ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – The Coe College Kohawks came to Royal Stadium Saturday afternoon with the 15th most rushing yards in all of NCAA Division III. The Bethel University Royals came to Royal Stadium Saturday afternoon allowing the least rushing yards in all of NCAA Division III.
In the first round of the Division III football tournament, one had to lose. Ultimately, it came down to the Royals’ defensive front – both in the passing and running game.
“They’ve got a really good front seven,” Coe head coach Tyler Staker said. “They got after it.”
In the 31-26 Royals victory, the Royals allowed just 22 rushing yards in 35 attempts to a Kohawk offense averaging 225 yards per game this season.
“They were as good as advertised, defensively,” Staker said.
Part of that low number came with Bethel’s ten sacks Saturday, including 3.5 from senior edge rusher Caden DeWall. His 19 sacks on the year is a Bethel single-season record.
DeWall ended Coe’s first drive of the game with a 3rd down sack.
Another sack came near the end of the first quarter at the Coe 23-yard line. On 4th and 9, Coe punter Luke Bradley took the long snap and, before he could raise his foot to send the ball away, DeWall screamed in from the middle line and collapsed on Bradley.
Fifth-year defensive lineman Kolin Baier contributed another crucial sack in the third quarter. Bethel led 28-20 while Coe drove, looking to even the score. On 2nd and 16 – the six yards had been lost on a Noah Richards-sack the previous play – Coe quarterback Brady Kelly rolled to his left.
Kelly flipped his body to throw, but as he did, Baier slammed him into the turf, reminiscent of a fundamental WWE takedown. But when Baier popped back to his feet, the football was in his hands. He’d forced a fumble while tackling Bradley. The ball never touched the ground. Bethel’s bleachers erupted.
Four plays later, deep in Kohawk territory, Royals’ quarterback Cooper Drews fired a pass right into the chest of Coe defensive back AJ Ambundo.
Two plays after that, Bethel linebacker Jacob Holmen toppled Kelly for another sack. Bradley lost the ball and DeWall fell on it.
Three turnovers in less than three minutes of game time.
“We’re a mature football team, and I think you have to be,” Bethel head coach Mike McElroy said. “Otherwise those [turnovers] will knock you out.”
Bethel turned DeWall’s recovered fumble into a field goal. Up 31-20 with the third quarter waning, Bethel had all but sealed the game.
Except, the Kohawks’ defense forced a punt midway through the fourth quarter. The Coe offense took over at its own 20. 7 plays later, Kelly shoveled a pass to receiver Jeron Santers for a four-yard touchdown. Despite a failed two-point conversion, Coe had pulled to within a score with 6:29 to go.
Amid calls by Bethel parents and alumni to “eat the clock,” the Royals burned more than four minutes of game time, but came away empty handed. Senior Will Eliason punted the ball away, which was downed at Coe’s 3-yard line.
That’s when Bethel’s “good as advertised” defensive line came up once again with two minutes remaining.
Baier took Kelly down for a loss of seven yards on first down from the Coe 15.
“We knew coming in if we could get these guys to third and long, we had a chance,” McElroy said.
Kelly gained 12 yards back on a scramble, but on third down, DeWall hurried Kelly into an incomplete pass. Another incomplete pass on 4th down gave Bethel the ball. Coe was out of timeouts.
Drews took three knees to burn the rest of the clock.
There was plenty to celebrate in McElroy’s first NCAA playoff win as a head coach, but the defensive linemen were the ones having the most fun.
“There was multiple times you make a tackle, and you end up face to face with one of your guys,” DeWall said. “And you both just got that big smile on your face, just fired up.”
That’s 3.5 smiles, then, for DeWall. Baier earned his own 2.5 smiles.
Smiles came from the Bethel offense as well. Drews, who threw 53 passes Saturday, led another performance from an offense that has produced all season. Running back Aaron Ellingson scored thrice in the win. He punched in two handoffs from short distance and caught a third.
Most drives were catalyzed by the Royals’ typical run-pass option, hurry-up offense. Drews said Coe was packing their defensive front, leading to his decision to throw 53 times.
“They were able to plug up a lot of our runs,” Drews said. “Our focus was just tempo and just pushing the pace. It’s been that all year.”
Despite that tempo in the Royals’ no-huddle offense, they won the time of possession battle by nearly nine minutes.
At this time last year, Bethel was reeling from a hard loss in Whitewater, Wisc. Now, they’re moving on to the second round.
Plus, they get to host again. Although Lake Forest College is seeded higher in the DIII bracket, it failed to file a claim to host its playoff game, citing its facilities not being up to standard. So Lake Forest will come to Arden Hills for a noon kickoff Nov. 30.
Bethel now prepares for the undefeated Lake Forest squad over Thanksgiving. McElroy took this into consideration for the first time only after the game.
“It’s just one more thing that I never had to worry about last year,” the first-year head coach said. “But it’s always fun and it’s always cool when you’re practicing on Thanksgiving. Not a lot of people get to do that.”
DeWall asked if McElroy would cook for the team for the holiday. McElroy declined. But…
“I got a mean party potatoes recipe,” he said. “They’re a party.”
