WHEATON, Ill. - About forty-five minutes outside of the Windy City, Wheaton could have just as well been dubbed the Rainy City – at least for today's game. A steady and unrelenting downpour starting Friday morning produced pools of standing water on the field, creating a playing surface closely resembling a Slip 'N Slide. Unfortunately, it did not favor the #5 Bethel Royals as they were defeated by the #17 Wheaton Thunder by a score of 10-7 in their first-ever meeting.

The football proved to be incredibly tough to hang onto for both teams. The Royals and the Thunder struggled to hang onto the pigskin as the two teams fumbled the ball a combined 11 times. Wheaton lost just one of their four fumbles, while Bethel lost three of their seven.

Unfortunately, one of those turnovers happened deep in Royal territory and resulted in the first score of the game for the Thunder. Wheaton broke the scoreless tie four seconds into the second quarter by kicking a 22-yard field goal which capped off a seven play, 15-yard drive.

The Thunder then scored what proved to be the game winning touchdown when Mike Ittersagen returned a Kevin Ness (Jr., Dassel, Minn.) punt 65 yards for a touchdown to make the score 10-0 with 8:34 remaining in the half.

Tim Cornish (Jr., Wayzata, Minn.) nearly answered the touchdown by returning the ensuing kickoff out to the Bethel 46-yard line before he was finally stopped by one of the last remaining Wheaton defenders. The Royals were able to pound the ball down to the Thunder five-yard line thanks to rushes of 24 and 14 yards by Logan Flannery (So., Lakeville, Minn.). However, Bethel was unable to put the ball in the end zone, and T.J. Kloetzke's (Fr., Coon Rapids, Minn.) field goal attempt was deflected wide left, keeping the Royals scoreless.

It wasn't until their next drive that Bethel scored their only points of the game with just under forty seconds left in the half. The offense needed just six plays and 1:38 to march 61 yards for a touchdown. Reid Velo (Jr., Nashwauk, Minn.) found MIAC Offensive Player of the Week Aaron Bernstetter (Sr., Holdingford, Minn.) in the back of the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown pass to make the score 10-7 after extra point.

The score would remain 10-7 for the remainder of the game, but there were certainly moments when either team could have scored. Bethel pushed the ball down to the Wheaton 7-yard line on the opening drive of the second half before turning it over on downs, and two possessions later, they got as far as the Wheaton 15-yard line before missing another field goal.

Bethel's offense had 16 first downs to Wheaton's four, and outgained them in total yardage 202-127. Flannery had 142 yards on the ground for the Royals to lead all players. Velo was 7-for-16 on the day with 84 yards, a touchdown, and an interception.

Defensively, the Royals kept the Thunder out of the end zone, allowing them to convert on third down only twice, and making a huge stop on fourth down late in the game. David Benjamin (Jr., Roseville, Minn.) led the defense with eight tackles and an interception he ran back 21 yards to give the Bethel offense another opportunity late in the third quarter. Nathan Holm (Sr., Gillette, Wyo.) had four tackles and two pass break-ups in the secondary.

The loss drops Bethel to 1-1 overall, while Wheaton is now 1-0. The Royals return home to play Carleton next Saturday for Homecoming beginning at 1 p.m. at Royal Stadium.