Box Score

ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - A week after defeating the #16 team in the nation, the Bethel Royals needed a win today in order to get their record back to .500, both overall and in the conference. Sparked by two touchdowns from quarterback Josh Aakre (Fr., Dawson, Minn.) and 129 yards rushing by Logan Flannery (So., Lakeville, Minn.), the Royals defeated the visiting St. Olaf Oles by a score of 31-7 today to even their record at 3-3 and 2-2 in the MIAC.

Bethel received the opening kickoff and proceeded to march the ball 69 yards down the field on 13 plays for a touchdown to go up 7-0. The drive was highlighted by three 12-yard runs - two from Flannery, and one from Dusty Wahl (Jr., Mahtomedi, Minn.). Aakre capped off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run on fourth down and goal.

From that point on, it was almost all Bethel as the offense continued to be effective against the conference's leading rush defense, amassing 371 total yards and hanging on to the ball almost 10 minutes longer than the Oles.

Aakre scored what would prove to be the game winning touchdown late in the first quarter, rushing the ball into the end zone from 12 yards out. Aakre had 36 of the 64 yards on the drive, including a 21-yard rush to move the ball inside Ole territory.

Bethel and St. Olaf headed to the locker room at halftime with the score 14-0. After a 34-yard kickoff return by Evan Endsley to the Bethel 44-yard line, the Oles had second down and one yard to go on the Bethel 35. However, they were unable to move the chains after three attempts, turning the ball over on downs. The Royals took over and extended their lead to 21 points when Wahl rumbled into the end zone from nine yards out. His touchdown was set up by a 51-yard pass completion to Joel Quick (Jr., Johnston, Iowa) to get the ball down to the Ole 11-yard line.

After a pair of short possessions by the Oles, and one by the Royals, Bethel got the ball back with 5:24 remaining in the third quarter. The Royals proceeded to run 11 plays and eat another 5:35 of game clock before Matt Wetherell (Fr., Glen Ellyn, Ill.) put a 30-yard field goal attempt through the uprights to make the score 24-0 early in the fourth quarter.

On the ensuing possession, the Oles were able to get their only points of the game when quarterback John Haberman connected with Coty Watkins for a three-yard touchdown pass.

Bethel's defense stopped St. Olaf on their next possession, forcing the Oles to turn the ball over on downs. On their first play from scrimmage, Flannery rushed for a 23-yard touchdown, breaking at least four tackles on his way to the end zone. Wetherell tacked on the extra point to make the score 31-7, making him a perfect 4-for-4 in point after attempts and 1-for-1 in field goal attempts.

Defensively, Bethel limited St. Olaf to just 38 yards rushing and 137 total yards, sacking Haberman six times and intercepting him once. The Royals had 11 tackles for losses totaling 47 yards. Cory Svihla (So., Foley, Minn.) led the charge with nine tackles, including three for a loss, a sack, and a pass break-up.  Aaron Mills (Sr., Traverse City, Mich.) added to his conference leading sack total by recording two more today. He had five tackles, of which, two were for losses totaling 15 yards. David Benjamin (Jr., Roseville, Minn.) had the game's lone interception.

Bethel's defense was forced to play the entire second half without All-MIAC outside linebacker Nathan Voronyak (Sr., Orono, Minn.), who left the game late in the second quarter with a knee injury.

The Royals have now won 15 out of the last 16 meetings between the two teams and are 20-14 overall against the Oles.

St. Olaf falls to 1-3 in the MIAC, and 3-3 overall with the loss. Bethel is scheduled to travel down Snelling Avenue next weekend to take on the Hamline Pipers at 1 p.m. on Oct. 18, for their next game.