Bethel Team Preview
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It’s the month of July and that means it’s preview time! Throughout the month of July, we are publishing 100 team previews to get you ready for the 2022 season. This is something that began last year and has become even bigger and better this year. We’re looking forward to diving deep into the top teams across the state. From defending champs, to top contenders and dark horses, we’ll have complete coverage every single day with new teams from Class 6A down to A. In this post, we take a look at the Bethel Wildcats. The Wildcats come in at #9 in our 2A preseason rankings and they’re ready to take the next step as a program.
Bethel Wildcats (2A Preseason Ranking: #9)
The Bethel Wildcats come into the 2022 season looking to build off the momentum from last year and the last few seasons overall. Bethel is #9 in our Class 2A rankings in the preseason and they are coming off an 8-3 record and they tripped up in the first round. Bethel would start the season 4-0 on the year and then suffered a blowout loss to Washington and then a low scoring affair against Community Christian in week nine. Those losses would drop Bethel in the district standings and they had a showdown with Lindsay in the first round of the playoffs. The Wildcats would fall 26-21 but despite the first round loss, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the Wildcat football program as they enter 2022.
Up first, they’ll need to replace the production of stars Corey Metscher and John Gordon on offense and defense, which is easier said than done. But Bethel does bring back six starters on the offensive side of the ball. They also bring back four starters on defense. But the good news for Bethel is they bring back some studs on the offensive line that have a ton of experience and they’ll combine that with a young quarterback that was one of the freshmen that started last season across Oklahoma. The defense will be a work in progress with so many new faces but they also bring back a young star in the making at the linebacker position, which should help some of the other new starters come along. Bethel’s biggest hurdle won’t be the new starters, it’ll be their district, which is one of the toughest in Class 2A. Three teams out of this district, including Bethel, are all in the preseason top ten.
2021 Results (8-3 Record – Lost In Class 2A 1st Round)
Sept. 3 – Beat Meeker 46-29
Sept. 10 – Beat McLoud 41-34
Sept. 17 – Beat Little Axe 50-14
Sept. 24 – Beat Christian Heritage 32-14
Oct. 1 – Lost To Washington 56-18
Oct. 8 – Beat Crooked Oak 44-13
Oct. 14 – Beat Holdenville 67-13
Oct. 22 – Beat Lexington 44-7
Oct. 28 – Lost To Community Christian 13-0
Nov. 5 – Beat Purcell 34-13
1st Round – Lost To Lindsay 26-21
Key Losses To Graduation
Connor Hall – Defensive Lineman
Corey Metscher – Running Back/Linebacker
Dominick Contreras – Offensive/Defensive Lineman
John Gordon – Wide Receiver/Defensive Back
Michael Parson – Defensive Lineman
TJ Ramsey – Defensive Lineman
Players To Watch
Austin Melson
Austin
Melson
6'1" | 215 lbs | LB
Bethel | 2025
State
OK
– 2025 Linebacker
The first of two 2025 prospects for this Bethel team to be excited about is linebacker
Austin Melson
Austin
Melson
6'1" | 215 lbs | LB
Bethel | 2025
State
OK
. We mentioned earlier how one of the top players that Bethel has to replace is Corey Metscher and Melson could be that guy, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Melson started last season at the middle linebacker spot and he definitely has a bright future with the Wildcats. If the Bethel coaches trusted him enough as a freshman to be their middle linebacker, what is he going to look like when his high school career is coming to a close? As a freshman, Melson finished with well over 100 tackles and we’re very interested to see what kind of production he has this fall.
Bryce Tapley
Bryce
Tapley
6'0" | 145 lbs | QB
Bethel | 2025
OK
– 2025 Quarterback
The other 2025 star in the making is Bethel quarterback
Bryce Tapley
Bryce
Tapley
6'0" | 145 lbs | QB
Bethel | 2025
OK
. Oklahoma saw several 2025 quarterbacks emerge all across the state last season but mainly in the larger classes. Tapley was one of the few freshmen that started and really did a great job for a small school program. Tapley threw for nearly 2,300 yards and 25 touchdowns with only 6 interceptions on the season. His 64% completion percentage is outstanding for a freshman and we’re interested to see just how his production explodes this fall with his workload within the offense going up. We expect him to throw it quite a bit more than he did last season as he’s more familiar with the offense.
CJ Compton
CJ
Compton
6'5" | 290 lbs | OL
Bethel | 2023
State
OK
– 2023 Offensive Lineman
While the first two players to keep an eye on have plenty of high school football ahead of them, our last spotlight is on a Bethel prospect that will be a four-year starter for the Wildcats. 2023 offensive lineman
CJ Compton
CJ
Compton
6'5" | 290 lbs | OL
Bethel | 2023
State
OK
has played a few different positions along the offensive line for Bethel but this fall, he’ll be settling into the center position. Compton has been on the 2023 radar for offensive linemen for a few years now and Compton is one of the more dominating run blockers in the class. We’re interested to see how he makes the transition to the center position this fall. He started as a tackle, moved to guard and is now playing center this fall.
More Names To Know
Alex Tollett – 2023 Offensive/Defensive Lineman
Benjamin Morton – 2024 Offensive Lineman
Brady Lower – 2024 Running Back
Brayden McGinty – 2024 Offensive/Defensive Lineman
Gabriel Palomares – 2024 Kicker
John Allred – 2023 Running Back/Linebacker
Reagan Curry – 2024 Wide Receiver/Defensive Back
2022 Schedule/Games To Watch
Sept. 2 – Classen SAS
Sept. 9 – AT McLoud
Sept. 16 – Little Axe
Sept. 23 – AT Meeker
Sept. 30 – AT Kellyville
Oct. 7 – Chandler
Oct. 13 – Star Spencer
Oct. 21 – AT Crossings Christian
– Bethel played in a tough district last season and despite the districts getting shuffled around, the Wildcats will still have a tough district slate. They could go 3-0 after non-district play and they’ll need that momentum going into the district. We mentioned three district teams being in the top ten going into the season and Crossings Christian is one of them. This is the first of two big district match-ups that will make or break Bethel’s shots of winning the district championship. In Class 2A, it’s an absolute gauntlet once the playoffs begin, so winning the district championship is incredibly important to set yourself up in the playoffs.
Oct. 28 – Luther
Nov. 4 – AT Jones
– Two weeks after playing Crossings Christian on the road, the Wildcats return to the road to face Jones in the regular season finale. By week ten, the Wildcats will know exactly where they stand within the district and what they need to do to set themselves up for the best possible seed. Not only is Bethel in a tough district where they’ll have to scratch and claw for playoff positioning, they have the unlucky draw that their toughest district games are both on the road. If Bethel can get wins over Crossings and Jones, or at least split the two meetings, they’ll have a shot at winning the district. Or at the very least, hosting a first round playoff game.
Notable
Bethel comes into this season as a top ten team in Class 2A and expect to not only make the playoffs, but they expect to make a deep run in the postseason. Bethel is looking to build a program that becomes a contender year after year and there’s no doubt that they have the talent on their roster to do just that. But they don’t have the history or tradition yet. Bethel has made a total of four playoff appearances in school history with only one playoff victory and that came in 2020. They fell in a close one to Lindsay in the first round last season. Bethel is looking to build that tradition and they have a roster full of experienced and young talent that could set them up for a bit of a run over the next few seasons.
Championship History
0 State Championships