Blocked FG on last play preserves Bethel win (By Gene McGivern)
ST. PAUL -- Defensive end Luke Carlson capped a huge day for the Bethel College special teams by blocking an 18-yard field goal attempt on the game's final play to preserve a 22-20 MIAC football victory for the visiting Royals (6-2 overall, 5-2 MIAC) over St. Thomas (5-3, 5-2) Saturday at O'Shaughnessy Stadium.
The loss knocked St. Thomas out of first place and ended the Toms' four-game winning streak. The Toms outgained Bethel in total offense 378-249, but couldn't overcome the Royals' 272 yards gain on five kick returns.
The disappointing finish for UST spoiled a strong performance by UST senior QB Greg Kaiser who ran for two TDs (27, 1) and threw a TD pass to his brother Andy Kaiser. Greg finished 17-of-27 passing with no interceptions for 226 yards, and was 3-for-3 in fourth-down conversions on the game.
Bethel scored twice in the first half off long punt and kick returns, and set up their final TD with another long return.Kirk Midthun's 88-yard punt return put the Royals up 7-0. After the Toms tied it 7-7, Bethel's Gary Stone ran 83 yards on the ensuing kickoff. Midthun's PAT run made it 15-7.
The Toms answered with a 27-yard Kaiser TD run -- that featured five broken tackles -- to make it 15-13 but their PAT pass was caught out of bounds and the lead stayed at two points.
Stone returned the second-half kickoff 53 yards to the UST 40. The Royals drove 40 yards in five plays capped by Brett Brodeen's 3-yard run to go ahead 22-13.
St. Thomas pulled within 22-20 midway through the third period as Kaiser ran one yard to the end zone on a 4th-and-one situation.
The Toms' made a late bid as they stopped Bethel on 4th-and-2 at the Tommie 18-yard line with 5:55 left to take over on downs. Three plays later on 4th-and-1 at the UST 30, Kaiser hit his brother Andy, who turned it into a 52-yard gain to the Bethel 18 with 2:00 to play. The Toms had first-and-goal on the Bethel 6 with 1:21 left.
UST gained three yards on first down, but Carlson sacked
Kaiser on second down for a loss of 10 back to the Bethel 13. Kaiser hit
Andrew Hilliard for 12 yards to the Bethel one-yard line. On 4th-and-1,
UST took time out and tried an 18-yard field goal from the left hash mark.
UST's Josh Brand's kick came out low and
Carlson batted it down to preserve the Bethel win.
Midthun had 11 tackles and one of the Royals' five sacks,
and Hans Bengston was in on 13 tackles. UST's Frank Streit had two sacks
among his 12 tackles, and Darren Nelson had an interception and eight tackles.
Freshman Jake Barkley rushed 24 times for 97 yards for UST, who played
without injured halfback Marcus Lutdke.
Team Statistics
Bethel
St. Thomas
22
Points
20
5 First
Downs Rushing
6
8 First
Downs Passing
10
1 First Downs by
Penalty
1
67 Total Offensive
Plays
74
255 Total
Yards Gained
378
3.81 Average Yards
per Play
5.11
37
Plays Rushing
47
85
Yards Rushing
152
170
Yards Passing
226
30
Passes Attempted
27
13
Passes Completed
17
2 Passes Had Intercepted
0
23.0
Net Yards per Punt
20.8
1- 1 Fumbles-Fumbles
Lost
2- 1
8- 48
Penalties-Yards
4- 20
5- 16 3rd Down
Conversions
7- 18
.312 3rd Down Conversion Percentage
.389
1- 2
4th Down Conversions
