It’s been a while since a mid-season practice at L D Bell has felt this good. But it’s also been a while since the Blue Raiders started off 5 and 0. A decade as a matter of fact. In 2012, Bell started 6-0 and it was also the last season they made the postseason. Things have fallen off since then and over the past 2 years, Bell has only won 4 combined games. However, second-year head coach, T J Dibble, is in the middle of culture-changing transformation that everyone has bought into
The most glaring improvement with the Blue Raiders has been their offense. They’ve been more explosive and made more big plays. Thru the first 5 games, they have 197 points. In contrast, last year’s Bell team had 134 points all season. The players believe the credit goes to the coaches, who are deeply entrenched in Bell football. Defensive coordinator Eric Vance played on the ‘92 Blue Raider team that went 10-0. Coach Dibble’s dad was on the staff of Bell’s 1982 team that went to state. They’ve seen the Blue Raiders achieve great things and know the current team can do the same.
Bell knows the meat of their schedule comes after this bye week. And that includes a game with their nemesis from down the block. Trinity has won the last 24 meetings including shutouts in 3 of the last 5 games. The Blue Raiders are determined to continue the culture change at Bell and that would mean a victory against their biggest rivals.