ARDEN HILLS, MINN.—The No. 16 Bethel University football team never trailed, but also never led by more than seven points in their Saturday-afternoon showdown against Concordia (Minn.) at Royal Stadium. Fifth-year senior David Geebli prevailed with 144 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 21 carries, which consisted of a seven-yard run on a 4th-and-1 play at their own 32 yard line with 1:34 left in the contest, which sealed the deal in a 34-28 decision over the Cobbers.Â
The Royals, who take sole possession of second place with the victory, improve to 6-2, 6-1 MIAC, while the Cobbers fall to 6-2, 5-2 MIAC.
Bethel 34, Concordia 28
Geebli highlighted a Royals ground game that accumulated 294 yards on 49 carries, which consisted of his touchdown runs from nine and 81 yards out in the second half. Taye Manns followed with 77 yards on 13 carries. Quarterback Cooper Drews also contributed to the success with 62 yards rushing on 10 carries, as well as 20-of-33 completions for 196 yards and three touchdowns.Â
Catching two of those touchdown passes was Teagan Viebrock, who registered six catches for 82 yards. This included Bethel's game-winning touchdown grab that made the score 34-28 with 4:54 left in the contest. The Cobbers got the ball back at their own 20 yard line on the ensuing series and drove it up to the 50 yard line off quarterback Nick Walter's 29-yard pass to Grant Mages. Walter followed that with another deep pass, which was intercepted by Fisher Ganske at Bethel's 10 yard line.
From there, the Royals drained the clock down, highlighted by Geebli's big 4th-and-1 dive play that locked the victory with 1:34 remaining. Ganske also added two pass breakups, and two tackles to his stat line.Â
Leading the Royals defense was Marcus Whiting, who finished with 12 tackles and one quarterback hurry. Taylor Glynn added 11 stops, followed by 10 from Max Durgin. Elijah Claussen's eight tackles included one sack for a six-yard loss. They highlighted a Royals defense that held Concordia to just 90 yards rushing.
Also scoring a touchdown for Bethel was Albert Rundell, who notched seven catches for 64 yards.Â
Bethel finished with 490 total yards against Concordia's 410 yards. The Cobbers racked up 320 yards passing, led by Nick Walter's 18-of-36 completions for 263 yards and one touchdown, as well as 72 yards rushing on 21 carries. The Cobbers got 13 tackles apiece from Kyle Mages and Lane Dilly.
The Royals will return to action on Saturday, November 7 at Carleton. Game time is set for 12 p.m.
