Bell comes through when team needs him most

Karl Henkel
The South End

In his first two seasons, Joique Bell was an all-world running back, rushing for nearly 3,500 yards, scoring 51 touchdowns (on the ground, through the air and on special teams) and being the total-package for the Wayne State offense.
This season, though, has been challenging for the junior from Benton Harbor. The opposition has held him to under 100 yards rushing in five games — a feat that was only accomplished by four teams in 2006 and 2007.
He has battled through injury and a short spurt of fumbalitis, but has kept on churning without a fuss the entire season.
And in the Oct. 25 contest against Hillsdale, when his team needed a score to keep its playoff hopes alive, Bell put the load on his own shoulders.
Halfway through the fourth quarter, the Warriors started their would-be winning drive at their own 33-yard line.
Bell rush for nine. Mix in Daryl Graham for a few carries. Bell for 11. Bell for 5. A little more Graham. Bell for 12.
Then, the capper — Bell’s signature lunge over the pile for six — points, that is.
It was a capper not only in victory, but also in the personal accomplishment sense, as Bell passed WSU hall of famer Joe Gough for career rushing yards in school history.
Through an injury that almost kept him out of action and after a decreased workload in the first half, Bell came out of halftime with an inspired effort.
“It was agonizing,” Bell said of the injury, “but you’ve gotta fight through it. Your team needs you and you gotta put the team before yourself.”
He then added his signature line.
“I wasn’t injured — I was hurt.”
He forgot to mention — and modestly so — that he was also as good as ever.
Not to take anything away from the defense, which held an opponent to 10 points or less for the sixth time in nine games, or the efficiency of quarterback Kevin Smith, or even the always-steady presence of the offensive line, but on this day it was Bell who was the poster-boy for the victory.
After the game, Gough raced down to the field to congratulate Bell on his most-recent record-breaking run. It’s happened more than once this season — Bell overtaking Gough in multiple categories.
For Bell, though, there is one more place he’d like to see his name — the playoffs. And for that, he’ll be the one leading the way.

Comments

Be the first to comment on this article!

Add comment


I am not posting spam. I understand posting spam or other comments that are unrelated to this article will cause my comment to be flagged for deletion and possibly cause my IP address to be permanently banned from this server.

Verify you are human:

Enter the characters in the image above: