St. John's, Bethel football both lose on the road

December 2, 2018 at 1:46AM

Mary Hardin-Baylor, which has reached the Division III championship game the past two seasons, held off St. John's 21-18 in the quarterfinals on Saturday in Belton, Texas.

Mary Hardin-Baylor (13-0), which won for the 42nd time in the past 43 games, advanced to the semifinals, where it will play Wisconsin-Whitewater. The loss was the first of the season for the Johnnies (12-1).

The Johnnies, who trailed 14-3 entering the fourth quarter, scored with 1 minute, 49 seconds to pull within 21-18 and then recovered an onside kick at their 48-yard line. The Johnnies got a first down at the Crusaders 25, but an interception by the Crusaders' Jefferson Fritz in the end zone stopped the Johnnies' comeback. The Crusaders ran out the final 1:26.

The Johnnies scored early in the fourth quarter on a 30-yard pass from Jackson Erdmann to Will Gillach. Erdmann ran for the two-point conversion to get the Johnnies within 14-11.

The Crusaders responded with a four-play, 72-yard drive to take a 21-11 lead with 10:32 remaining.

Erdmann passed for 418 yards and two touchdowns as the Johnnies outgained the Crusaders 465-315. The Crusaders defense had three interceptions and four sacks.

Wisconsin-Whitewater 26, Bethel 12: The host Warhawks took advantage of two Bethel turnovers to build an early 16-point lead en route to the quarterfinal victory over the Royals.

The Warhawks (13-0) turned two interceptions in the final five minutes of the first quarter into rushing touchdowns by Ronny Ponick to take a 16-0 lead. The Warhawks extended their lead to 23-0 in the second quarter before the Royals (11-2) got two touchdown runs from Jaran Roste to pull within 23-12 at halftime.

NEWS SERVICES

about the writer

about the writer

More from Gophers

card image

Widely known that Minnesota sports fans are among the most suffering in the nation, this holiday season has the chance to become special, given the recent success of the Vikings, Wolves, Lynx and Wild.