Time can be a funny thing. It took Bethel 20 years to notch their first win over St. John’s. They’ve beaten the Johnnies 4 times in the nine years since, including the last two seasons. Despite the Johnnies’ concerted effort to establish their running game and maintain their second half lead, Bethel controlled the ball for nearly 22 of the final 30 minutes. And even though the Royals held the lead for only 24 seconds all game, it was most important 24 seconds as Bethel walked away with a 17-14 win and the MIAC title. Here’s a look at the numbers that shaped Saturday’s title bout:
Unlikely Dagger: While Bethel quarterback Ben Wetzell was moving the ball effectively on the ground (he gained 88 yards rushing while halfback Logan Flannery contributed 118 yards on the ground) the Johnnies did a great job limiting his effectiveness through the air—for most of the day. As the Royals started their final drive at their own 27 yard line, down by 4 points with only 3:56 remaining in the game, Wetzell had completed 6 of 16 passes for just 47 yards and one first down. With Bethel driving for their final, go-ahead score, Wetzell completed two huge passes: a 7-yard completion to Kyle Lee on 3rd-and-4 to keep the drive alive and a stunning 36-yard pass to Aaron Bernstett that coupled with a 5-yard facemask penalty to set Bethel up on the Johnnie 17-yard line. Four plays later, the Royals had drained the clock and notched the go-ahead touchdown.
Home Sweet Home (Yet Again):As quarterback Alex Kofoed has made his journey up the St. John’s passing record books this season, a dramatic trend has emerged: he seems to play all of his best games in the friendly confines of Clemens Stadium. While more pronounced in 2007, this has been the case throughout Alex’s four year career:
Alex Kofoed, 2007:
| yds | comp | att | % | yds/att | TD | INT | Sack | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 1492 | 115 | 158 | 73% | 9.44 | 18 | 2 | 2 |
| Away | 932 | 86 | 143 | 60% | 6.52 | 9 | 8 | 5 |
Alex Kofoed, Career through 11/10/2007:
| yds | comp | att | % | yds/att | TD | INT | Sack | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 5076 | 346 | 555 | 62% | 9.15 | 52 | 20 | 14 |
| Away | 5105 | 436 | 724 | 60% | 7.05 | 39 | 28 | 37 |
The pattern held at Bethel as Kofoed failed to top 200 yards passing or have more touchdown passes than interceptions for only the 3rd time all season, all on the road (the other instances were at UW-River Falls and Carleton). One positive sign is that Alex has now gone 63 straight pass attempts on the road without being sacked, showing good mobility away from the friendly Clemens Stadium SprinTurf.
With the Johnnies securing the fourth seed in the West Region of the NCAA tournament, they are only guaranteed one home game. If St. John’s makes a deep run into the playoffs they could find themselves on the road from the second round on—a road that would be much smoother if Kofoed can reverse his trend and have some big passing days away from home.
Four Down Territory: The Royals attempted to covert 6 fourth downs, with all of the plays coming inside the St. John’s 40-yard line. The Johnnies’ ability to stop the Royals on 4th down is one of the main reasons why they were able to hold the lead as long as they did; Bethel was only 2 of 6 on 4th down and failed to score on the two drives that were extended by successful 4th down conversions.
Only one of the six 4th down plays was manageable yardage—a 4th-and-1—while the other plays were of 4th-and-7 yards or more. Five of Ben Wetzell’s 18 pass attempts came on fourth down, and only one of the passes was completed. The Johnnies converted one of their two 4th down attempts, with Alex Kofoed hitting Brian Weber for a 9 yard gain on 4th-and-4. The drive ended with Mike Patnode scoring the first touchdown of the game.
Quick Hits: Mike Patnode finished the regular season as the team leader in rushing yards (660), rushing touchdowns (10) and all-purpose yardage (111.5 yards per game), while Brian Weber led the team in receptions (56), receiving yards (872) and receiving touchdowns (7)… On the defensive side of the ball, strong safety Kevin Boegel led the team with 71 tackles, while defensive tackle Nick Gunderson had the most tackles for a loss (13), sacks (7.5), and blocked kicks (3)… Boegel, cornerback Sam Gervais, and linebacker Josh Rose shared the team lead with 3 interceptions… With at least one more home game on their schedule, the Johnnies have an outside shot at setting a team single season attendance record. The current record of 58,465 was set in 2003 in 9 home games; the Johnnies would have to draw 8,852 fans to break that record on Saturday in their 6th home game… The Johnnies need to draw at least 1,668 fans this weekend to keep their per game attendance average above the school’s all-time high of 8,547 set in 2006.
