By Thomas Sellers Jr.
One of Brighton’s top defensive players secured his collegiate future March 18 in the Brighton Gymnasium in front of friends, family, teammates and coaches.
Darrien Lewis decided to take his talents to Bethel University to play for the Wildcats and Head Coach Michael Jasper. Jasper is familiar with defensive talent.
Jasper will enter his third year as the leader of the Wildcats. Before becoming the head coach he served as the assistant head coach and worked with the defensive line at Bethel.
The Wildcats were 3-4 last year and finished 3-4 in the Mid-South Conference in the NAIA.
Before joining the Bethel staff, Jasper served as offensive and defensive line assistant at Bishop Timon High School in Buffalo, New York. And he spent three years in the National Football League with the Buffalo Bills, New York Giants, and the Carolina Panthers.
Lewis will play under a staff with professional and college football experience. In high school Lewis was a standout earning letterman status for four years. He was named All-Region each season and was named to the All-Metro team in 2021. He was All-State in Class 5A the past season.
With his work in the classroom, Lewis was a winner of the National Football Scholar Athlete Award.
