Box Score

ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - Bethel faced the Knights from Carleton today in their home finale and came away with a 41-0 win. The Royal offense worked on all cylinders as they out-gained the Knights on the ground and through the air. Bethel quarterback Ben Wetzell led the way, completing 17 of 22 passes for 257 yards and four touchdowns, all to different receivers.

On Bethel's opening play, Wetzell found WR Kyle Lee open deep for a 55 yard strike, which set the tone for the rest of the game. The opening drive ended when Wetzell found TE Eric Fornshell for a 15 yard TD strike. Bethel's second drive stalled at the Carleton 14, but K Jason Holmertz made up for a missed extra point earlier, making a 31-yard field goal to make the score 9-0. Bethel's third touchdown of the first quarter was a 5-yard run by RB Phil Porta, who ended the day rushing for 141 yards and a score. After another missed PAT the score remained 15-0 after a quarter of play.

Bethel scored two more times in the second quarter. First on a 68-yard pass from Wetzell to WR Nate Porter, and the second on an 11-yard fade to Lee. Once again both PAT's failed leading to a halftime score of 27-0.

In the third the scoring continued for the Royals as RB Ross Muellenberg found a hole and took it 55-yards for the TD. On Bethel's very next drive they moved the ball 69 yards on six-plays which was capped off by a 34-yard TD pass from Wetzell to senior WR Luke Hanson, making the final 41-0.

Kyle Lee led all Bethel receivers with five catches for 85 yards and one score while Nate Porter finished with four receptions for 81 yards and a score. Overall Bethel had 623 yards of total offense on 89-plays, with 343 of that coming on the ground while also gaining 30 first downs. Defensively Bethel was led by senior DE Jake Schneider who had seven tackles, including a half of a sack and four tackles for a loss. Bethel also had four interceptions on the day, two by sophomore cornerback Ryan Herm. Bethel held the Carleton offense to only eight first downs and 152 yards of total offense on 61-plays. The Royals also held the Knights to only 50 yards rushing.

Carleton's offense was led by QB's Darren Caspers and John Hollowed who combined for 86 yards passing. Defensively for the Knights LB's Randy Foss and Jared Phelps had 13 and 12 tackles, respectively as Phelps also forced a fumble.

Bethel moves to 4-4 overall and 3-3 in MIAC play while Carleton falls to 3-5 overall, and 1-5 in the conference. The Royals travel to the Metrodome for a Friday afternoon match-up against Augsburg College as Carleton returns home to host Gustavus next Saturday.