ST. PAUL – The No. 9-ranked Bethel University football team saw their season come to a close Saturday afternoon with a 17-7 loss to No. 17-ranked St. Thomas. The Bethel offense uncharacteristically turned the ball over three times, along with a blocked punt, which UST used to score their 17 points. UST held a 14-7 lead at half and added a field goal late in the fourth quarter for the 17-7 final. The win for St. Thomas allows UST to share the MIAC title with Saint John's but the Johnnies will be the ones in the NCAA Playoffs with the MIAC's automatic berth thanks to the Johnnies 38-20 win over St. Thomas. Bethel finishes the season 8-2 and 6-2 in the MIAC, good for third place. The Royals are 19-4 in the last two seasons but with just five at-large berths available for the NCAA DIII Playoffs the Royals, along with all other two-loss, non-automatic qualifiers, will not be in contention for an at-large spot.   
 
Bethel took the opening kickoff and moved to near midfield but on third and three the Tommies picked off the Jaran Roste pass, the first interception in 217 pass attempts by the Royals since the season opener. UST was able to drive 57 yards on nine plays with a one-yard TD pass capping the drive for a 7-0 lead. The two teams then traded punts and on Bethel's next possession the Royals faced a fourth and 13 from the UST 43 sending the punt team out to the field. A five-yard illegal substitution penalty on the Tommies moved the ball up to the UST 38 and Bethel sent the offense back on the field with the option of running a play or QB Roste punting to pin the Tommies deep. Roste attempted to punt but it was blocked by St. Thomas and recovered at the 46 yard line. The Tommies then went 54 yards on four plays with a 14-yard touchdown catch in the corner of the endzone and a 14-0 lead.
 
Bethel senior Joel Koenecke returned the ensuing kickoff 64 yards to the UST 26-yard line to give the Royals a spark. A Roste run of three yards was then followed by a Roste to Drew Larsen 23-yard connection for the Royals touchdown. Larsen finishes second in the MIAC with 10 touchdown catches on the season. Bjorn Charles converted the extra point, making the freshman 43-44 on the year in PAT's.
 
The Bethel defense held strong the rest of the half, stopping each Tommie drive but the offense was unable to pick up anymore first downs in their final two possessions as UST held the ball for 18:38 of the 30 minutes in the first half.
 
A Max Janes sack for a loss of 11-yards on second down and an incompletion forced the Tommies to punt on their opening possession of the second half. Bethel then started a promising drive, moving the ball 40 yards on seven plays, including a 20-yard run on the first play by Sam Gibas. The Royals drive was stopped though on a third and seven play which saw Roste throw his second INT of the game, giving the Tommies the ball at their 45-yard line after a 13-yard return. Bethel was able to hold the Tommies and force a punt giving Bethel the ball back at the 20-yard line. The offense started marching once again, picking up forty yards on their first seven plays. A dropped pass on second down that could have yielded big yardage was followed by a third down sack of Roste, the first time Roste had been sacked all season, forcing the Royals to punt.
 
The Royals defense came up with a big play when Cale Ferrin forced a fumble, recovered by John Sfire at the UST 44-yard line. Bethel picked up seven yards on their first two plays but an incomplete pass on third down was followed by a Roste run that was stopped short, giving UST the ball back on downs. The Tommies were able use their all-time leading rusher in senior Josh Parks to move the ball down to the Bethel 10-yard line before being stopped. On fourth and six UST kicked a 32-yard field goal to go up 17-7 with just 5:39 remaining.
 
The UST kickoff went out of bounds giving Bethel the ball at the 35-yard line and the Royals quickly picked up 22-yards on a pair of passes. First Roste found Larsen for 13-yards and then senior John Carlson for nine yards. The next play though was the Royals third turnover of the game, a fumble, which effectively ended the Royals comeback hopes. UST was able to pick up three first downs on eight plays to run out the remaining clock.
 
Josh Parks carried the ball 33 times for 168 yards for the Tommies in becoming their all-time leading rusher. UST quarterbacks Tommy Dolan (3-4) and Ronnie Jones (8-15) finished a combined 11-19 for 111 yards and two touchdowns. UST totaled 358 yards of total offense, nearly 200 yards below their season average.
 
The Bethel defense had three players, all sophomores, record 11 tackles in strong safety Matt Feldick, linebacker Mike Delich and defensive end Max Janes. Delich and Janes both had one sack each and Janes had two tackles for loss along with a pass breakup. Senior free safety Cale Ferrin had eight tackles, a forced fumble and two pass breakups. Senior linebacker Kyle Peach had a sack and two tackles for loss, four tackles and a pass breakup.
 
The Royals were held to a season low 89 yards rushing to go along with 155 yards passing. Roste led the way with 44 yards rushing on 10 carries and was 14-24 through the air for the 155 yards and a touchdown. For the season, Roste finished with an MIAC best 69% completion percentage to go along with an MIAC low three interceptions next to 15 touchdown passes and seven more touchdowns rushing. Sam Gibas totaled 41 yards on eight carries after missing the Royals two previous games with a hamstring injury. Gibas finished as Bethel's leading rusher on the season at 70.8 yards per game.  
 
Drew Larsen caught four passes for 56 yards and a touchdown. Larsen finished among the MIAC leaders in receiving, catching 52 passes for 829 yards and 10 touchdowns. Senior's Joel Koenecke and John Carlson caught three and four passes respectively for 48 and 35 yards. Dane Schumacher averaged 49.5 yards on four punts with a long of 63.