Bethel's defense stifles St. John's for MIAC title

If defense wins championships, special teams and a persistent offense ran an eyelash-close second and third for Bethel's football team Saturday against St. John's.

The 16th-ranked Royals held the No. 2 Johnnies to 46 yards on 21 plays in the second half and scored in the final minute for a 17-14 home victory and the MIAC title.

"I'm a little bit numb," Royals coach Steve Johnson said. "We played our brand of ball. We controlled the ball.

"Our philosophy is to stop the run, make good plays and play good special teams."

Check. Check. And check.

While Logan Flannery's 1-yard touchdown run with 24 seconds remaining was the difference, defense and a special teams play served as the primer.

St. John's (10-1, 7-1 MIAC) made it 7-0 with a 13-play, 72-yard drive that ended with a 7-yard touchdown run by Mike Patnode on the first play of the second quarter. The lead lasted 15 seconds before the Royals (9-1, 8-0 MIAC) tied the score, as Bethel's Tim Cornish took the St. John's kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown.

Alex Kofoed's 46-yard TD strike to Brian Weber and a 34-yard field goal by Nate Gutshall made it 14-10 St. John's at the half, then the Royals defense took over. The Johnnies never crossed midfield again and held the ball for just 8:06.

"We stayed with our stuff," Johnson said. "We didn't start flipping [the ball] all over."

The game-winning play was set up by Ben Wetzell's 37-yard pass to Aaron Bernstetter to the 17-yard-line with about 2 minutes to play.

Flannery, a freshman who battled leg cramps most of the second half, scored four plays later, setting off a frenzy among a crowd estimated at around 10,000 at Royals Stadium in Arden Hills.

"It felt great to be out there," said Flannery, who finished with 118 yards on 27 carries. "[At halftime] we were a little bit frustrated. But one of our key sayings is 'the next play is the one that matters.'"

Bethel won the MIAC championship outright after sharing it with St. John's last year. The victory is Bethel's second in a row over the Johnnies for just the second time in 31 meetings and means the Royals will be host for an NCAA Division III playoff game next week.

St. John's, meanwhile, must wait for today's pairings to be announced to see whether it will snag a home game or be forced to the road.

"We're still in the playoffs -- hopefully," Johnnies defensive back Sam Gervais said. "It's always fun to play playoff games at home, but nothing changes with our mentality. We have to get ready all the same."

Brian Stensaas • bstensaas@startribune.com