Reusse: Bethel now has the upper hand vs. St. John’s, both at quarterback and in MIAC standings

The coaches voting in the national preseason poll for Division III football could not be accused necessarily of poor judgment with their treatment of the MIAC twin powers. St. John’s had won 12 of the past 13 games against Bethel, including victories both early and late in 2024.

Thus, the coaches had the Johnnies rated No. 4 and Bethel No. 12 in the August polling.

What would have been useful to the coaches was a bit more local knowledge, including this:

The Johnnies’ domination of the eight seasons of the series from 2016 to ’24 (COVID canceled 2020) came with Jackson Erdmann and Aaron Syverson as their No. 1 quarterbacks.

These were both transfers from Division I programs and two of the better quarterbacks you’re going to see in D-III.

And now it seemed certain that in 2025 the quarterbacking advantage would be shifting to Bethel. Cooper Drews had been favored to be the next Johnnies quarterback until Syverson decided to return in 2024 for a sixth season on a college campus (two at Colorado State, four at Collegeville).

Drews went the transfer route and wound up at Bethel as a sophomore starter in 2024. He was shaky in an early loss to St. John’s, improved by the week and led the Royals to three victories in the D-III playoffs before a loss to Susquehanna (Pa.) in the quarterfinals.

This left the Johnnies finally looking for a new quarterback, while Bethel had the 6-foot-5 Drews and coach Mike McElroy ready to roll in their second season together.

Up in Collegeville, coach Gary Fasching had the choice between transfer Trey Feeney and program veteran Zander Dittbenner, and the decision through three walkover victories this season was to divide possessions with the pair.

Bethel was also unchallenged in its first three games, and here’s the sad truth about MIAC football with St. Thomas gone for five years and the “Championship Week” now gone from the end of its schedule:

When the Johnnies came to the Arden Hills plateau to meet Bethel on a hot and windy Saturday, there was an overwhelming chance the outcome was deciding the conference winner — with six more weeks remaining in the regular-season schedule.

This conference now has a Big Two (Bethel, St. John’s), a Middling Three (Carleton, Gustavus and Concordia) and a Bottom Half (St. Olaf, Augsburg, Hamline, St. Scholastica and Macalester).

It is now unlikely Bethel will fail to run the MIAC title — and if the Royals were to slip once, they still will have the head-to-head advantage vs. St. John’s.

This was a 10-10 tie at halftime, and St. John’s — moving with the strong wind at its back — did get itself in position to take the lead in the third quarter. Although it took the Johnnies all their wind-aided time to move from their 30 to running four plays inside the Bethel 3.

Four handoffs to star running back Caden Wheeler into the goal-line masses. Two big tackles by lineman Abdallah Abed; a great play behind the line by veteran D-back, Devin Williams. Ultimately, a 1-yard drive to the 2.

It still was tied in the fourth when St. John’s reached the Bethel 14. The wind might have been at its strongest at that moment, directly into the Johnnies’ face masks. If you have an Erdmann or a Syverson or a Drews, a coach might not kick there … that’s how strong the wind was.

The Johnnies sent out kicker Matt Hansen, and the wind sent the kick left.

Taye Manns, a freshman running back, then provided the winning touchdown with a powerful, 23-yard zoom to the end zone.

David Geebli, a standout runner injured previously in a St. John’s game, was back and looked good for Bethel — 13 carries for 51 yards. But Manns, fast and powerful, had 20 carries for 128 yards.

With a touch of amazement from the questioner, McElroy was asked: “Where did you get that freshman running back?”

The Bethel coach said: “I’m not telling you. The last time the Minnesota Star Tribune wrote about one of our guys it was Matt Jung, and he wound up transferring to Wisconsin.”

Pause. “Taye’s from Duluth, kind of under-the-radar player up there at Denfeld, but we knew as soon as we got him that he could be a special runner,” McElroy said. “We like that combination, Taye and David [Geebli].”