ARDEN HILLS, MINN.—Amid strong winter-like conditions, the No. 3 Bethel University football team led from start-to-finish in a 51-26 victory over Coe in the 2025 NCAA Division III Championship Second Round at Royal Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Royals will advance to the 2025 NCAA Division III Championship Third Round on Saturday, December 6, when they host UW-Platteville at Royal Stadium at 12 p.m. Coe concludes their 2025 season with a 9-3 overall record.
Bethel 51, Coe 26
The Royals rushed for 35 yards on their opening drive. Six of those yards occurred on Cooper Drews' touchdown that gave Bethel a 7-0 lead at the 11:47 mark of the first. BU's defense forced a three-and-out before Phil Conant blocked a punt, which put his offense within striking distance at the Coe 32 yard line. That three-play drive was highlighted by Tyler Terry's 28-yard reception, as well as his two-yard touchdown grab with 9:30 remaining in the first quarter that made the score 14-0.
The next series saw the Kohawks score their first points of the game when Jeron Senters capped an seven-play drive with a 45-yard touchdown grab from quarterback Brady Kelly, which narrowed their deficit to 14-7 with 5:37 left in the first.
David Geebli rushed for 27 yards on just three carries on Bethel's next drive. That set up Cooper Drews' one-yard touchdown run that widened the Royals' lead to 20-7 with 2:44 on the first-quarter clock.
Zach Bengtson capped an 11-play drive with a 31-yard field goal with 7:56 remaining in the second quarter, which pushed the margin to 23-7.
It took Bethel just one play on their next scoring drive courtesy of Albert Rundell's 55-yard touchdown grab that made things 30-7 with 6:11 on the second-quarter clock.
A rare Bethel punt with 10:16 remaining in the third quarter was blocked by David Petty, and returned down to the Royals' six-yard line by Keegan Hisler. Quincy Drummer followed that with a six-yard touchdown run that narrowed their deficit to 30-14 with 10:12 left in the third frame.
Albert Rundell displayed his big play-making abilities on the next drive, where he capped off a four-play series with a 47-yard touchdown grab at the 8:46 mark of the third quarter, pushing the Royals' lead to 37-14.
Quincy Drummer rushed for 27 yards on four carries throughout Coe's next series, which put them in the red zone. That set up Brady Kelly's nine-yard touchdown pass to Latrell Taylor that narrowed Bethel's lead to 37-20 at the 4:53 mark of the third.
Cooper Drews rushed for 21 yards on four carries and completed 3-of-3 passes for 28 yards on Bethel's next scoring drive, which ended in David Geebli's two-yard touchdown rush that pushed the score to 44-20 with 14:56 left in the fourth.
Tre'Sean Cunningham capped a 13-play drive with a six-yard touchdown run that narrowed Bethel's lead to 44-26 with 9:13 left in the fourth.
Drews closed the game's scoring with a 10-yard rushing touchdown with 5:46 left in the fourth to seal a 51-26 victory for the Royals.
Cooper Drews, who accounted for six touchdowns, finished with 73 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 11 carries. He completed 16-of-25 passes for 250 yards and three touchdowns. Albert Rundell caught six balls for 135 yards and two touchdowns, while Geebli led the Royals' ground game with 93 yards and one touchdown on 19 carries.
The Royals accumulated 505 total yards, and held Coe to 289. Jake Borman prevailed with a team-leading 14 tackles, two TFL's, and two quarterback hurries for Bethel. Jackson Braun followed with 11 stops that included 1.5 sacks, while Devin Williams added 10 tackles. Phil Conant was a force with seven tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, and one blocked kick.
Borman, Braun, Marcus Whiting, Phil Conant, Thomas Rush, Caleb Taylor, Elijah Claussen, and Seth Johnson each had sacks for the Royals.
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