Bethel Football Home
Cobber Football Opponent - Bethel
At Jake Christiansen Stadium , Sat. Oct.
4, 1997, Concordia vs Bethel, 1:00 Kickoff. , Cobber
Homecoming
10/4/97 Game Report:
Concordia wins 22-14.
Concordia beat Bethel 22-14 in Moorhead today behind another strong defensive performance and a ball control rushing offense.
The Cobber defense held the high scoring Bethel offense to just one touchdown passing and one punt return for a TD as Concordia went to 5-0 on the year, 4-0 in the MIAC. Bethel fell to 3-2 on the year, 2-2 in the MIAC.
Freshman fullback Len Crouse carried the ball 31 times for the Cobbers for 131 yards and two TDs. Dan Steinbeisser , Concordia's senior halfback, carried the ball 22 times for 106 yards and one TD. The Cobbers ran for 245 yards. Ethan Pole completed 8 of 16 passes for Concordia for 129 yards.
Bethel gained 296 yards, 140 rushing and 156 on 17 of 36 passing by Matt Lundeen.
Concordia's Ryan Sannes led the Cobber defense with 11 tackles, a blocked field goal and two sacks.
Bethel jumped out to a 8-0 lead with 458 left in the first quarter on a 9-yard Matt Lundeen to Jeremy Belisle touchdown. Crouse came back with a 2 yard TD with 46 seconds left in the first quarter to cap a 9 play, 61 yard drive.
Crouse scored again from 1 yard out with 11:56 left in the half to make it 12-8 Concordia. It stayed that way until Dan Steinbeisser scored from 9 yards out with 3:26 left in the third quarter to make it 19-8.
Bethel's Kirk Midthun made it a 19-14 game with a 70-yard punt return for a TD with 12:48 left in the game. But Concordia went back up by 8 with a Clayton Horgan 30-yard field goal with 7:26 left in the game. The Cobbers hung on to win 22-14.
The Cobber win, along with a St. Thomas 34-31 win today at Gustavus, sets up a battle of unbeatens next week at St. Thomas.
See Box Score | | Play by Play |
10/4/97 game day pre-game notes:
Concordia enters the game ranked No. 2 in the nation in scoring defense
at 3.5 ppg. Concordia is No. 7 in total defense, giving up just 185 ypg.
Bethel is no 13 in the Nation in total offense at 481 ypg and No. 4 in passing offense at 337. 3 ypg.
Matt Lundeen, the Bethel QB is No. 10 in the nation in Passing efficiency at 173.6. Lundeen is No. 3 in the nation in total offense per game at 315 ypg.
Bethel receiver #80 Jeremy Belisle (So. 6-0 192) is No. 15 in the nation in receiving at 117 ypg.
Todayâs game marks the 20th meeting between the Bethel Royals and the 4-0 Cobbers in a series that dates to 1978. Concordia holds a 16-3 series advantage but two of those Bethel wins have come in the past three years. Bethel comes in with a 3-1 record, 2-1 in the MIAC. They remain one of the favorites to win the MIAC despite their 31-21 loss last week to an improving Gustavus team.
Last Yearâs Game:
Bethel jumped to a 21-0 advantage at the half on their way to a 41-7
win over Concordia in St. Paul. Bethel quarterback Matt Lundeen ran
for two TDs and passed for a third.
1996 Seasons:
Last year Bethel finished 9-1, 8-1 and alone in 2nd in the
MIAC.
Concordia finished 6-4-0 overall and fourth in the MIAC with a 6-3-0
league record.
The Coaches:
Steve Johnson is in his 9th season at Bethel with a record
of 48-34-1 record. He is a 1979 Bethel graduate. He held positions
as an assistant at St. Cloud State, head coach at St. cloud Cathedral High,
and assistant jobs at the University of Minnesota and Montana State
before returning to Bethel as head coach.
Jim Chistopherson is in his 29th season as head coach at
Concordia with a 200-82-7 record and a 16-3 mark against Bethel.
Christopherson has the third most wins of any active coach in NCAA Division
III.
9/28/97
Bethel lost to Gustavus 31-21 yesterday
See those
Game Stats and the Play
by Play for that game
9/23/97
Read
Summary of Bethel's 62-14 win over Carleton on Sept. 20.
Listen to the game on Real Audio |
1997 Game:
| Play by Play |
Box Scores:
| 1997 |
| 1996 | 1995
|
| 1994 | 1993
|
| 1992 | 1991
|
| 1990 | 1989 |
Fargo Forum Coverage 10/5/97: Crouse carries
load for Cobbers
Broadcast Info:
- 1280 AM Radio, Larry Knutson with play by play and Craig Samuelson
with color commentary.
Pregame show begins at 12:40.