| Mitch Hallstrom came down
with a one-handed grab in the red zone as part of an eight-catch,
100-yard day. Photo by Eric Kelley, d3photography.com |
The Royals are moving on to the second round of the NCAA
Division III playoffs with a 24-23 win over Concordia-Chicago on
Saturday. The hosting Cougars (10-1) scored with :18 left in the
fourth quarter, but J.D.
Mehlhorn (Jr., Lakeville, Minn.) broke up the
ensuing two-point conversion to give Concordia-Chicago its first
loss of the season and an early exit from the 2012
postseason.
A sold out crowd at Concordia Stadium saw the Royals take
the 24-10 lead with 6:31 left in the third quarter, but the Cougars
never quit. Trailing 24-17 with under seven minutes in the final
period, Bethel quarterback Erik
Peterson (So., Orono, Minn.) was stripped in
an attempt to place the ball over the goal line, which kept the
score within seven. CUC later drove down the field to score what
appeared to be the equalizer, but a failed pass attempt by Cougar
quarterback Jake Koehler ended the game with the final
24-23.
The Royals' defense proved to be the difference early on.
Inside linebacker Seth
Mathis (Jr., Anoka, Minn.) recorded his fifth
interception of the season on the Cougars first drive, which was
inside the Bethel 20-yard-line. A quick 3-and-out gave the ball
back to Concordia, butJordan
Anderson (Sr., Lino Lakes, Minn.) followed
suite with his first interception of the season on the Bethel
18.
BU turned the turnover into points at the 4:11 mark in the
first quarter, when freshmen kicker Nathaniel Van
Loon (Fr., Faribault, Minn.) kicked a
career-best 40-yard field goal to give the Royals the 3-0
advantage.
Bethel put together another six-minute drive on their next
possession, however, this time the Royals put six on the
board. Erik
Peterson connected with Mitch
Hallstrom (Jr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) on a
4th-and-7 touchdown pass from the CUC 22-yard-line, which put BU up
10-0.
Hallstrom wasn't done scoring, as he threw a touchdown to
fellow wide out Jay
Hilbrands(Sr., Clara City, Minn.) on the next
Bethel possession. Peterson threw a bubble screen to Hallstrom, who
then stepped back and fired a pass that got tipped right into the
hands of Hilbrands, who then clipped the pylon.
Trailing 17-3, Concordia cut into the BU lead with an
8-play, 68-yard drive to go into the half down 17-10.
The Royals weren't done scoring, though, as a solid rushing
performance by Marshall
Klitzke (Fr., Annandale, Minn.) helped Bethel
find the end zone with 6:23 left in the third
quarter. Erik
Peterson's 1-yard carry gave BU just enough, as it
and the Van Loon PAT was the difference maker in the 24-23
final.
Bethel finished the day with 21 first downs, totaling 350
yards. Klitzke rushed for 134 yards on 18 carries, averaging 7.4
yards per carry.
Meanwhile, Peterson completed 16-of-23 passes for 161 yards
and a touchdown. Perhaps the most impressive stat was no turnovers
throughout the entire 60 minutes.
Bethel's quarterback connected with Mitch
Hallstrom eight times for 100 yards. Hallstrom
had an exceptional one-handed catch late in the fourth quarter on a
fourth down play that extended the Royals
drive. Brandon
Marquardt (So., Champlin,
Minn.), Jay
Hilbrands, andKyle
Ulstad (Sr., Fargo, S.D.) each caught two
passes as well.
Defensively, Seth
Mathis had another outstanding performance.
Mathis finished with 15 tackles—eight solo—and one
interception returned for 31 yards. Brett
Skoog (Sr., Long Lake, Minn.) ended with 10
tackles, including one for loss. Erik
Smith (Sr., Henning, Minn.) wrapped up six
carries, including a sack for a six-yard-loss. In the
secondary, J.D.
Mehlhornalso played a special role, not only
breaking up the potential game-winning two-point conversion, but
also breaking up two other potential touchdowns.
The Royals kicker, Nathaniel Van
Loon, was also astonishing. Van Loon not only
nailed a 40-yarder, but he put every kickoff inside the Cougar
5-yard-line — opposed to Concordia, who purposefully never
got a kickoff past the 30-yard-line.
According to Concordia coach Lonnie Pries, "We were not
willing to put the ball in the hand's of Bethel's return men, so we
decided made someone else hurt us." This was effective on the first
kick, as Bethel dropped the opening kickoff and the Cougars
recovered — but the Royals had great field position the rest
of the way.
With Saturday's win, Bethel travels to Oshkosh, Wis. to take
on UW-Oshkosh, who handled St. Scholastica 55-10 in Oshkosh
Saturday. The Titans finished its regular season 10-0 and received
the automatic qualifier from the WIAC.