Jaran Roste threw three touchdown passes and ran for a touchdown to help Bethel outlast North Central (Ill.) 27-24 in the second round of the Division III playoffs on Saturday in Naperville, Ill.
The Royals (11-1), who advanced to the national quarterfinals for the first time since 2013, will next play Wisconsin-Whitewater, which defeated St. Norbert 54-21 on Saturday.
After trailing 10-7 at halftime, the Royals rallied to take a 27-17 lead after Roste threw a TD pass in the third quarter and directed two long scoring drives in the fourth quarter.
North Central pulled within 27-24 with 4:13 remaining and had another possession in the final three minutes, but the Royals stopped the possession on downs.
Roste, a redshirt freshman, completed 15 of 20 passes for 219 yards and rushed for 64 yards.
Teammate Sam Gibas rushed for 122 yards.
St. John's 45, Whitworth 24: The Johnnies scored a touchdown in the final minute of the first half — on Jackson Erdmann's 4-yard pass to Will Gillach — and then pulled away in the second half for the victory in Collegeville, Minn.
The Johnnies (12-0) will play in the national quarterfinals for the first time since 2006. They will face Mary Hardin-Baylor, which defeated Berry 75-20 on Saturday.
After Whitworth scored with 1:58 left in the second quarter, Erdmann threw his fourth TD pass of the half to give the Johnnies a 28-17 halftime lead.
The Johnnies then extended their lead to 45-17 before the Pirates scored in the final minute of the fourth quarter.
Erdmann passed for 305 yards and five touchdowns, covering 5, 43, 10, 4 and 3 yards. Jared Streit caught two of them.
Whitworth's Leif Ericksen completed 40 of 60 passes for 311 yards and three touchdowns. He was intercepted once and sacked five times.