PELLA, Iowa - The Bethel University Royals were unable to slow down the nation's most prolific offense, falling to the Central (IA) College Dutch by a 61-35 score in the first round of the NCAA Division III playoffs. The No. 14/17 Royals found themselves in an early hole at 14-0 but were able to fight back to make it 27-21 at the half but the unbeaten and No. 8/10 ranked Dutch were able to pull away again in the second half, keeping the Royals scoreless in the third quarter. Central came in leading the country in most offensive categories and showed why with a combination of quick passes and some big plays. The Royals made plenty of big plays themselves though as quarterback Jaran Roste threw for a career high 353 yards and three touchdowns. The Bethel defense also picked off Central quarterback Blaine Hawkins twice, which equaled his season total coming into the game.

After Central scored on their first two possessions the Bethel offense was able to start clicking with Joey Kidder catching a touchdown pass from Roste with 2:47 remaining in the first quarter. The Dutch added another score before the end of the first however, to lead 21-7 after one quarter. From there the Bethel defense started to stiffen, holding the Dutch to just a pair of field goals in the entire second quarter while the offense scored two touchdowns to make it 27-21 and take some momentum into halftime. The second half started promising for the Royals when Micah Niewald, a freshman wide receiver also pressed into duty playing defensive back, picked off a Hawkins pass on the opening possession. The Royals were unable to generate any offense however and Central eventually scored a pair of third quarter touchdowns to jump back up 41-21. BU would not lay down however, scoring two fourth quarter touchdowns. The first was a Roste 36-yard run up the middle on a third down play. The second was a Roste to Gabe Ante connection with 5:37 to play.  Central added their final touchdown with 2:22 left in the game for the 61-35 final.

The Dutch entered the game averaging a nation's best 620 yards of offense and 58 points per game. Fifth-year senior quarterback Blaine Hawkins came in averaging 342 yards per game with 50 touchdown passes, only six of which had come in the second half of games as the Dutch were often up so comfortably at halftime. Against the Royals, CC put up 501 yards and Hawkins threw for 331 yards and 7 touchdowns with two interceptions. With the seven touchdown passes Hawkins broke the all-time NCAA Division III career touchdown record of 172 total touchdowns. Running back Jason Hopp totaled 115 yards on 25 carries for the Dutch.

The Royals totaled 485 yards of offense themselves. Jaran Roste was 33-52 for 353 yards and three touchdowns, all career highs. He also ran for 65 yards and two scores. Joey Kidder made multiple big plays once again, and drew a trio of pass interference penalties, totaling 84 yards on eight catches and two touchdowns. Freshman Micah Niewald caught four passes for 94 yards and made five tackles on defense, intercepted a pass and had a pass breakup. Fellow freshman Aaron Ellingson had eight catches for 55 yards and another freshman, Gabe Ante, caught five balls for 65 yards and a touchdown. 

On defense Collin Curtis made a career high 16 stops, including a tackle for loss while safety Nate Farm had 15 tackles, seven of them solo. Safety Matt Feldick had the other interception for the Royals and totaled eight tackles. 

The Royals season ends with a 8-3 record and their tenth appearance in the NCAA Division III playoffs while Central continues on at 11-0 and will host No. 6/9 Wheaton College next Saturday.