Box Score
ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - The Bethel Royals set new school records for consecutive wins and wins in a season by defeating the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire 21-12 on a cold and windy day at Royal Stadium. Bethel is now among the last eight teams left standing in NCAA Division III football.
Dusty Wahl (So., Mahtomedi, Minn.) scored on touchdown runs of three and 11 yards, and nearly added another from 16 yards out to lead Bethel's scoring.
The Royals jumped out to a 7-0 lead after forcing Blugold quarterback Tony Hull to fumble on their opening drive of the game. John Edwards (Sr., New Prague, Minn.) recovered the fumble and ran it back 18 yards to give Bethel the ball on Eau Claire's 20-yard line.
Wahl had a 15-yard gain to set up his 3-yard touchdown two plays later, putting Bethel up 7-0 with Nate Gutshall's (So., Urbandale, Iowa) point after.
Eau Claire tied up the score at 7 when they put together a 12-play, 42-yard drive that ate up 6:46 of game time. The Blugolds held a clear edge in time of possession today, holding on to the ball for a full 10 minutes more than the Royals.
Bethel got the ball back only to go three-and-out, which set up Eau Claire's next scoring drive. Thanks to great defensive play by linebackers Steve Luebke (Sr., Johnston, Iowa) and Edwards inside the 10-yard line, the Blugolds were held to just a field goal, making the score 10-7 in favor of the Blugolds.
Bethel answered with a touchdown on a drive that started with a 46-yard Tim Cornish (So., Plymouth, Minn.) kickoff return and a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Eau Claire, giving the Royals the ball at the Blugold 25-yard line.
Wahl accounted for 18 of Bethel's yards during that drive, including a clutch 15-yard gain on fourth down-and-one, setting up a short touchdown run by quarterback and newly named MIAC MVP, Ben Wetzell (Sr., Wells, Minn.).
Bethel clung to their 14-10 lead for the remainder of the half and the entire third quarter. However, early in the fourth quarter, Eau Claire blocked a Kevin Ness (So., Dassel, Minn.) punt, which went out of bounds in Bethel's end zone for a safety, making the score 14-12.
It wasn't until the Royals were able to march 74-yards on 12 plays for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter that they went up 21-12 to stay. Wahl rushed for 22 of Bethel's last 29 yards of the drive, including his 11-yard touchdown run to seal the victory. Wahl had 79 yards on 12 carries for the Royals, just two less than Wetzell, who had 81 yards on 15 carries.
The Royals and Blugolds played an almost even game statistically. Each team had 13 first downs, but Bethel held a slight advantage in total offense, racking up 248 yards to 208 for Eau Claire. Neither team passed the ball for more than 40 of those yards.
The win gives Bethel their 11th of the season and 11th in a row, which are both school records. The Royals will travel to Pella, Iowa, to take on the Central College Dutch, who defeated St. John's today by a score of 37-7 in Iowa. Next Saturday's game will begin at noon.
