KICKOFF COVERAGE
ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – No. 24th-ranked Bethel is back in the MIAC Championship game for the fourth consecutive year. The Royals head to No. 3 Saint John's for a
noon kickoff on Saturday. The winner of Saturday's game receives the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Playoffs. The loser will wait to see if they are one of 12 teams to earn an at-large bid into the expanded 2024 playoff field.
The conference recently moved this Saturday's (Nov. 16) games - MIAC Championship Week - to noon kickoffs. Since the NCAA Championships were moved back by one week a few years ago, combined with sundown occurring around 4:45 p.m., an earlier kickoff will provide more time to complete games without the risk of playing in darkness or facing late-fall weather challenges. Additionally, this start time aligns with the NCAA Championships' noon kickoff, a standard the conference often aims to replicate when possible.
SERIES HISTORY
Series: BU trails 10-37
Last: Bethel loss 45-20 (Sept. 28, 2024) in Arden Hills
• The Royals are looking to snap a three-game losing streak to the Johnnies, who have taken nine of the last 10 meetings. It will be the 48th all-time meeting between the squads and the third time they've met up in the MIAC Championship game. SJU took the regular season matchup 45-20 forcing BU to throw four interceptions. Bethel is looking for its first win at Saint John's since 2013.
ROYAL NOTES
• Bethel (8-1, 6-1 MIAC) is coming off its sixth straight win, defeating Concordia 49-16 in what was its 16th consecutive Skyline Division victory. Saint John's (9-0, 7-0 MIAC) defeated St. Olaf at home 55-6 to remain undefeated.
• This season Bethel is currently outscoring its opponents 307-47 in the first half.
• Matt Jung was named MIAC Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season and was named to the D3football.com Team of the Week for the third time. Jung added 10 tackles, one sack and a pair of pick-sixes at Concordia. Jung put the Royals up 12-0 in the first with a 31-yard interception before getting his second pick six on the second half's first play, going 32 yards to the house.
• Joey Kidder and Micah Niewald currently sit 1-2 on the Royals' all-time receiving yards list. Kidder has 3,492 yards, sixth all-time in the MIAC, while Niewald has 3,198, which is 11th all-time in the MIAC. The duo is also 1-2 in career receptions with Niewald having 245 and Kidder 222.
• With four tackles against the Cobbers, Nate Farm moved into fourth all-time with 251 career tackles.
• BU remained in the D3football.com Top 25 moving up one spot to No. 24. They continue to receive votes in the football coach's poll. BU is No. 19 in the latest NPI release by the NCAA.
BY THE NUMBERS
14 – Aaron Ellingson's 14 rushing touchdowns is tied for third-most in a single season and are the most by a BU running back since 2013.
5 – Matt Jung has five career pick-sixes in two seasons with the Royals. Three have come in the 2024 season.
6 – Bethel has won six MIAC Championships, the most recent coming in 2023.
STRONG SECONDARY
• Having tallied a least one interception in every game this season, BU's 18 picks rank third nationally.
• Two times this season BU has snagged three INTs, doing so against Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Gustavus Adolphus.
• The Royals started the 2023 season with seven interceptions in the first three games. That matched the seven in the first three games of the 2024 season, the most in that stretch since 2004 when the Royals had nine.
• Finishing with 21 INTs in 2023, Bethel finished fifth nationally.
• Matt Jung led the team with seven INTs, the most by a Royal since 2007, finishing the season with the second most in Division III. For the 2024 season, Jung now has a team-leading eight.
JUMPING FOR JUNG
• Sophomore Matt Jung leads the Bethel defense with eight interceptions on the year, two coming in each of the first two games. His six picks are currently tied for the second most in Division III.
• Those eight picks are the third most in a season tying Brandon Carr's eight in 2007.
• With a pair of pick-sixes at Concordia, 31 and 32 yard returns, he now has five career pick sixes. Three have come this year including an 84-yard run to the house against Saint John's.
• Adding a 43-yard punt return touchdown to his scoring list against Macalester. Jung now has a TD in all facets of the game including a 69-yard TD reception against Saint John's. It's the first non-blocked punt return for the Royals since Oct. 27, 2012 when Landen Strilzuk returned it 70 yards to the house.
DEWALL DROPS 'EM FOR A LOSS
• Senior linebacker Caden DeWall currently has a team-leading 13.0 sacks on the year which is also tied for the third most in NCAA Division III. It's the third most in a single season and is the most since current assistant coach Kyle Kilgore's 15.0 in 2018.
DREWS DROPPING DIMES
• Sophomore Cooper Drews threw a single-game record six touchdowns in wins over Hamline and Carleton.
• Against the Knights, Drews threw for a career-high 422 yards while setting a single-game record with 38 completions.
• Against Hamline, he added a 92.3 completion percentage (24-of-26) which was the second-best in a conference game according to the MIAC record books.
• Drews is second in Division III with a 76.0 completion percentage this season, sitting only behind SJU's Aaron Syverson.
• His 33 TD passes on the year is a single-season record and ranks seventh nationally and second in the MIAC.
>>> READ BETHEL'S COMPLETE GAME NOTES BY CLICKING HERE.
