unto himself. But he made enough of an impact to lead Heritage Academy to a 48-45 double overtime victory against Caledonia.
There were plenty of pieces to the continent. Junior quarterback Cade Lott played his part. Running backs Tyler Knight, Aaron Studdard, and Tyler Marchak played their parts on offense. Blake Sharp, Mark Adams, Clint Markham, to name a few, played strong on defense.
But Bell, who transferred from Caledonia High as a junior and had friends in both stands, received all the pre-game hype. His name was plastered on signs on the home and away fences. He didn”t disappoint, as he rushed for 172 yards.
“You don”t pay that much attention to nobodys,” Heritage Academy coach Brad Butler said. “They knew how critical to this game he was.”
But Caledonia didn”t know how critical Bell would be as a running back, considering he had played quarterback for the Patriots” first two games.
“I knew at the start of the week we were going to do this,” Bell said. “We had run reps with me at running back and quarterback and I was going to play some at both positions. But the running game was going well enough that we just kept it going.”
Bell and Lott rushed for 327 yards, with Lott cashing in 155 yards on 14 carries.
“I”m sorta speechless,” Lott said. “Coming off that loss to Starkville Academy last week, playing a public school for the first time and all the trash talk that”s been going around all week … and it was their fans and our fans. We have gained confidence and momentum headed to our next game.”
The trash talk, which centered around Bell and Knight, who also transferred from Caledonia, was possibly bigger than the game. A sign along the Heritage Academy fence read “Saved by the Bell.” One along the Caledonia side said, “Can you throw it to us now?”… assuming he would be at quarterback.
But Butler threw a surprise party in the Heritage Academy backfield and 2,500 amped up fans were invited. They arrived by the bus full from Caledonia, cheering, ringing cowbells in their traitor”s honor. They left in the same yellow buses, quiet, somber, dejected, the trash talking over.
It could have ended differently, with Bell being on an island all alone and for all the wrong reasons. With the game tied at 35 and less than three minutes left in regulation, Bell fumbled the ball and when former Caledonia”s Hunter Griffin came out of the pile with it, the Confederates were poised to score the game-winning touchdown.
But the drive stalled and the teams exchanged touchdowns in the first overtime. Josh Kugel booted a 25-yard field goal on Caledonia”s possession and Knight put the finishing touches on the game with an 8-yard run, sending hundreds of Patriots faithful into a frenzy and onto the field in celebration.
“I thought after the fumble it was going to be all my fault that we lost and all the trash talk was going to be even worse,” Bell said. “It didn”t work out that way. This is special. I will remember this for the rest of my life.”
Fans from both teams will remember it, too. They will always remember for whom the bell tolls.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 38 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
