ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - The Bethel Royals football team heads to Collegeville for another showdown with the Saint John's University Johnnies this Saturday. The Royals and Johnnies both enter the contest sporting top 15 rankings with SJU at No. 5/6 in the polls and Bethel at No. 13/15. The Royals are most recently coming off their bye week after an impressive 28-7 victory over Wisconsin-Platteville at home on September 11. BU scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to pull away from the WIAC's Pioneers. Bethel outgained UWP by a 461-234 margin in total yards. SJU is coming off a 55-7 victory last week over 2019 UMAC champion Martin Luther. The Johnnies won a 39-33 nail biter, getting a goal line stop on the final play of the game, in their season opener against Aurora. 

This will be the 13^th contest since 1999 when both teams are ranked or receiving votes at the time of the matchup. SJU holds a slight 7-5 advantage in those previous 12 games. Overall since 1999 SJU holds a similar slight advantage at 11-9. The Royals won seven of the eight games played between 2006-2013.
 
The contest marks the beginning of MIAC play for both teams in 2021 with a brand-new divisional format. With St. Thomas making the jump to NCAA DI and the addition of St. Scholastica along with Macalester rejoining the league in football, bringing the league to 10 teams, the decision was made to split into two divisions for the first time. The Royals are in the Skyline Division which is compromised of Augsburg, Bethel, Concordia, Hamline and Macalester. While the Northwoods Division is compromised of Carleton, Gustavus, Saint John's, St. Olaf and St. Scholastica.  Teams will play an eight-game conference schedule with four "in-division" games and three "crossover" games, plus one "playoff" contest. The final week of the regular season will function as "Championship Week." Teams will be ranked 1-5 in each division based on the results of in-division games only. Each team will then match up with the corresponding seed in the other division for a "playoff" game and the winner of the No. 1 vs. No. 1 game will receive the MIAC's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Playoffs. Teams from the Skyline Division will host Championship Week games this fall, while the Northwoods Division will be at home for the final week of the 2022 season.
 
The Johnnies enter with the MIAC's top ranked offense while Bethel will counter with the leagues top ranked defense in both total defense and scoring defense. Both teams sport a Division I transfer at QB with Bethel's third year starter Jaran Roste (Minnesota) and SJU's first-year starter Aaron Syverson (Colorado St.). Roste has a 20-4 record as a starter at Bethel. He has completed over 80% of his passes thus far totaling 440 yards with 4 touchdowns and one interception through the first two games while also rushing for 118 yards and two touchdowns. Syverson has completed 54% of his passes for 576 yards and six touchdowns to three interceptions. He's totaled 66 yards on the ground with no scores. 
 


Royal Road Trip
For fans headed to Collegeville on Saturday tickets can be purchased ahead of time at www.gojohnnies.com/tickets or at the stadiums ticket booths on Saturday. Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for students, children five and under are free. Ticket booths open at 10:30 a.m. Gates open at 11 a.m. Fans should note that the online viewing of the game comes with a $10 charge after setting up a free account. Radio coverage of SJU football broadcasts begins with pregame coverage at 11 a.m. on Saturday and will feature an interview with Bethel head coach Steve Johnson. Fans driving to the game can tune into 660AM WBHR or in the Twin Cities coverage can be heard on 1570AM KDIZ while 1170AM KOWZ out of Waseca, Minnesota covers much of the southern part of the state into western Wisconsin. 

Opponent: Saint John's University
Live video: SJU Game Central  (requires a $10 fee for single game viewing)
Live stats: SJU Portal
Listen Live Online: SJU Portal (pregame starts at 11 a.m.)
Radio: 660AM WBHR (central MN), 1570AM KDIZ (Twin Cities), 1170AM KOWZ (southern MN & western WI) 
Twitter updates: Bethel Gameday & Bethel Royals FB
Location: Collegeville, Minn.
Stadium: Clemens Stadium, 2850 Abbey Plaza, Collegeville, MN 56321
Miles from Bethel's campus: 78
Estimated time of travel: 1 hour 15 minutes
Recommended hotspots: The Clearwater Travel Plaza just off I-94 about 20 minutes east of SJU is a great pre-game in and out spot with outstanding built to order sandwiches, pizzas and other items as well as the famous Nelson's Bakery. The small but festive downtown of Saint Joseph has multiple great postgame dining options including an authentic New Orleans restaurant, Krewe, (currently requires reservations).    
 
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