Bethel (4-5, 2-4 District 2A-2) will travel to Jones (6-3, 6-0) tonight for a 7 pm kickoff. Jones is the District Champion already.
Series History: Jones leads, 16-0. First Meeting: 1998 No pair of rose-colored glasses can distort the lop-sided football history between the Wildcats and the Longhorns. Sixteen games played, sixteen Longhorn wins. Average score of those games: Jones 42, Bethel 8.
The last time Jones suffered through a losing season was in 2008, which was a playoff season that ended with five wins and six losses. Since then, the ‘Horns have won 139 and lost 36, including a state championship in ‘16, state runner-up in ‘11, and semifinal appearances in ‘15 and ‘17.
And none of any of that matters. The last time Bethel played Jones was in coach Joey Ginn’s first game of his first season in 2017. Jones won that one, 58-0. That same year, Bethel’s seventh graders “played them down to the wire,” Ginn said. Those seventh graders: tonight’s seniors.
Head to Head: By the Numbers
BETHEL JONES 143rd School Size Rank 146th 328 Enrollment 325 4-4 2022 record 6-3 8-3, First Round 2021 record 8-4, Second Round 6-4, First Round 2020 record 9-3, Second Round 5-5 2019 record 10-2, Second Round Other District 2A-2 games tonight: Kellyville (3-6, 1-5) at Crossings (7-2, 4-2), Meeker (2-7, 2-4) at Star Spencer (1-8, 0-6), Chandler (6-3, 4-2) at Luther (6-3, 5-1) Playoff Scenarios:
Jones is the district champ. Crossings is fourth. The Chandler at Luther game will decide who is district runner-up and third place. A Luther win over Chandler will guarantee Luther of second place and a home playoff game. If Crossings beats Kellyville by fifteen points, Chandler will have to beat Luther by thirteen points to secure second place. Long story short: Chandler has to beat Luther, and Crossings’ margin of victory over Kellyville will then determine how many points Chandler has to win by.
Last Week’s District 2A-2 games:
Crossings Christian 41, Meeker 19 Chandler 48, Star Spencer 0 Luther 29, Bethel 14 Jones 43, Kellyville 14 One thing’s for sure tonight: the two teams will be familiar with one another, at least among the coaches. Jones’ head coach was an assistant with Ginn during their years at Tecumseh. Jones’ offensive coordinator, Ted Dorrell, hired Ginn to serve as a graduate assistant at Choctaw while he was still in college at ECU in 2003. Jones’ defensive coordinator worked together with Brandon Blizzard at Tuttle.
Ginn says the strength Jones possesses over most of the teams in Class 2A is their depth. “They only have a few kids who play both ways. Their offensive line is not their defensive line, their quarterback isn’t also their safety.”
Ginn expects to see multiple formations out of the Longhorns when they’re on offense, but “they will still run their same plays, just out of different looks.” Jones moved last year’s sophomore running back to quarterback this season. Last year’s quarterback is at the University of Iowa now.
Ginn says the Jones’ receivers are all fast and all look alike in their uniforms. “They’re all about 5-10 to six feet tall, all weigh around 170 to 190, and they all can run.”
When the ‘Horns are on defense, Ginn expects to see a 4-3 alignment, a lot like what Bethel does, he said.
Jones is the district champ, and Bethel has not made the playoffs. But, it is the last game these seniors will ever play in a Wildcat uniform, so it will be special and important. Go BA!
