BETHANY, W.Va. - The Bethany College football team led by fourth-year head coach Brandon Robinson is ready to kick off the 2025 season.

Entering his fourth season as head coach of the Bison, Coach Robinson returns 29 upperclassmen including 16 letterwinners, two All-Presidents' Athletic Conference selections, and seven Academic All-PAC honorees from last year's team that finished with an overall record of 1-9.

Quarterbacks
Brett Phillips (Wheeling, W.Va./Wheeling Park) is the only returning member of the 2024 quarterback room and will be under center again after becoming the program's first 2,000-yard passer since 2015. Phillips was third in the PAC in completions with 175 on 305 attempts, was fifth in the conference in yards with 2,042, and was fifth in the conference in touchdowns with 17 leading him to a PAC Honorable Mention. 

Running Backs
Three of the Bison's five leading rushers from last season return with two coming from backs TJ Owensby (Cincinnati, Ohio/Lakota West) and Richard Buchannon (East Cleveland, Ohio/Euclid). Owensby rushed for 140 yards last season on 58 attempts while Buchannon rushed for one touchdown on 27 attempts. The two speedsters will get plenty of the handoffs this season as they lead a young running back group.

Tight Ends
The Bison return three veteran tight ends including Elijah Moffatt (Atlanta, Ga./New Manchester) who is the team's returning receiving leader. Through all 10 games, Moffatt had 23 receptions for 366 yards and five touchdowns, and looks to make a massive impact on the Green and White offense in his senior season. Xavier Cole (Belleville, Ill./Belleville West) also returns as does Xavier Essex (Greenbelt, Md./Annapolis Area Christian) who makes the position change from quarterback.

Wide Receivers
Jacob Burns (Charleston, W.Va./Herbert Hoover) will lead the deep wide receiving platoon after appearing in eight games where he had 14 receptions for 180 yards placing him sixth on the team in receiving last season. Senior Jaden Allen (Euless, Texas/Trinity) and Brian Butler (San Bernardino, Calif./J.W. North) round out the returning receivers and will be set to lead the newest members of the Bison.

Offensive Line
Elijah Morgan-Washington (Greensburg, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic) returns as the lone starter up front for the Bison, but Roman Frankovich (Pittsburgh, Pa./Our Lady of the Sacred Heart) and Alex Beaver (Bethesda, Ohio/Union Local) can also expect to see some starting time on the Bethany line. Also returning in the trenches for the Bison is Chris Feuchtwanger (Manassas, Va./Charles J. Colgan) and Cyrus Brown (Clinton, Md/Surrattsville).

Defensive Line
The D-Line will be led by end Amarion Williams (Miami, Fla./South Dade) who returns as the team's leading tackler with a career-high 60 tackles including 27 solos. He also led the Green and White with seven sacks and will continue to be a threat up front this season. Grant Snyder (Parkersburg, W.Va.) will also continue to be a force for opposing teams after appearing in all 10 games in each of the last two seasons and registering 28 tackles in 2024. TJ Tabor (Memphis, Tenn./Germantown), Tristan Tubbs (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston), and Dom Zenkovich (Washington, Pa./Trinity) all return after making an impact on the Bison defense in 2024 as well as senior Xavier Lewis-Everson (Hampton, Va./Bethel). Jalen Britton (Prince George, Va.) will also return for the Bison after missing last season. 

Linebackers
The Bison linebacking corps returns an experienced duo of sophomores in Cam Bailey (Huntington, W.Va./Spring Valley) and Kainoa Valles-Blackwell (Buena Park, Calif./Western). Bailey appeared in eight games in 2024 and totaled 11 tackles and one fumble recovery while Valles-Blackwell made six total tackles through six games. Jake Toohey (Behtesda, Ohio/Union Local) also returns for his sophomore season and will serve as an upperclassman leader for the defense.

Defensive Backs 
The secondary brings back four players who are slated to be regular starters: Devan Colson (Weirton, W.Va./Weir), Blaike Adams (Parsons, W.Va./Tucker County), Khaleel Berry (Peoria, Ill./Jenks), and Josh Shepperson (Yorba Linda, Calif./Western). Colson and Adams will be the safeties and will also field punts for the Bison this year. In 2024, Colson tallied 36 tackles in nine games while also leading the team with two interceptions. Adams will make his defensive debut in 2025, but fielded four kick returns and two punt returns last year for a total of 57 yards. Despite limited time last season, Berry and Shepperson will be the ones to hold down the boundaries at corner.

Special Teams
Caden Langley (Wellsburg, W.Va./Brooke) returns as the Bison kicker this season. Langley had one punting attempt last season for 43 yards and will assume the field goal, kick-off, and punting duties for the Green and White.

The Bison open the 2025 season on Saturday, Sept. 6 as they host Sewanee (Tenn.), The University of the South, on Don Ault Field at Bison Stadium at 12 p.m.