Box Score
LA CROSSE, Wis.- The #17 Bethel University Royals fell in the first round of the NCAA playoffs Saturday, 28-21 to the #7 UW-La Crosse Eagles despite a strong showing. With the all-time leading rusher in the MIAC Phil Porta sidelined, and the loss of standout safety Brandon Carr early on, the Royals battled but the momentum shifted late in the fourth as UW-L edged Bethel in the final eight minutes of the game to advance to the second round of the NCAA playoffs.
La Crosse started quickly taking the opening drive 65 yards on 10 plays, as running back Corey Geldernick scored on a five-yard run. After the Royals were stopped on fourth-down at the UW-L 26-yard line on its first possession, the Eagles went 74 yards on nine plays to take a 14-0 lead after quarterback John Schumann hit wide out Mike Schmidt with a five-yard touchdown pass.
Having been in a similar situation the previous week, Bethel was poised once again to make a comeback. Trailing by two possessions, the Royals responded cutting the margin to 14-7 with 10:00 left in the second quarter as Ben Wetzell scored on a three-yard run capping off a 7-play 52 yard drive. Bethel would continue the comeback with less than a minute remaining in the first half, as Mark Gaalswyk blocked UW-L's Brett Nagan's punt attempt after a bad snap from center at the Eagles' 23-yard line. The Royals then drove to the Eagles' five-yard line with :02 left. Bethel surprised UW-L bringing their kicking team to the field and forced the Eagles to call a time out. UW-L would call a second timeout after the Royals brought their offense back to the field. When all was said and done, Bethel chose to stick with the offense as Wetzell then ran in on a quarterback draw on the final play of the half to force a 14-14 tie.
The Royals would continue to build momentum when on their first possession of the second half they went 70 yards on six plays as wide receiver Aaron Bernstetter threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Lee to give Bethel a 21-14 lead. Things would turn from here, however, as UW-L tied the game with 2:02 left in the third quarter with Geldernick scoring his second touchdown of the game, this time on a one-yard run.
Early in the fourth quarter with the game tied 21-21, Bethel looked to keep the game in their hands as Ben Wetzell carried the ball 40 yards to the UW-L 11 yard line only to be called back on a controversial block in the back call. A few plays later the Royals attempted a fake punt from its own 41-yard line and Kirby Carr rushed for a Royals' first down to the 50-yardline, but Bethel again was hurt by a questionable call of holding and was forced to punt.
After three UW-L incompletions, Bethel took over at the Eagles' 49-yard line and faced a fourth-and-one at the UW-L 40. With the play clock running down, Wetzell started walking over to the Bethel sideline and the Royals tried a direct snap to Jared Bangs, but it went over his head and Bethel, forced to cover the ball at its own 45, lost the ball on downs. Six plays later UW-L regained the lead as Schumann hit Jason Wagner for the 25-yard game winning score on a third-and-five.
Bethel had one more chance late as they drove to the UW-L 15-yard line with 5:42 remaining in the game, but Wetzell's fourth down pass attempt fell incomplete and UW-L ran out the final 5:34 of the game taking a 28-21 win.
Bethel finished with 377 yards of total offense, including 239 rushing yards. Wetzell had a game-high 99 yards rushing and two touchdowns while finishing 9-of-18 passing for 93 yards and one interception. Jared Bangs had 75 yards rushing filling in for the injured Porta while Kyle Lee finished with 26 yards rushing to go with four catches for 105 yards and a touchdown. Kirby Carr also added to the Royals rushing game grabbing 52 yards on only eight attempts.
UW-L finished with 359 yards of offense, including 146 rushing yards on 45 attempts (3.2 ypc), becoming the first opponent the go over the 100-yard mark against the Royals all season. Dan Hall led the Eagles with 66 yards rushing on 18 carries while Geldernick finished with 57 yards on 19 attempts with two touchdowns. Schumann finished 15-of-27 passing for 213 yards with two touchdowns. Eric Kettenhofen led UW-L with four receptions for 71 yards.
Bethel was led defensively by Jamie Wagner who finished with 12 tackles, including eight unassisted and Zach Danielson who finished with seven tackles, six of which were solo. Ryan Herm and Steve Luebke each finished with eight total tackles and Jon Evans and Robbie Ellis added six tackles a piece.
Nick Ihde led UW-L with 14 tackles, including 10 solo. Ihde and Ken Halvorson (seven tackles) both had an interception for the Eagles. Drew Kiefer and Adam Neitzel each had eight tackles while Jon Vitkus had seven.
The Royals finish the season at 9-2 and say farewell to 19 seniors.
UW-La Crosse is now 9-1 and will rematch UW-Whitewater in the second round of the NCAA playoffs.
