Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

SOLON – Just over a year ago Solon senior quarterback Tyler Bell had a football debut to forget.

In his first varsity start Bell completed just five of his 25 pass attempts for meager nine yards and threw an interception in a 34-7 season-opening loss to Davenport Assumption.

It certainly wasn’t a career-opening performance Bell wanted to remember forever.

What has set Bell apart from many other quarterbacks is over the last 12 months he hasn’t tried to forget that loss.

Instead of trying to forget,  he’s embraced it, studied it and learned from it no matter how hard those lessons have been.

“I’ve watched it a few times actually,” Bell said of the loss to the Knights. “It just makes me want to throw up. I was so immature, I didn’t really know what was going on, it’s good to see how much I’ve grown since then and how much I’ve matured.”

No one wants to rewatch a bad movie.

Now imagine you are starring in that movie.

That’s sort of the scenario for Bell who followed up that first game by leading Solon to 10 consecutive wins and a spot in the Class 3A semifinals.

“I think it speaks a lot to his resilience and who he is as a person more than anything,” Solon coach Lucas Stanton said of Bell. “He had a lot of support from teammates that helped but that’s kind of Ty. One of his biggest attributes is he just stays even keel. I think last year kind of proves that to bounce back how he did from that.”

Bell wouldn’t let his first-game struggles define his season.

He bounced back and by the end of the season was playing as well as any quarterback in Class 3A.

The first step for Bell following the Assumption game was to relax.

After earning the quarterback job in fall camp last season he entered the opener trying to prove he belonged behind center.

“Going into that game I was stepping into the shoes of Cam Miller, Blake Timmons, great players before me and I was in a competition and wasn’t 100 percent sure I was going to be the starter and I felt like I had to prove myself and when you are play like that you are going to play bad,” Bell said. “You have to just go out and play loose. As we progressed through the season I just felt better and better about it. I don’t need to prove anything I just need to go out and play my game.”

The more Bell played last season the better he got.

His breakthrough came in a 41-6 week-three win over Central DeWitt when he completed 8-of-12 passes for 145 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

“The first touchdown pass against Central DeWitt was when I knew I was fine,” Bell said. “Just getting that first touchdown out of the way was huge. I felt like could do it and I could do it again now. That game I had three touchdowns and I started to feel like I was ready for this.”

Bell was at his best during the Spartans’ run through the 3A playoffs.

The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Bell threw for three touchdowns in an opening-round playoff win over Fort Madison and had his best game in a 36-35 quarterfinal win over West Delaware completing 18-of-24 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns in the win over the Hawks.

Bell passed for 224 yards and a touchdown but had four interceptions in a semifinal loss to Williamsburg.

“He isn’t the most vocal guy, he’s pretty quiet just by nature so sometimes it’s hard to see where he was really coachable,” Stanton said. “He took the coaching really well and listened to what we were trying to have him do and he responded really well.”

Unlike last season Bell entered fall camp as the starter.

He’s bigger and stronger.

He is more experienced and more confident and all of those things are evident in his play.

“The game is coming a lot easier for him which happens after you’ve played 12 games,” Stanton said. “Right now the area that I’ve liked is his arm has gotten stronger and his legs have gotten stronger and he’s starting to run the ball more which is what we need him to do if we are going to have the success that we want to have.”

The final numbers for Bell last season were solid.

He completed 56 percent of his passes while throwing for 1,434 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Those numbers should all spike this season in his second season as the starter.

“I think I’ve gotten better in every area starting with the offseason weight room,” Bell said. “Football, I feel more mature, I have better decision making, I just feel more ready. I feel like I’m in mid-season form right now.”

Solon opens the season on Friday hosting Davenport Assumption.

In preparation for this year’s opener Bell has watched last year’s game.

This year Bell feels different.

“I have a better feel for my guys, I have a better feel for the playbook and how each guy does their own thing,” Bell said. “That chemistry and bond is much better this year and I have a better feel for who’s on the field.”

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