Box Score
ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - Nearly 10,000 football fans were on hand at Royal Stadium to watch #16 Bethel take on #3 St. John's for the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title, and the game lived up to its billing.
Bethel running back Logan Flannery (Fr., Lakeville, MN) scored with 24 seconds remaining to make it 17-14 with the point after, allowing the Royals defense to do the rest, as Bethel went on to win the game and the MIAC outright.
Flannery had 118 yards on 27 carries and the game winning touchdown. Quarterback Ben Wetzell (Sr., Wells, MN) had 88 yards on the ground on 22 carries. Wetzell was just 8-for-18 passing for 90 yards, but 36 of those yards came on a completion to wide receiver Aaron Bernstetter (Jr., Holdingford, MN) on Bethel's final drive of the game to put them in scoring position.
The win gives Bethel back to back victories over the Johnnies for the first time since 1999 and 2000.
Bethel owned the ball for most of the game as they had 10 more first downs, 11 more minutes of possession, and almost 100 more yards of offense. The Royals rushing defense showed why they lead the MIAC, as they limited the Johnnies to just 85 yards on the ground. Bethel's passing defense limited MIAC all-time passing yardage leader Alex Kofoed to 156 yards in the air, more than 100 yards below his season average, and intercepted him twice. St. John's was only able to run 18 plays total in the second half.
The game was marked by two big plays in the second quarter, one on each side of the ball. Tim Cornish (So., Plymouth, MN) had an 86-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, but then Brian Weber caught a 46-yard touchdown pass from Kofoed to put the Johnnies up 14-10.
The game stalled at that score for remainder of the game until the Royals took the lead on their 9-play, 73-yard touchdown drive at the end.
Bethel improves to 9-1 overall, and 8-0 in conference, while St. John's drops to 9-1 overall, and 7-1 in the MIAC. Both teams will have to wait until tomorrow to find out their fate in terms of the NCAA playoffs, but Bethel earns an automatic bid, regardless.
