The Monon Bell Rivalry by Tyler James

Author:Tyler James
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing Inc.
Published: 2013-11-18T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

1986: A SHIFT FROM HOUSE

WABASH 24, DEPAUW 23

Bill Kaiser’s legacy came with a lot of bruises. In the 1985 matchup between DePauw and Wabash, Kaiser carried a heavy load for the Little Giants. Fifty eight times the junior running back from Jasper, Indiana, was asked to carry the football for Wabash’s offense. Setting a Division III record for carries in a game, Kaiser racked up 211 yards in a 28–8 Monon Bell victory. He stamped his mark on the rivalry, and the rivalry repaid him with some black-and-blue body parts. At one point, Kaiser carried the ball on twenty-three consecutive offensive plays for Wabash. He became friends with an oxygen machine at halftime trying to catch his breath. The bruises would settle in later, and a broken finger would have an entire offseason to heal. After getting his hand stuck in a defender’s facemask, he ran quickly to the sideline between plays to have a trainer tape the injured finger to a healthy one. He remained in the game, and Wabash scored a touchdown on the next play.

The 1986 season brought new challenges for Kaiser. Defenses knew stopping the record-setting running back was the key to limiting the Little Giants, especially the rivals down in Greencastle. After the ’85 campaign resulted in 1,465 yards for Kaiser, he was held to just 638 yards through the first eight games of the ’86 season. Certainly the DePauw Tiger defense would be hell-bent on shutting down Kaiser as a senior in the ninety-third Monon Bell Classic. “That happened all year. After that point, I had a big target on my back,” Kaiser said. “There were other things that we had to do. One thing about Division III football is there are always a lot of guys that can step up and do different things. People come out and have great games.”

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