ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – The Bethel University football team suffered their first defeat of the season with a 34-16 loss to the No. 9-ranked Saint John's University Johnnies in a game that was much closer than the final score indicated. The Royals stormed back from a 20-3 deficit, coming within four points inside of five minutes to play in the game, but a pick-six by the Johnnies would be a dagger Bethel could not overcome.
 
SJU struck first with the second play of the game going for a 71-yard touchdown from junior quarterback Jackson Erdmann to Will Gallich. The Johnnies caught the Royals on a blitz and Erdmann found Gallich over the middle in the area voided by Bethel and Gillach was able to weave his way all the way to the endzone for a 71-yard score. Bethel's offense responded with a 12-play drive that ate up 43 yards, all but six of those yards earned on the ground, but the drive ended on a fumble at the SJU 25-yard line. The rest of the first half was a defensive struggle between the two teams who both had posted shutouts in their previous two games.
 
The Royals were able to get on the board with a 35-yard Blake Hottle field goal early in the second quarter. The Johnnies drove the ball down the field on their next possession, thanks in part to a pair of big pass plays created by Erdmann and a behind the back, blind fling of the ball as Erdmann was being drug to the ground that resulted in a six-yard completion. The Johnnies luck on the drive would run out however, as Cale Ferrin picked off an Erdmann pass at the Bethel 12 yard line, returning it 15 yards. Bethel was forced to punt on their possession and SJU was able to put together a nine play drive in just 1:10 to kick a field goal as time expired in the half to take a 10-3 lead.




 
The second half did not start well for the Royals as quarterback Jaran Roste was sacked and stripped of the ball on the second play of the half, giving SJU great field position on the Bethel 22-yard line. To make matters worse Roste was injured on the play. The Royals defense held strong however, backing the Johnnies up and forcing a field goal to make it 13-3. The two teams would trade punts for several possessions until SJU put a drive together scoring a one-yard touchdown run which was setup by a controversial catch on a 34-yard pass play down to the one for the Johnnies. The 20-3 lead for SJU with just 1:32 remaining in the third quarter looked like it might be insurmountable. But the Royals inserted Jake Marsh, relieving Roste after he could not continue from the earlier injury, and Bethel was not done. Marsh gave the Royals an immediate spark through the air, leading the Royals on an 8-play, 72-yard drive. All but one of those 72 yards came through the air with Drew Larson catching a 15-yard touchdown from Marsh. The extra point made it 20-10 and the Bethel defense did its part to continue the momentum switch, forcing a quick three-and-out for the Johnnies. Marsh found a streaking Drew Larson down the middle of the field and Larson raced his way down inside the 10-yard line for a 51-yard strike, setting Bethel up with first and goal. Bethel moved the ball down to the three-yard line to set up a fourth and goal. As Bethel lined up to go for it, SJU called timeout. The Royals then called a timeout of their own just before the ball was snapped and realigned themselves for the critical play. On the ensuing play, Marsh rolled out to his right and threaded a dart through a trio of Johnnie defenders into the hands of Grant Friedlein who held onto the ball coming down in a sandwich of SJU defenders, igniting the Royal Stadium crowd. The extra point was blocked leaving the Royals down by just four, 20-16, with 9:40 to play.
 
The Bethel defense was once again up to the challenge of slowing the high-powered SJU offense down. After the Johnnies drove the ball down to the Bethel 23-yard line, the Royals 'D' stiffened and forced a field goal attempt. SJU's kicker missed wide left but Bethel was called for running into the kicker, giving the Johnnies a first down and a big blow to the Royals spirits. But once again, the Royals defense came up with another stop, forcing another field goal attempt from the 21-yard line. This one was missed wide right, and this time the Royals did not run into the kicker, giving Bethel the ball down four with 5:30 left to play and all the momentum.
 
After an 11-yard hookup from Marsh to John Carlson, the Johnnies came up with the play of the game. Cornerback Sam Westby jumped a bubble screen pass-attempt and intercepted the ball with a clear path to the end zone for the 34-yard score to effectively seal the game for the Johnnies. After Bethel turned the ball over on downs on their next possession deep in their own territory, SJU ran one in for an insurance score to make it 34-16 with just 1:32 remaining.
 
Marsh would finish the game with a total of 164 yards through the air on 13-23 passing in just over one quarter of action with a pair of touchdowns. After running for 37 yards on their first possession of the game, Bethel ended up totaling just 89 yards on the ground in the contest. The Johnnies threw for 287 yards, all by Erdmann, who was 16-31 with one touchdown and two interceptions. SJU rushed for a total of just 122 yards on 31 attempts. Drew Larson and Joel Koenecke led the Bethel receiving corps with seven catches each as Larsen went for 118 yards and a touchdown.
 
Defensively Drew Ragsdale totaled 13 tackles and one tackle for loss. Senior safety Dawson Brown had another all-around impressive performance with eight tackles, two pass breakups and an interception.
 
The Royals will look to bounce back next Saturday when they travel to Northfield to take on a rested, upstart St. Olaf College team which is off to a 5-0 start. The Oles where on their bye this weekend and will be looking for their first victory against Bethel since 2012. Kickoff will be at 1 p.m. at Manitou Field on the St. Olaf campus.