3- 3
.500 4th Down Conversion Percentage
1.000
Scoring by Period
1 2 3 4
Tot
--------------------------------------------------
Bethel
7 8 7 0
22
St. Thomas
0 13 7 0
20
--------------------------------------------------
Possession Time by Period
1 2 3
4 Total
-----------------------------------------------------------
Bethel
6:00 7:00 7:30 7:50 28:20
St. Thomas
9:00 8:00 7:30 7:10 31:40
-----------------------------------------------------------
Attendance
2800
Rushing
Yds/ Yds/
Bethel
GP-GS Car Gain Ls Net Game Car TD LP
---------------------------------------------------------------
Josh Savageau 1- 1
22 98 4 94 94.0 4.3
0 13
Brett Brodeen 1- 0
6 11 0 11 11.0 1.8
1 3
Dave Dickman 1- 0
1 0 0 0 0.0
0.0 0 0
Ryan Ruisch
1- 1 1 0 0
0 0.0 0.0 0 0
Mike Johnson 1- 0
1 0 2 -2 -2.0 -2.0
0 0
Jeremy Belisle 1- 1
2 0 9 -9 -9.0 -4.5
0 0
Bart Becker
1- 1 4 0 9 -9
-9.0 -2.2 0 0
---------------------------------------------------------------
Bethel
1- 1 37 109 24 85 85.0
2.3 1 13
St. Thomas
1- 1 47 194 42 152 152.0 3.2
2 27
Passing
Bethel
GP-GS Cmp Att Int Pct Yds Sck TD Cnv LP
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Bart Becker
1- 1 12 24 1 .500 171 2
0 0 50
Jeremy Belisle 1- 1
0 1 0 .000 0
0 0 0 0
Scott Kirchoff 1- 0
1 5 1 .200 -1 0
0 0 0
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Bethel
1- 1 13 30 2 .433 170 2
0 0 50
St. Thomas
1- 1 17 27 0 .630 226 5
1 0 52
Passing Efficiency
Yds/ TD Comp Int
Rating
Bethel
GP-GS Att Pct Pct
Pct Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------
Bart Becker
1- 1 7.12 0.00 50.00 4.17
101.55
Jeremy Belisle 1- 1 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Scott Kirchoff 1- 0 -0.20
0.00 20.00 20.00 -21.60
--------------------------------------------------------------
Bethel
1- 1 5.67 0.00 43.33 6.67
77.62
St. Thomas
1- 1 8.37 3.70 62.96 0.00
145.48
Pass Receiving
Rec/ Yds/
Bethel
GP-GS Rec Game Yds Rec TD LP
-----------------------------------------------------
Jordy Hage
1- 1 6 6.0 58 9.7
0 17
Jeremy Belisle 1- 1
4 4.0 90 22.5 0 50
Joel Olson
1- 0 1 1.0 12 12.0 0 12
Ryan Ruisch
1- 1 1 1.0 11 11.0 0 11
Josh Savageau 1- 1
1 1.0 -1 -1.0 0 -1
-----------------------------------------------------
Bethel
1- 1 13 13.0 170 13.1 0 50
St. Thomas
1- 1 17 17.0 226 13.3 1 52
Total Offense
Yds/
Bethel
GP-GS Rush Pass Tot Game
------------------------------------------------
Bart Becker
1- 1 -9 171 162 162.0
Josh Savageau 1- 1
94 0 94 94.0
Brett Brodeen 1- 0
11 0 11 11.0
Scott Kirchoff 1- 0
0 -1 -1 -1.0
Mike Johnson 1- 0
-2 0 -2 -2.0
Jeremy Belisle 1- 1
-9 0 -9 -9.0
------------------------------------------------
Bethel
1- 1 85 170 255 255.0
St. Thomas
1- 1 152 226 378 378.0
All-Purpose Yards
Punt KO Tot Yds/
Bethel
GP-GS Rush Rec Ret Ret Yds Game
---------------------------------------------------------
Gary Stone
1- 1 0 0 0 153
153 153.0
Kirk Midthun 1- 1
0 0 88 31 119 119.0
Josh Savageau 1- 1
94 -1 0 0 93
93.0
Jeremy Belisle 1- 1
-9 90 0 0 81
81.0
Jordy Hage
1- 1 0 58 0
0 58 58.0
Joel Olson
1- 0 0 12 0
0 12 12.0
Brett Brodeen 1- 0
11 0 0 0 11
11.0
Ryan Ruisch
1- 1 0 11 0
0 11 11.0
Mike Johnson 1- 0
-2 0 0 0 -2
-2.0
Bart Becker
1- 1 -9 0 0
0 -9 -9.0
---------------------------------------------------------
