The Sleeping Bear

What started as a cold, overcast day turned into a cloudless, sunny day at Royal Stadium in Arden Hills. Though the weather changed from kickoff to final horn, the product on the field didn’t: Lots of handoffs (99 combined), lots of big hits and lots of small gains.

You could tell it was a Division III West Region football game from the start. Eau Claire entered the game 9-2 after a second place finish in one of DIII’s toughest conferences, the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. And like most WIAC squads, Eau Claire is big. They beat you by pounding you into submission, running the ball and passing just enough to keep you off balance.

Bethel, 10-1 and champions of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, may lack Eau Claire’s size, but they also beat you with a three yards and a could of dust philosophy. They run. And run. And run some more. If it’s not freshman Logan Flannery picking up chunks of yards on the edges, it’s sophomore Dusty Wahl pounding it through the middle of the defense. Oh, and let’s not forget senior QB Ben Wetzell, all 6’3″ and 215 pounds dashing around the edge for big yards.

But the unsung heroes on the Bethel team are the small, fast defense. Don’t let their base 3-3-3 defense that seemingly taunts you to run the ball inside fool you – they stop the run as good as anyone in DIII. They’re quick, they fly to the ball and they make you beat them slowly, by grinding out small chunks of yards.

Two plays after the opening kickoff, the Royals were in business. An Eau Claire fumble was pounced on by the Royals inside the 20 and they quickly turned it into a Dusty Wahl 3 yard TD run to take an early 7-0 lead.

Eau Claire was down, but not out, rallying to tie the score at 7 on a 1 yard Cory Sartorelli run 1:55 before the end of the first quarter. A second quarter 22 yard field goal gave Eau Claire their first (and last) lead of the game at 10-7, but their failure to complete a third and goal from the two cost them four points.

On a day when neither offense could get anything going, the Royals relied on their special teams to make a big play. Tim Cornish burst through the middle and then cut outside, returning the ensuing kick 46 yards. A 15 yard late hit put the ball at the 25, and five plays later Ben Wetzell plunged in from the one to give Bethel a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

The punters got a a workout in the third quarter as both teams struggled to move the ball and mount a drive. Not surprising, since neither team could throw the ball, combining for a numbing 9-33 for 61 passing yards. Yeah, that’s ugly. 5 punts and a turnover on downs ensued with neither team moving inside their opponents 30. A 6th punt was planned early in the fourth quarter, but Bethel punter Kevin Ness dropped the snap, attempted to punt and had the kick blocked. It rolled into and out of the endzone, cutting the Royal lead to 14-12. Momentum was back in Eau Claire’s corner.

And it stayed there all of one play – the ensuing free kick took a Bethel roll and instead of starting in great field position following the safety, Eau Claire found themselves inside their own 20. They moved it as far as their own 36 before punting. A Royal drive and punt and Eau Claire drive and punt later and there was 7:53 left and Bethel was starting at their own 26 clinging to a 2 point lead.

The drive began. And 12 rushes and five and a half minutes later Bethel had driven 74 yards for the back-breaking TD. On the drive, Logan Flannery, who had been bottled up most of the game, carried 5 times for 27 yards. Wetzell carried 3 times for 22 yards and Dusty Wahl carried 4 times for 27 yards, including the 11-yard TD.

Eau Claire valiantly moved the ball down to the Bethel 27, but their season ended when they turned the ball over on downs. A few kneeldowns later and Bethel had doubled their total number of playoff wins. One more and they’ll be facing the juggernaut that is Mount Union in the semifinals. But first up is Central, fresh off a 37-7 dismantling the the St. John’s University Johnnies, a team Bethel needed fourth quarter heroics to beat a few weeks back.

Random Thoughts

• Man, what a grind-it-out game. Bethel totalled 248 yards, Eau Claire 208. Eau Claire averaged just 2.9 yards per play. There were 33 pass attempts and 99 rush attempts in the game. Both teams were content to grind it out, shorten the game and hope to make the big play at the end. In the end, Bethel was able to sustain a drive and pull out the win.
• Eau Claire was a big team – huge offensive line and big WRs, but they were unable to run or throw the ball effectively. They were missing their starting QB, Mitch Schaeuble, who apparently got injured early in the game. Must have been the first play, because Tony Hull replaced him and fumbled on the second play.
• Bethel’s defense plays fast and is great at stopping the run. When I watched them play St. John’s, SJU was unable to get anything in the way of a rushing attack. Same with Eau Claire. They are small, but fast. They run to the ball and make plays.
• This might be bulletin board material, but Bethel will not win it all. They are just too one-dimensional on offense to win a title. You have to be able to complete a pass if you want to beat teams like Mount Union and Whitewater. If Central plays as well next week as this week, Bethel may find themselves at the bad end of a similar score. That said, I like watching them play. They make plays when they have to and they know how to win: Shorten the game and play big in the fourth quarter.
• I was a little surprised to hear Bethel fans cheering against St. John’s. Not smart. Now you have to travel to Pella instead of playing a team you beat at home. I know I was rooting for Bethel today and will be next week – the farther MIAC teams advance the more chance they have in the future of getting two teams in the playoffs.