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PAGE 2C
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September 16, 2010

WEB EXCLUSIVE: The Tiger football team heads to Jackson on Friday. www.heritage.com

SPORTS
VOICES Bishop likes his
role on the field

DAVE
MERCHANT

Belleville
football
improving
he football team at

T Belleville High School

is looking a bit differ-
ent this season.
Whether it is the
coaching or the kids it is
hard to say. The only thing I
know for sure is that they are
a much better squad this
year.
Last year, they fell to
Dearborn Fordson 56-0 and
it was perhaps the ugliest
football game I have watched
at the high school level. Okay,
maybe that is an exaggera-
tion, but if it is it is not by
much. Fordson scored every
time they touched the ball
and the Tigers could do little
more than watch as the game
slipped away and got really
ugly.
This was not the case this
year. The locals lost 36-26 and
made it a much closer game
this season.
According to Tiger coach
Matt Davenport the Fordson
coach (who was the coach
last season) even said what a
difference a year had made
and how much better the
team was now.
They have gotten better but
they only have a 1-2 record to
show for it. A one-point loss Photo by Dave Merchant
to Saline in the opener and a Belleville’s Brian Bishop likes to play football and it doesn’t
10-point loss to Fordson has matter whether it is defense or offense he likes to be on the
showed improvement but not field for every play.
in the win column.
Davenport said he truly By Dave Merchant even Hillsdale, but he knows
believes if his team works
Heritage Newspapers he would like to continue on
hard and plays hard they the gridiron after he graduates
can beat Jackson Northwest The Bellevile Tigers football from Belleville High School.
on the road tomorrow. That team has some talent on the Bishop will either study busi-
win and a 2-2 or .500 record offensive and defensive side of ness or mechanical engineering
would be something this the ball. One of those talented in college. His grade point aver-
program hasn’t seen in years players this season is senior age is 3.5.
and something the players on A Belleville football player carries the ball during a recent game. tight end and defensive back He knows the tradition of
the varsity level at BHS may Brian Bishop. football at BHS runs deep with
have never seen. “I have been on varsity for such former players as Kris
two years,” Bishop said. “We Jenkins and Cullen Jenkins

Tigers fall to Tractors

Working hard, playing
hard and cutting down on
the penalties are important
to any program. If this pro-
gram wants to get to that elu-
sive sixth win and yes I mean
talking about football then
need to step it up.
That means not taking any
downs or series in the game
off and that means keeping
a positive attitude and cheer-
ing up the team on every play.
Football boys and girls is a
lot like life. It has its ups and
downs like a roller coaster,
but the key is to keep it under
control and ride out the
bumpy spots so the ups are
even better and the downs
are not so bad.
It really is true that foot-
ball is a good analogy for life.
We all have to do things we
don’t like, the trick is to do
the best you can when you
can and remember that these
times may turn out to be the
best times of your life.
By Dave Merchant
Heritage Newspapers
The Tigers let one slip away
from them on Friday night
in front of a home crowd
at Rynearson Stadium.
Belleville took the lead in the
third quarter, but fell to the
Dearborn Fordson Tractors
36-26 in the end.
Fordson scored first in
the game and led 6-0 after a
missed extra point attempt.
The Tractors would add a
field goal in the second quar-
ter to lead 9-0 at the half.
Belleville came out on
fire in the third quarter and
scored on an eight-yard run
by Lamont Howard. The con-
version failed and the Tigers
trailed 9-6. The score was set
up by a 27-yard pass comple-
tion from Brendon Temple to
JaVaunte Mackson. Shaquille
Smith also had a big 12-
yard run in the drive.
Fordson came back and
drove the ball in for a touch-
down. On the next set of
downs junior running back
Craig Cannon took the ball
back 96 yards on the kickoff
to make it a 15-13 game.
Belleville’s kicker missed
the ball and it bounced off
a Fordson player and Bel-
leville recovered the kick.
Smith then ran the ball in
from 43 yards out to give the
locals a 19-15 lead.
“I felt we had the
momentum at that point,”
Tiger coach Matt Davenport
said. “It was a crazy six and
half minutes.”
Fordson would score
two more times in the
fourth quarter to lead 36-19.
Belleville’s Scott Powell con-
nected late in the game to Jeff
Burroughs on a 76-yard pass
for final Tiger score. Fordson
would end the game on the
Belleville one-yard line by
taking a knee.
“I thought we had the best
week of practice I had seen at
Belleville in the last five years,”
Davenport said.” Fordson is a
good team, but we are much
better than last year.”
have a different captain every
week and I have been a captain
this year.”
One of the big differences
on the team this season has
been the way they have come
together on the field.
“Our attitude is a lot differ-
ent than last year,” he said.
“This year in practice we are
more focused and that gives
us a different attitude in the
game. This year we know we
are good.”
His favorite parts of the
game are blocking and hitting.
He doesn’t run the ball but he
has been known to catch a pass
or two and run down field.
He has been playing football
since he was 9-years-old when
he started in little league.
“I have been playing every
year since,” he said. “I like
playing both ways.”
His hope is to play football
in college, Bishop is not sure
if that will be Hope College or
(current NFL players) and Ian
Gold who retired from the NFL.
“We definitely have talent
this year,” he said. “We are also
more focused on what we need
to do.”
Belleville coach Matt
Davenport likes the type of
player that Bishop has become.
“He was the most consistent
player as a junior,” Davenport
said. “He never came off of the
field on offense or defense. He
pushes himself to be the best he
can and is a team leader.”
His parents Bob and Tammy
Bishop are big supporters of
his game as are his grand par-
ents who come to every single
contest.
Bishop offers some simple,
but true advice to anyone who
wants to make it at the varsity
level.
“Never take a play off,” he
said. “Always have a good atti-
tude and work your butt off.”

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