Platteville, Wis. – The No. 11th-ranked Bethel University football team suffered its first setback of the season falling on the road to Wisconsin-Platteville, 10-7. The low scoring affair saw both defensives hold the opponent under 300 yards of offense. The Pioneers out gained Bethel with 262 yards of offense compared to the Royals 162 yards.
HOW IT HAPPENED
1st Half
• Bethel got its first stop of the day as UWP missed a 21-yard field goal on its opening drive.
• The Pioneers got on the board first marching in from seven yards out to cap out a 12 play, 83-yard drive.
•
George Bolt threw his first interception of the game with one second left giving UWP a 7-0 lead after one quarter.
• Bolt's second interception of the day eventually set up UW-Platteville to go up 10-0 with a successful 49-yard field goal with 4:29 left before the break.
• The Royals were limited to 41 yards of offense compared to the Pioneers 205 yards in the first half.
2nd Half
• Bethel's defense forced a three-and out on UWP's first second-half drive
• The Royals turned that into points as
George Bolt connected with
Micah Niewald for a 19-yard touchdown reception. It capped out a seven play, 47-yard drive in 2:26.
• The fourth started in BU's favor as
David Brandt picked up his first career fumble recovery as UWP muffed the handoff allowing Brandt to jump on top of it.
• With just over four minutes remaining in the game,
Hugo Cifuentes' 41-yard yard field goal to tie it came up short on what was an 11-play drive over a 4:27 span.
• From their own 34-yard line, the Pioneers picked up two yards on a 4th and 1 run play sealing it as BU only had one remaining timeout.
• Bethel's defense limited the Pioneers to 57 yards of offense in the final 30 minutes, including only 16 yards of offense in the fourth quarter.
KEY PERFORMERS
Offense
•
Bryce Kunkle – 17 carries, 51 yards
•
Micah Niewald – 3 catches, 30 yards, 1 TD
Defense
•
Thomas Wurdemann – 8 tackles
•
Nate Farm – 8 tackles, 1 tackle for loss
•
Isaac Call – 3 pass breakups
GAME NOTES
• Bethel won the toss for the second straight week and deferred its choice to the second half.
• Over the last 46 games dating back to the 2017 season, Bethel has kept its opponent under 300 yards of total offense in 26 of them.
• With a pair of sacks on the day, BU has now recorded a sack in in nine straight games.
• Over the last four seasons, the Royals defense have shutout their opponent in the second half 10 times.
• All-time series with Wisconsin-Platteville is now tied at 1-1
UP NEXT
Bethel enters the bye week as they prepare for the conference opener against Saint John's in a rematch of last year's MIAC Championship on Saturday, Sept. 24. The divisional crossover matchup is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Royal Stadium. Tickets for the matchup can only be purchased the day of the game.
