ARDEN HILLS, Minn.—Bethel University hosted the University of St. Thomas in their final home game of the 2016 season and despite an exceptional effort against the No. 4-ranked Tommies (8-0, 6-0 MIAC), the Royals (3-5, 3-3 MIAC) came up short on Senior Day.
 
BU trailed 20-6 with under three minutes to go in the game before UST handed the Royals one final blow with 2:54 remaining in the highly-contested conference showdown. A 27-6 final fails to tell the whole story, though, as Bethel had two touchdowns called back due to penalties and three other occasions inside the 10-yard-line that resulted in a turnover-on-downs. Slippery conditions also led to more than six dropped passes, including two sure-fire scores.
   
The Tommie defense (fourth-best among all NCAA Division III teams) surrendered just 210.0 yards per game coming into Saturday's contest. The Royals' offense put up 413 against UST—the only team to put up more than 400 yards on St. Thomas in the last two seasons other than Mount Union—thanks to 137 yards on the ground and 276 in the air.
 
Gunnar Bloom had an outstanding day, carrying the ball 28 times for 101 yards. Meanwhile, freshman quarterback Jake Marsh was called upon early and often as he finished 18-of-53 for 276 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions. Marsh hit five different wide receivers, including Bryce Marquardt, who hauled in eight passes for 142 yards and one touchdown. Jackson Canfield caught three passes for 39 yards and Drew Neuville gathered two for 38.
 
Bethel's defense was equally impressive. The Royals held the Tommies to under 30 points for just the second time this season and to 52 percent passing after they came in nearing 60 percent. A 90-yard touchdown run for St. Thomas with 2:54 remaining helped UST finish with 206 for the day, but prior to that the Tommies carried the ball 39 times for 116 yards (2.97 yards per carry). St. Thomas fumbled the ball twice, punted eight times, and turned the ball over on downs another two times.
 
BU appeared to go up early when Jake Marsh hit Bryce Marquardt on a 54-yard touchdown pass on the Royals' second possession, but the play was negated after an illegal formation penalty. The Tommies' defense then stopped Bethel and later scored on a 44-yard pass from Alex Fenske to Nick Waldvogel. The Royals nearly knotted the score at 7-7 right before the half, but a dropped pass at the goal line gave St. Thomas the 7-0 edge heading into the intermission break. 
 
The Tommies then pushed their lead to 14-0 early in the second half. The Royals responded immediately with a 12-play, 71-yard drive that was stalled at the UST 5-yard-line. UST then went ahead 20-0 early in the fourth quarter, but BU was far from out.
 
Bethel scored on their ensuing possession on Jake Marsh's 23-yard pass to Bryce Marquardt. The Royals' defense then forced St. Thomas to fumble inside the BU 10 and then again at the BU 46, but Bethel was once again stopped inside the Tommie 10-yard-line.
 
UST then took the second play of the ensuing drive to the house on a 90-yard carry that put the game out of sight.
 
Although the Royals drop to 3-5 on the season and 3-3 in conference play, Bethel has much to play for. BU can still fight for a strong finish in the MIAC standings and hopes to keep its consecutive seasons with a winning record (22) in tact.  The Royals finish the 2016 campaign with two road contests. Next Saturday, Bethel travels to Augsburg followed by the season finale at Hamline on November 12. Both games are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.