MIAC Release
 
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. - The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) announced the postseason awards for the 2018 football season and a total of 18 different Royals garnered honors with five being named First Team All-Conference. The Bethel offensive line and defense, two units that have been special this season, is where all five of the First Team All-Conference honorees reside. In all four of the five starting offensive lineman for Bethel were named First or Second Team All-Conference while eight of the 11 starting defensive players were named to the First Team, Second Team or Honorable Mention.
 
Representing Bethel on the First Team All-Conference Offense is sophomre tackle Jack Fiedler and senior center Nolan Richardson. On the Second Team All-Conference Offense was fellow offensive line members, senior Tom Delich and senior Alex Edwards as well as quarterback Jaran Roste and running back Sam Gibas. The O-line along with Roste and Gibas are some of the biggest contributors to the Royals potent ground attack which is averaging 248.2 yards per game. In Bethel's last two games against St. Thomas (averaging 11 yards per game rushing allowed) and Wartburg (averaging 100 yards per game rushing allowed) the Royals ran up 217 yards on the ground against UST and 387 against Wartburg. Roste averaged 81 yards rushing from his quarterback position to go along with 129 through the air per game. The freshman accounted for 25 total touchdowns. Gibas is Bethel's leading rusher at 86 yards per game and needs just 25 more yards to break the 1,000 yard mark, averaging 5.5 per carry. Also on the Second Team All-Conference Offense was Bethel's leading receiver Drew Larsen who caught 35 passes for 553 yards and six touchdowns. Senior tight end Mathias Durie was named to the Honorable Mention All-Conference list. Durie is the Royals third leading receiver with 17 catches for 209 yards and a touchdown while being a valuable member of the blocking crew up front in paving holes for the Royals rushers.
 
The defense was well represented with a trio of seniors on the First Team in defensive end Kyle Kilgore, cornerback Trey Anderson and safety Dawson Brown. Kilgore leads the MIAC in sacks with 10 on the season and is a repeat pick for First Team All-Conference. Anderson was an Honorable Mention All-Conference selection last season in his first year on the defensive side of the ball after playing quarterback at Bethel. In his senior season the White Bear Lake native leads the MIAC in pass breakups with 14 to go along with one interception which came against St. Thomas. He also recovered a fumble and returned it for a touchdown against Concordia and has made 19 solo tackles and 33 total tackles on the year. Dawson Brown has been a mainstay on the All-Conference team, making this selection his third. After garnering First Team honors as a sophomore at outside linebacker, the last two years Brown has earned the same recognition as a safety. The all-around playmaker leads the MIAC with six interceptions and has returned three of those for touchdowns, tied with one other player for the most in NCAA DIII football. Brown ranks second on Bethel and 10^th in the MIAC in total tackles.  
 
Senior defensive end Cameron Monson is the third leading sack artist in the MIAC with eight and was named to the Second Team All-Conference defense along with linebackers Drew Ragsdale and Trent Substad. Ragsdale is Bethel's leading tackler and ranks fifth overall in tackles in the MIAC. His total of 66 assisted tackles is tops in the conference. Ragsdale has also grabbed two interceptions and has 5.5 sacks. Substad has been a big play machine for Bethel as he has totaled five sacks, snatched an interception and a fumble recovery to go with recovering a blocked punt for a touchdown against St. Thomas. He was named MIAC Special Teams Player of the Week on September 24^th after recording two points on a tackle in the endzone after a bad snap and then blocking a Gustavus punt which was scooped up and brought back for a touchdown by Brendan Whalen. Substad also earned MIAC Defensive Player of the Week on October 22^nd for his performance against Concordia where he logged four tackles, one sack, a fumble recovery and a pass breakup, all at the critical junctures of the Royals victory over the Cobbers. Cale Ferrin, another big playmaker on the Bethel defense, and Brendan Whalen where both named to the Honorable Mention All-Conference list. Ferrin was second on the team with four interceptions to go along with three pass breakups, two tackles for loss and 52 total tackles. Whalen also did a little bit of everything for the defense, making plays all over the field. Whalen has 43 tackles, 20 of them solo, along with a half tackle for loss, an interception, six pass breakups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery as well as a safety. Whalen also scored a touchdown in returning a blocked punt against Gustavus. On the Second Team All-Conference Specialists list is junior kicker/punter Blake Hottle. The strong legged kicker averaged 37 yards per punt, pinning the opponent inside the 20 seven times with no touchbacks. He recorded four punts over 50 yards with a long of 60. On kickoffs Hottle put 17 into the endzone for touchbacks in averaging 58 yards per kick, eight yards more than Bethel's opponents averaged on the year. Hottle also connected on a pair of field goals.
 
As part of a conference-wide sportsmanship initiative, the MIAC also announced the 13th annual All-MIAC Sportsmanship team for football. Members of the All-MIAC Sportsmanship team are selected by their coaches and teammates as individuals who demonstrate ideals of positive sportsmanship both on and off the field of competition. Brady Bomsta was Bethel's choice as the senior running back returned from a serious leg injury to the Royals backfield against St. Olaf in week six and has gone on to rush for 186 yards on 30 carries (6.0 yards per carry) and two touchdowns.