Sun, Jul 05 2009
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Published November 29, 2008 12:47 am - MENTOR -- Mike Bell is accustomed to being in a situation where great expectations constantly surround him. Bell rang true at PV Former Laker great has gone on to success as coach at Lake Catholic KARL PEARSON Star Beacon MENTOR -- Mike Bell is accustomed to being in a situation where great expectations constantly surround him.
As the head football coach at Lake Catholic, Bell’s Cougars are almost always counted upon to achieve great things, not just on the Division III, Region 9 level, but often on a statewide basis. In his seven seasons as the head coach, after three highly successful seasons as the defensive coordinator, including one state championship unit, Bell knows what it’s like to have big things expected of his team. But, in spite of all the things his teams have accomplished during his tenure and a Division III state championship they claimed in 2001 while he was the defensive coordinator, the Cougars have never achieved something under Bell’s tutelage that he was a part of as a high school player at Pymatuning Valley High School. For, as an offensive lineman for Ken Parise’s first team as Laker head coach, Bell helped PV produce the school’s only 10-0 football season in 1985. “It’s kind of nice to be able to say I was part of an undefeated team,” Bell said. “It’s something no one can ever take away from us.” He has chosen not to share that accomplishment with his Lake Catholic players. “They have their own great accomplishments and great traditions here,” Bell said. “I don’t think they need to hear about mine.” That has not diminished the sense of pride he shares in the achievements of he and his Laker teammates. In fact, there is at least a part of Bell that feels that team did something only those who have gone undefeated can truly appreciate. Lake Catholic has recorded four undefeated seasons since it began playing football in 1970, but none during Bell’s time with the Cougars. “Going 10-0 is more difficult than going to state,” Bell said. “Maintaining that level of intensity for 10 games is so difficult. “There’s nothing that lessens the pride and joy of that season. It’s fact, not fiction. I think everybody remembers that season. When we got together in 2005 for the reunion they had for that team, I hadn’t seen a lot of those guys in years. Just to see them again was so special. It brought all the memories back.” Much has happened on the gridiron for Bell since that glorious season. For his achievement during his high school career and in the years since, Bell is Pymatuning Valley’s 2008 inductee into the Ashtabula County Football Hall of Fame, which will take place Dec. 8 at the Ashtabula County Touchdown Club’s annual awards banquet. “This certainly is an honor,” Bell said. “There are a lot of great people that are already in that group. I’m honored to be one of them.” At 40, he will be the second-youngest member of the Hall of Fame, trailing only fellow 2008 inductee Mick Shoaf of Grand Valley, with whom he spent time as an assistant coach at Maple Heights. He will also be joining his old teammate, tight end John Bleshoy, in the Hall of Fame. Bleshoy, who now resides in the Atlanta, Ga. area, was inducted last year. They may not have realized it at the time, but a couple of his old high school coaches have come to realize Bell had the complete makeup to be a head football coach. Brian Cross was PV’s head coach for Bell’s first three high school seasons, while current Conneaut coach Ken Parise headed up the Lakers during that special 1985 football season. 
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