When he first started practicing with the Ohio Dominican University’s football team in the fall of 2010, senior Justin Bell had a hard time attracting the coaching staff’s attention. After transferring from the University of Toledo, the defensive back didn’t go through the spring practices and sat on the bench during a 2-8 season in 2010. Bell isn’t overlooked any more. He was selected as the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference’s defensive back of the year on Nov. 22. “I went from being someone who wasn’t noticed at all to being a primary player,” Bell says. “After spring ball, the coaches kind of know what route they’re going to take into the fall. The coaches weren’t able to see me play and I wasn’t able to show what I had. I had to climb up from there.” Bell made the climb and then some. He has been a first team all-conference selection in both 2012 and 2013. During the regular season this fall, Bell had 87 tackles (52 solo), two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, four pass breakups and an interception. As he enters the playoffs, Bell has the most forced fumbles (seven) in ODU’s history and is in second place for the most tackles (280) and fumble recovery (six) categories. “Justin’s a phenomenal young man,” says Cougars coach Bill Conley, whose team is 10-0 overall before facing West Texas A&M in the second round of the NCAA Division II tournament on Nov. 30. “He plays safety for us but he’ll play corner some times. He returns punts. He’s Mr. Versatile.” Ohio Dominican has been part of Ohio’s domination of the college football win streaks. Currently Ohio State (23 consecutive games after defeating Indiana 42-14 on Nov. 23), the Cougars (15) and Mount Union (26 consecutive games after defeating Washington & Jefferson 34-20 on Nov. 23) have the longest winning streaks in Division I, II and III respectively. Bell says winning streaks are like Christmas ornaments. They can be easily broken if one doesn’t handle them properly. “That just proves (Ohio’s a very strong football state) right there,” Bell says. “Every opponent we have coming up (in the playoffs) is tough. We can lose any time if we’re not focused.” Defense has been a big part of ODU’s first GLIAC championship and its first Division II playoff berth this year. The Cougars, who allowed only 16.5 points a game, was the top defense among all 15 teams in the GLIAC. Conley, the GLIAC coach of the year, says first-year defensive coordinator Kelly Cummings has done a “phenomenal job” in putting together a new, aggressive-style defense. “We try to mix up coverage and give some pre-snap reads to the offense that we’re not necessarily going to end up in,” Conley says. Conley says Bell’s role is to be “a field general in the secondary.” He sets the coverage in the secondary and then communicating that information to the linebackers. Last year Bell expanded his role on the team to returning punts as well as anchoring the defense. “I was played on punt returns since little league but when I started to play, they just had me on defense,” Bell says. “I had to beg them to basically let me get a shot at punt return.” When he was first given the chance, he made the most of it. In a 57-6 win over Virginia-Lynchburg in last year’s season opener, Bell returned a punt for 53 yards, then a school record, to set up a field goal. “After that, the coaches went ‘OK, let’s give him a shot,’” says Bell, who averaged 15.1 yards a return this season. “Ever since then, I have been returning punts.” Bell broke his own return record this year. Facing ninth-ranked Grand Valley State on Sept. 28, Bell had a 91-yard punt return for a touchdown to give the Cougars 10-0 lead. The return, which tied a conference record for longest return, jump started ODU’s 57-14 win. Bell says he couldn’t sleep the night before that game. “The coaches put together a return plan for that game,” he says. “Once they punted the ball, I was able to catch the ball with space. I saw a hole open up right in front of me just like the coach had diagrammed on paper.” Bell is used to playing at a high level. His sophomore year of high school, he moved to Groveport where he was a second team all-state selection his senior year and played basketball and track. He still holds the Cruisers school record for interceptions in a game (three). Bell relished the chance to play with his cousin, Le’Veon Bell, a running back for the Cruisers. Le’Veon Bell went on to rush for 3,346 yards and 33 touchdowns as a running back for Michigan State and was a second round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers last year. So far this season, the former Spartan has rushed for 375 yards and four TDs before facing the Browns on Nov. 24. “He wants to be just like his cousin,” Conley says. “(Le’Veon’s success) has been a great motivator for him.” Justin Bell talks with his cousin every other day. “We competed with each other in a good way,” he says. “We took what we learned from each other and executed it against opponents. “It’s great to see him perform at a level we always dreamed about playing as kids. He tells me ‘You have to get here (to the NFL), man.’” Bell faces an uphill climb to make it to the NFL ranks. Last year only 11 players from Division II colleges were selected in the NFL draft. The highest was Missouri Southern defensive tackle Brandon Williams, who was taken by Baltimore with the 32nd pick in the third round. “I realize everybody doesn’t make it to the next level but that’s always been my dream, to take my game to the next level,” Bell says.