There was a different feeling in the air this year when the St. John’s Johnnies took on the Bethel Royals, looking for their first win between these two teams since 2005. The weather was warmer, the crowd smaller. Most importantly, for the first time in three seasons, there was no MIAC conference crown on the line as both teams, highly touted coming into the year, entered the contest with disappointing, blemished records.
And while the paths the teams took was slightly different—there would be no Bethel comeback this year—the end result was the same: for the third straight season, the Royals had the Johnnies’ number, 14 to 9. Here are the numbers that shaped the defensive battle in Arden Hills:
Yardage Discrepancy: A glance at the postgame yardage totals would suggest a comfortable St. John’s victory. Not only did the Johnnies roll up more than four times the passing yardage of the aeronautically-challenged Royals (256 passing yards to 63), they also pulled off the nifty trick of out-rushing Bethel, 103 yards to 101. During their three-year run of dominance over St. John’s, the Royals have only been outrushed on two other occasions: blowout losses to Mount Union in 2007 (the Purple Raiders won the rushing battle 233 to 133 and the game 62 to 14) and Concordia earlier this season (the Cobbers won 24 to 7 and outrushed the Royals 292 to 84). For the game, the Johnnies averaged 4.2 yards per play and held Bethel to only 2.6 yards per play.
The rushing discrepancy is somewhat misleading in that the Royals “lost” 39 yards of rushing when a 4th quarter snap sailed over punter Kevin Ness’s head before being recovered by Bethel on their own 3-yard line. The short field led to the Johnnies only touchdown of the game. Still, this is a dramatic departure from the 2006 and 2007 losses to the Royals, when they were unable to stop the Bethel ground attack or mount one of their own. The Royals out rushed the Johnnies 249 to 85 last season in a 17-14 win and 299 to 44 in their 28-13 dismantling of St. John’s in 2006.
Mistakes Tough to Overcome: One of the ways that Bethel was able to overcome the deficit in offensive yardage was by minimizing mistakes—and taking advantage of those made by the Johnnies. While the bad snap proved costly to the Royals, their only other turnover of the game was on a fumble by running back Logan Flannery in the 3rd quarter. Fortunately for the Royals, they already led 14 to 3 at this point, and Flannery’s flub was sandwiched between two St. John’s miscues. The Johnnies threw two interceptions and lost a fumble. Two of the miscues short-circuited drives before they began while the last turnover, a 3rd quarter interception, took place in the Bethel end zone as the Johnnies were trying to capitalize on a 9-play drive to cut the Royal lead to one score.
While the Johnnies played a relatively penalty-free game, with only 5 infractions for 25 yards, Bethel’s discipline was off the charts. They were only flagged once for 5 yards. Coincidently, Concordia handed the Johnnies their other loss this season in a game in which the Cobbers only had one penalty for 5 yards.
Red Zone Concerns: While the Johnnies had some success moving the ball between the 20-yard lines, they had difficulty finding the end zone once they reached the red zone. While the Royals were able to convert both of their trips inside the Johnnie 20-yard line into touchdowns, the Johnnies mustered just 9 points on 5 red zone opportunities.
After falling behind 7-0 midway through the first quarter, the Johnnies took the ensuing kickoff and marched down deep into Bethel territory. After a 41-yard Jordan Hansel-to-Ben Vanderheyden strike brought St. John’s to the Bethel 7-yard line, they tried four straight runs, including two from the 1-yard line by star linebacker Ryan Wimmer, without finding paydirt. In addition to the aforementioned interception thrown into the end zone, the Johnnies also came up just two yards short of the endzone and a go-ahead touchdown as time expired in the 4th quarter. All told, the three failed red zone drives (the team’s three longest on the day) totaled 27 plays for 168 yards and—most importantly—no points.
Offensive Star: From the defensive battle emerged a shining star on offense for the Johnnies as wide receiver Ben Vanderheyden hauled in 10 passes for 149. It was the most yards gained by a St. John’s player either rushing or receiving on the year, and also set career marks for Vanderheyden in both receptions and receiving yardage. His previous career highs were 5 catches (twice in 2007) and 100 receiving yards, set against Gustavus in 2007. Vanderheyden leads the Johnnies with 27 catches and 408 yards on the season.
Quick Hits: The Johnnies’ loss to Bethel, 1-3 heading into the game, was their first to a team with a losing record since… since… I don’t even know. If anyone can provide the answer I’d be interested to know… None of the game’s three touchdowns were on plays of longer than 3 yards… The Johnnies attempted 53 passes to the Royals’ 13… St. John’s was able to convert only 1 of 5 4th down attempts. For the season they are a paltry 3-for-14 on 4th downs (21% coversion rate)… St. John’s has gained more yards than its opponent in each game this season…
