Pioneers fall in fourth quarter to No. 17 Bethel

ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville football team took No. 17 nationally ranked Bethel University into the fourth quarter tied 7-7 Saturday afternoon in Royal Stadium. The Royals eventually took advantage of a pair of turnovers late in the game to emerge with the 28-7 Bethel victory.

The Royals (1-0) ranked No. 17 by d3football.com did not waste any time when they combined seven plays for 75 yards in the first drive to take a 7-0 lead four minutes into the game.

The teams swapped drives before the Pioneers (0-2) combined 10 plays for 80 yards and a touchdown to tie the game 7-7 with 2:45 remaining in the first quarter. A 30-yard pass from senior Colin Schuetz to senior Donald Allender along with a 4-yard rush by Allender for the touchdown highlighted the Pioneer's tying drive.

The Pioneers' defense came up big in the second period when junior Tyler Bacon had a tackle for loss of five yards on a 1st and goal Bethel rush from UW-Platteville's 3-yard line. The stop was followed with an interception by senior Drew Hoff for 8-yard return and Pioneer first down.

The Royals picked up momentum in the final minute of the first half, but a Bethel fumble recovered by Bacon with 00:26 on the clock ensured the game would remain locked at 7-7 going into the half.

Neither team made it closer than their opponent's 46-yardline in the third quarter and the 7-7 knot went into the final frame.  

Bethel's dominance took over in the fourth quarter as the Royals took four plays to move from the Pioneer's 41-yard line into the endzone for the leading touchdown with 12:34 left in the game.

The Pioneers' tried to make it a four-point game with a 40-yard field goal attempt on 4^th and 10 from the Royal's 23-yard line at the 8:15 mark, but the attempt was unsuccessful.

Bethel turned up the heat after the missed field goal and followed the turnover with a touchdown, interception and 33-yard rush for the third touchdown of the quarter and the 28-7 lead with 1:00 left in the game.  

UW-Platteville combined for 234 yards of total offense while Bethel totaled 461 yards.

Schuetz passed for 157 yards with junior Ben Wilson and Allender being primary targets for the day. Wilson total 72 yards off nine receptions while Allender accumulated 47 yards off four passes with a 30-yard long on the day. Schuetz also added three punts to his stats sheet averaging 43 yards per punt with three inside the 20 and a 49 yard long.

Junior Evan Gates netted 33 yards for the Pioneers off 11 carries.

On defense, junior Sam Smith had a game high 13 tackles with nine solos and four assists.

The Pioneers will return to action and hit the road once again for a trip to Franklin, Indiana next weekend. They will face the Franklin College Grizzlies on Saturday, Sept 18 at 12:30 p.m. for the final non-conference game of the season.