No football player steamrolled Free State High this fall like Olathe East’s Dee Bell.

“He’s a great back,” Firebirds’ defensive lineman Mikel Ruder said of the Hawks’ fleet senior. “He’s strong and extremely fast.”

Bell rambled for 220 yards when the Firebirds outlasted O-East nine weeks ago at Haskell Stadium.

“Hopefully, we’ll do a little better job of stopping him this time,” Ruder said.

Tonight’s rematch will be in the Class 6A state playoffs quarterfinals. Kickoff will be at 7 p.m. at Olathe’s College Boulevard Activities Center.

Surrendering more than 200 yards to Bell was certainly no disgrace in that 33-28 squeaker. The 5-foot-10, 175-pound senior did, after all, lead the Sunflower League in rushing with 1,510 yards, yet no other ball carrier even reached the century mark against the Firebirds.

“That was our second game,” senior linebacker Andy Petz said, “and we’ve become a lot better on defense.”

Nevertheless, it’s unrealistic to expect the Firebirds to hold Bell under 100 yards, but they vow they’ll give it a shot.

“We’ve got to come out harder,” senior linebacker Jimmy Bruce said, “and try to slow him down. He’s fast, but there’s nothing our defense can’t do to come close to stopping him.”

In that first meeting in early September, the Firebirds raced to a 33-14 halftime bulge but failed to score in the second half when a handful of players – notably Ryan Murphy, Brian Murphy and Petz – were battling cramps.

“A lot of Bell’s yardage came late,” Free State coach Bob Lisher said, “and we need to eliminate that.”

Free State's Ryan Murphy (8) drags down Olathe East running back Dee Bell. Bell gouged Free State's defense for 220 yards in the Firebirds' 33-28 victory Sept. 8, the narrowest victory of Free State's undefeated season.

If the Firebirds don’t, they’ll be eliminated from the playoffs and this storybook season – the best in the school’s decade of existence – will have an unhappy ending.

On the field, stopping Bell is a priority, but the Firebirds also will be facing the second-game syndrome. Lisher concedes it is difficult to defeat a team, particularly one as talented as Olathe East, twice in the same season.

“They will have a little more motivation,” Lisher said, “but if we execute, we’ll be all right.”

On the flip side, the Firebirds would seem to have an emotional carrot, too, after Olathe East coach Jeff Meyers went on record guaranteeing the Hawks will win.

For their part, however, the Firebirds don’t seem to put much stock in Meyers’ comment.

“I kind of just laughed at it,” Petz said. “Obviously, we’re not going to get in a words battle. That’s not what we do.”

Echoed Ruder: “That’s just something to get his team fired up. It’s just a quote, that’s all.”

In the same vein, asked for his reaction to Meyers’ boast, Bruce said: “I have no reaction. We’ll just come out and play hard.”

Notes: Starting linebacker Ryder Werts, who was held out last week with a shoulder injury, is probable, but Caleb Gress will likely start in Werts’ place. : Olathe East’s only defeats have been to Sunflower League co-champions Free State (33-29) and Shawnee Mission West (35-6). : Brian Murphy, who has missed the equivalent of nearly three games with cramping and ankle woes, needs 27 rushing yards to reach 1,000. :