Bethel football will attempt to do what St. John’s couldn’t: beat Susquehanna

The lore of Eastern college football can be fascinating and the Bethel Royals will experience some of that Saturday in Selinsgrove, Pa. They will be meeting Susquehanna, conqueror last week of St. John’s, in the Division III national quarterfinals.

The Royals also will be attempting to take one more leap toward a first-ever Stagg Bowl, the DIII title game, and they will be doing so at Amos Alonzo Stagg Field.

Stagg started creating his legend as a notable athlete at Yale in the 1870s. He was the coach at the University of Chicago from 1892 to 1932, when his “Maroons” were a power in early times of the Western Conference/Big Ten.

He was fired by the school president for being too old (at age 70), went to what was then College of the Pacific for 14 seasons, and then joined his son, Amos Jr., at Susquehanna from 1947 to 1952.

Amos Jr. had been a quarterback for his father at Chicago. The Grantland Rice Era of sports writers referred to him as “Young Stagg.” As Bear Bryant closed in on Old Stagg’s record 314 college victories, his son tried to grant 21 wins from those Susquehanna seasons to his father.

Amos Jr. was the coach of record, and the NCAA ruled against that request.

St. John’s coach John Gagliardi made it a moot point by reaching 489 victories (465 with the Johnnies) before his retirement after the 2012 season.

The seedings suggested the unbeaten St. John’s team would be the host this Saturday for a third 2024 meeting with Bethel. Tough to beat a team thrice in a season, but in this case it was tough for the Johnnies without a running game to beat Susquehanna.

The River Hawks’ balance — Rahshan La Mons’ three TDs and 176 yards rushing and Josh Ehrlich’s 274 yards passing — outlasted the Johnnies’ Aaron Syverson’s final career aerial magic (466 yards) for a 41-38 upset.

Coach Tom Perkovich, 44 this month, is in his 10th season as the River Hawks coach. He has Susquehanna in the quarterfinals for the first time since 1991.

If recent form holds, the home-field Hawks will be encountering an MIAC foe in Bethel with a much-better rushing attack and better all-around defense than St. John’s. Aaron Ellingson, 6-1 and 220 pounds, packs a punch as a runner, and the defense has several stars.

One of those, cornerback Devin Williams, was ejected on a targeting call early in the St. John’s 41-33 win in the MIAC title game Nov. 16. That was a big loss for Bethel’s pass defense. Williams had an interception last Saturday in the road win at Wartburg.

The Johnnies did dominate Bethel, 44-20, in the MIAC opener on Sept. 28. That was the first conference start for quarterback Cooper Drews, a sophomore transfer (from St. John’s) who had not thrown a collegiate pass when he arrived at Bethel.

“A lot of our improvement can be credited to Cooper,” said Matt Jung, Bethel’s All-American safety. “Everyone has seen his growth. From that first St. John’s game to where he is now, his consistency, completing 70 percent of his passes …

“Cooper is a very big reason we’re still playing.”