Bethel
1- 1 85 170 88 184 527 527.0
St. Thomas
1- 1 152 226 35 58 471 471.0
Scoring
-- Conversions --
Bethel
GP-GS TD Run Pass Kick FG S DX Pts
------------------------------------------------------------
Kirk Midthun 1- 1
1 1- 1 0- 0 0- 0 0 0 0
8
Brett Brodeen 1- 0
1 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0 0 0
6
Gary Stone
1- 1 1 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0 0 0
6
Seth Olson
1- 1 0 0- 0 0- 0 2- 2 0 0 0
2
------------------------------------------------------------
Bethel
1- 1 3 1- 1 0- 0 2- 2 0 0 0
22
St. Thomas
1- 1 3 0- 1 0- 0 2- 2 0 0 0
20
Field Goals
Bethel
GP-GS 0-29 30-39 40-49 50+ Total LP
-----------------------------------------------------------
Seth Olson
1- 1 0- 0 0- 2 0- 0 0- 0 0- 2 0
-----------------------------------------------------------
Bethel
1- 1 0- 0 0- 2 0- 0 0- 0 0- 2 0
St. Thomas
1- 1 0- 1 0- 1 0- 0 0- 0 0- 2 0
Punting
Ins
Bethel
GP-GS Att Yds Avg Bk LP 20
-------------------------------------------------
Gary Stone
1- 1 3 104 34.7 0 37 0
-------------------------------------------------
Bethel
1- 1 3 104 34.7 0 37 0
St. Thomas
1- 1 8 254 31.8 0 44 1
Kickoff Returns
Bethel
GP-GS Att Yds Avg TD LP
----------------------------------------------
Gary Stone
1- 1 3 153 51.0 1 83
Kirk Midthun 1- 1
1 31 31.0 0 31
----------------------------------------------
Bethel
1- 1 4 184 46.0 1 83
St. Thomas
1- 1 4 58 14.5 0 22
Punt Returns
Bethel
GP-GS Att Yds Avg TD LP
----------------------------------------------
Kirk Midthun 1- 1
1 88 88.0 1 88
----------------------------------------------
Bethel
1- 1 1 88 88.0 1 88
St. Thomas
1- 1 3 35 11.7 0 18
Interception Returns
Bethel
GP-GS Att Yds Avg TD LP
----------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------
Bethel
1- 1 0 0 0.0 0 0
St. Thomas
1- 1 2 33 16.5 0 32
Defensive Statistics
Bethel
GP-GS T A Tot CF RF FR-Yds TD PBU Prs
TFL-Yds Sack-Yds I BK BP
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hans Bengtson 1- 1
9 4 13 0.0 0 0- 0 0
0 0 0.0- 0 0.0- 0 0 0
0
Kirk Midthun 1- 1
8 3 11 0.0 0 0- 0 0
1 0 2.0- 9 1.0- 7 0 0
0
Jason Holm
1- 1 4 6 10 0.0 0 0-
0 0 0 0 0.0- 0 0.0-
0 0 0 0
Kris Collins 1- 1
5 3 8 0.0 0 0- 0
0 1 0 0.0- 0 0.0- 0
0 0 0
Ben Kidd
1- 1 2 6 8 0.0 0
0- 0 0 0 0 0.0- 0
0.0- 0 0 0 0
Luke Carlson 1- 1
3 3 6 0.0 0 0- 0
0 0 0 1.0- 10 1.0- 10 0
1 0
Rick Meyer
1- 1 3 3 6 0.0 0
0- 0 0 0 0 1.0- 6
1.0- 6 0 0 0
Josh Schlueter 1- 1
3 1 4 0.0 0 0- 0
0 0 0 1.0- 4 1.0- 4
0 0 0
Mike Hendel
1- 1 2 2 4 0.0 0
0- 0 0 0 0 1.0- 8
1.0- 8 0 0 0
Gary Stone
1- 1 1 2 3 0.0 0
0- 0 0 0 0 0.0- 0
0.0- 0 0 0 0
Ben Matthews 1- 1
1 2 3 0.0 0 0- 0
0 0 0 0.0- 0 0.0- 0
0 0 0
Jon Foss
1- 0 2 0 2 0.0 0
0- 0 0 0 0 0.0- 0
0.0- 0 0 0 0
Paul Olson
1- 0 1 0 1 0.0 0
0- 0 0 0 0 0.0- 0
0.0- 0 0 0 0
Joe Rueggseger 1- 0
1 0 1 0.0 0 0- 0
0 0 0 0.0- 0 0.0- 0
0 0 0
Ryan Kooy
1- 0 1 0 1 1.0 1
0- 0 0 0 0 0.0- 0
0.0- 0 0 0 0
Jeff Bormes
1- 0 1 0 1 0.0 0
0- 0 0 0 0 0.0- 0
0.0- 0 0 0 0
Matt Shirkey 1- 1
1 0 1 0.0 0 0- 0
0 0 0 0.0- 0 0.0- 0
0 0 0
Jeff Eklund
1- 0 0 1 1 0.0 0
0- 0 0 0 0 0.0- 0
0.0- 0 0 0 0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bethel
1- 1 48 36 84 1.0 1 0- 0
0 2 0 6.0- 37 5.0- 35 0
1 0
St. Thomas
1- 1 35 36 71 1.0 1 0- 0
0 3 0 9.0- 28 2.0- 8 2
0 0