ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – The Bethel University football team earned a 59-0 Homecoming victory over Macalester Saturday afternoon at Royal Stadium. The Royals saw six different touchdown scorers with David Geebli leading the way with a pair of rushing scores and a receiving touchdown.
 
Bethel (4-1, 2-1 MIAC, 1-0 Skyline) amassed 596 yards of offense making it the most in a game for the Royals since October 23, 2021 when BU put up 651 yards against the Scots. The Royals aired it out for 365 yards while going for 231 on the ground.
 
The nation's top running defense in BU held Macalester (0-5, 0-3 MIAC, 0-1 Skyline) to 36 yards on the ground and 43 through the air for a total of 79 yards. The Scots gained just five first downs while Bethel's defense forced 10 punts.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
1st Half
•  After Cooper Drews threw an interception on Bethel's second play of the game, Matt Jung redeemed things putting BU on the board with a 43-yard punt return into the endzone.
• Drews got back in rhythm on the Royals' next drive with a short pass to Geebli who strutted 33 yards for the touchdown reception.
• With 7:18 left in the first Micah Niewald made it 21-0 with a nice 47-yard grab from Drew
• Bethel poured it on as PrinceWarren Kinney's seven-yard rushing score and Joey Kidder's 31-yard catch built a 35-0 lead.
• Geebli added a rushing touchdown early in the second running it in from 13 yards out.
• Bethel's final score of the half came in the final minute with Hugo Cifuentes connecting on a 31-yard field goal.
• Bethel's defense forced seven punts in the opening 30 minutes and only allowed one first down.
 
2nd Half
• On its opening second-half drive, Geebli capped out a seven-play, 71-yard drive with his second rushing touchdown of the game doing so from 17 yards out.
• Early in the fourth, Will Barthel has the lone BU interception of the day picking off a near 25-yard pass from the Scots and returning it five yards.
• That turnover converted to points for the Royals as Albert Rundell entered at quarterback for the drive. He threw his first collegiate touchdown to Tyler Terry from seven yards out. It was Terry's first collegiate touchdown reception.
• Bethel's defense forced three punts and a turnover on downs in the second half.
 
TOP PERFORMERS
Offense
• Cooper Drews – 29-of-21, 288 yards, 3 TD
• David Geebli – 13 rushes for 70 yards, 2 rushing TDs, 4 catches for 43 yards, 1 TD reception
• Micah Niewald – 9 catches for 119 yards, 1 TD
 
Defense
• Matt Jung – 5 tackles, 1 sack, 2.0 tackles for loss
• Caden DeWall – 4 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss.
 
 
GAME NOTES
• Macalester won the toss and deferred its choice to the second half. Bethel receives.
• Bethel has recorded back-to-back shutouts for the first time since 2018 when they shutout Gustavus on 9/22 (31-0) and Carleton on 9/29 (48-0).
• The win improves BU to 25-10 all-time against the Scots and extends the series winning streak to 17 games.
• David Geebli is just the fourth Royal in the last four seasons to record both a rushing and receiving touchdown in a game. Teammate Aaron Ellingson did it twice during the 2023 season.
 
UP NEXT
The Royals stay in Skyline Division play hosting Augsburg next Saturday, Oct. 19. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.

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