ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus College football team traveled up to the metro for a Saturday night road game under the lights for their MIAC opener against the No. 7 nationally ranked Bethel University Royals. The Gusties fell 49-7 to the Royals, moving to 1-1 overall on the season.
Bethel received the opening kickoff and drove 84 yards down the field on 13 plays to go up 7-0. On the Gusties first drive of the game,
Liam Frommelt hauled in a 20-yard completion and
Jacob Ginskey scrambled for a 15-yard run, but the drive stalled as Gustavus failed to convert a 4
th and 3 at the Royals' 26 yard line. Bethel completed a 74-yard touchdown pass on their next play to take a 14-0 lead.
The Gusties' defense made a pair of big red zone stops in the second quarter. The Royals had a 4
th and 2 at Gustavus' eight-yard line, but
Carson Boike tackled Bethel's running back short of the line to gain to give the ball back to the Gusties. Bethel got the ball back and again drove deep into Gustavus territory, but again the Gusties made a big stop as, on a 4
th and 4 from Gustavus' four-yard line,
Chance Swansson broke up the Royal's pass for a second-consecutive fourth-down stop by the Gusties' defense.
Swansson ended the following Bethel drive as well, picking off the Royals in the Gusties' endzone as the Gustavus defense for the third time in a row came up big to get the ball back.
Bethel broke through on the next drive, however, scoring on a four-yard run to take a 21-0 lead late in the second quarter. The Royals scored again on their next drive, going 70 yards on seven plays to take a 28-0 lead into halftime.
The Royals scored on their first two drives of the third quarter to take a 42-0 lead. On their third drive of the quarter,
Cody Bartnes picked off Bethel to set up the Gusties' offense at the Royal's 44-yard line. Ginsky hit Frommelt for 12 yards on the first play of the drive and later, on a 4
th and 4, found
Brayden Sturm for a 22-yard completion to reach Bethel's four-yard line.
Walker Hennen punched the ball in two plays later for a Gustavus touchdown.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Royals scored again to make it 49-7. The Gusties' defense had back-to-back sacks to end the next Bethel drive as
Torrin Smith and
Carter Will got to the quarterback on 2
nd and 10 while
Samuel Zea followed with another sack on 3
rd and 15 to force a punt. The Gustavus defense made another stop on the final play of the game, bringing down the Royal's running back on the one-yard line to hold Bethel short as time expired.
Up next for the Gusties is a return to Saint Peter for a conference home game against the Concordia College Cobbers on Saturday, September 26 at 1:00 p.m. at Hollingsworth Field.
