How good is Bishop Carroll?

Even with Joe Brown sitting out the first game of the season at Wichita Heights recovering from a broken leg suffered over the summer, Carroll coach Alan Schuckman must have felt okay with things - he just must have, with junior quarterback Blake Bell about to hit the scene. Bell was on recruiting radar before he took a snap as a high school quarterback, but still, few but Schuckman could have known he'd be this good. Maybe Schuckman didn't even know. When does anyone pass for over 300 yards in his first two high school starts and lead his team to 60 points scored. And it could have been more; Carroll turned the ball over twice deep in their opponent's territory in each of its games against Heights and Northwest. The fact that Bell made the Heights secondary look slow in their reactions is telling; Heights has the quickest defensive secondary in the state. The less obvious value of Bell is the result of his outstanding mobility in and out of the pocket. He has been sacked only twice, and credit for that stat is due not only to the offensive line, but to Bell as well. Now consider that Bell was just a wideout last season as a sophomore, compiling 371 yards receiving. It's easy to wonder how potent he could have made Carroll on offense last fall. Such an idea could have become an issue last season, as Carroll marched to its first state title game since 1978. But it wasn't - because the Bell family isn't like that, Schuckman says. "He's really had time to develop. Playing wideout has helped him at quarterback," Schuckman says of Bell, who has proven to be a leader beyond his experience so far this season. "He had to be a team player [last year). I get a lot of parents coming to me and saying their kid shouldn't be on the freshman team [because they're good enough for JV or varsity], and I have to tell them they should feel good about the fact that they're on the freshman team. It was never that way with the Bell family. They could have, but they knew the time would come. "Now Blake thinks about whatever he can do to help the receivers - that a quarterback needs to hit his receiver in his zone - he understands their standpoint." Carroll's offense likely has more potential for a quick score than any other team in Kansas. They will be able to put up points on the board against anyone in the state with Bell, Brown, Nick Johansen and Nick Seiler. The question mark is on defense, usually Carroll's backbone. "We have long way to go defensively, and that's where championships are won," says Schuckman. "We have better players [on defense] than we've had in certain years, but the defense was better [in those other years] because it gave more effort. Our guys don't know what it takes yet." No matter, Carroll will continue to be a blast to watch on offense this year. "It's a high-risk offense," says Schuckman of the incessant passing they've shown so far (over 30 attempts by Bell both games). "We're going to keep winging it around." Good for us.