ST. PAUL, Minn. — Bethel University had gone 3-1 over the last four games, outscoring opponents 150-31 during that stretch. The Royals (3-5, 3-3 MIAC) took that momentum to the University of St. Thomas Saturday afternoon, but the No. 4-ranked Tommies (7-1, 6-0 MIAC) proved to be too much in the end, defeating BU 58-13 at O O'Shaughnessy Stadium.
 
Joel Koenecke took the opening kickoff back to the UST 45-yard-line, but was stripped at the end of the return, which allowed St. Thomas to begin the conference tilt with the ball. The Tommies then fired a 36-yard stripe on the ensuing play and later scored on a 4th-and-6 at the BU 14.
 
The Royals immediately responded with a 10-play, 81-yard drive that resulted in a five-yard touchdown throw from Jake Marsh to Jon Pytlak. But a blocked PAT returned for a touchdown, resulted in a 9-6 score favoring UST at the 7:39 mark in the opening quarter. A 44-yard catch by Koenecke on 3rd-and-9 highlighted the Royals' first drive.
 
St. Thomas scored on the next possession to make it 16-6, which was the way it stayed until the 13:02 mark in the second quarter when the Tommies completed a 6-play, 29-yard drive that made the score 24-6.
 
Bethel roared back instantaneously again when Koenecke returned the subsequent kickoff 92 yards for a BU touchdown to make it 24-13. The Royals forced St. Thomas to punt on their next possession, but the Tommies managed to block a BU punt and return it 16 yards for a touchdown.
 
St. Thomas added to their total by stripping Jake Marsh at the BU 25-yard-line and scoring three plays later at the 3:31 mark in the second quarter. They tacked on three more with a field goal from 43 yards out to end the first half.
 
Dawson Brown forced a UST fumble on the opening possession of the second half, which was picked up by Kyle Kilgore, but BU was forced to punt after a loss of 17 yards on three plays.
 
Brown came up big again for the Royals by intercepting a Jacques Perra pass at the BU 34 on UST's next possession, but Bethel was once again stifled by the St. Thomas defense. The Tommies then put together a crushing 10-play, 50-yard drive that resulted in a one-yard touchdown, which put UST ahead 48-13. St. Thomas tacked on 10 more points in the final frame to secure the victory.
 
Jake Marsh finished the game 11-of-23 for 129 yards, zero interceptions, and one touchdown. His primary target was Joel Koenecke, who hauled in five passes for 58 yards. Drew Larson caught two passes for 41 yards and Jon Pytlak received four passes for 30 yards and a TD.
 
Cale Ferrin led Bethel's defense in tackles with 10, while Josh Dalki added nine. Kyle Kilgore wrapped up eight tackles, including two sacks for a loss of 22 yards and three total tackles for loss. Meanwhile, Dawson Brown composed seven tackles, one forced fumble, and one interception. Cameron Monson posted the team's only other sack and Trent Substad recovered one other UST fumble. Trey Anderson also broke up two passes throughout the game.
 
Bethel now closes out their season with a pair of home games against Augsburg and Hamline. The Royals host the Auggies on Saturday, Nov. 4 and the Pipers on Saturday, Nov. 11. Both games are at 1 p.m.