ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – The Bethel Royals used a huge fourth quarter to pull away from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in a 28-7 victory in the first game at the newly remodeled Royal Stadium. The Royals scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to break a 7-7 tie since late in the first quarter. BU had a pair of turnovers inside the Pioneers red zone in the second quarter before eventually wearing down the WIAC opponent, running for 87 yards and three touchdowns on 13 fourth quarter carries. Senior quarterback Jaran Roste ran for 53 of those 87 fourth quarter yards and two touchdowns to go along with a 4-4 performance through the air for 69 more yards in the final stanza. 

The Royals defense was stout all game long, holding the high-powered aerial attack of UWP quiet, allowing just 176 yards passing and 234 yards of total offense. BU amassed 461 yards of total offense. Safeties Nate Farm and Matt Feldick were the Royals leading tacklers with eight and seven tackles respectively. UWP senior quarterback Colin Schuetz threw for 341 yards and four touchdowns in their season opener and has averaged over 273 yards per game through his first two + years as a starter. Against BU he was just 20-36 for 157 yards and an interception with no touchdowns. 

The Royals wasted little time in taking an early lead as Sid Boros made an incredible run after a catch on the first possession, juking a pair of defenders and then outrunning another across the field to the end zone. The 42-yard connection put BU up 7-0 just four minutes into the game. UWP went three-and-out on their first possession before putting together a 10-play, 80-yard drive on their second possession to even the score at 7-7. Early in the second quarter the Royals were able to drive down to the UWP five-yard line before a loss of three on a run was followed by an interception in the end zone on a broken route. Bethel threatened again late in the second quarter after being setup with great field position by a partially blocked punt by freshman Jacob Holmen. On the first play, Roste found Joey Kidder for 17 yards to the UWP 13-yard line but a fumble on the next play with 26 seconds remaining in the half kept the Royals off the scoreboard. 

The third quarter saw both teams end drives with a pair of punts each before the Royals completely took over in the fourth quarter. A four-play, 41-yard drive to open the fourth saw the Royals finally regain the lead as Roste ran it up the gut from three yards out. The next BU possession saw Bryce Kunkle power his way through the interior of the Pioneers defense, pulling defenders with him over the eight yards into the endzone with just 3:11 remaining in the game. The Royals weren't done yet though as the defense forced a pair of incompletions followed by an interception on a deflected pass at the UWP 38-yard line. Roste capped off the game with a highlight reel run, high stepping out of tacklers grasps and outrunning the secondary to the pylon from 33-yards out. Freshman kicker Jack Hanson, who doubles as a forward on the Bethel soccer team and scored a pair of goals in their 4-0 victory on Friday afternoon, added the extra point for the 28-7 final score. 

The Royals will now take next weekend off for their bye week before traveling up to Collegeville to take on the Saint John's University Johnnies on September 25th. The No. 6-ranked Johnnies and No. 17-ranked Royals will tangle at 1 p.m. from Clemens Stadium.