By Frank Rajkowski and Ryan Klinkner '04

Box Score

ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – There were definitely things Saint John's University defensive lineman Michael Wozniak (New Hope, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) felt his team did well Saturday afternoon.

But it was the things they didn't that added up in a 28-24 loss to Bethel before a crowd of 7,314 at Royal Stadium in Arden Hills.

"I don't think it was a systematic problem or anything like that," said Wozniak, whose team – ranked No. 2 in the nation in the most recent D3football.com Division III top 25 poll – fell to 2-1 overall (0-1 MIAC).

"It was just a big play here and a big play there. But you can't do that against a team like this and expect to win."

The Royals (2-1, 1-0 MIAC) entered play ranked No. 20 nationally, but had not defeated the Johnnies since 2013 (Gary Fasching's first season as head coach). SJU then went on to win eight-straight in the series, including two victories last season – a 31-25 victory in Collegeville and a last-second 29-28 win in the inaugural MIAC Championship Game in Arden Hills. The win was BU's 10th in 44 meetings against SJU.

But Saturday, Bethel senior quarterback Jaran Roste - who returned to action for the first time since dislocating his left elbow in his team's season opener on Sept. 3 - threw for 321 yards and three touchdowns - including a 72-yarder to sophomore Micah Niewald with 9:22 remaining that put his team ahead to stay.
 
That touchdown came one play after a 5-yard touchdown run by senior Henry Trost (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes) gave the Johnnies a 24-21 lead.

"That's the No. 1 thing we talk about with our defense," said Fasching, whose team began the season with non-conference wins over Wisconsin-Whitewater (ranked No. 4) and Wisconsin-River Falls (ranked No. 16). "You can't give up big plays. You win a game like this on defense and you can't do that when you give up the kind of plays we did today.
 
"This is why I don't put any stock in rankings," he continued. "(Alabama head coach) Nick Saban calls them rat poison. Sometimes, I think it can make you feel like you're better than you actually are. We did some really good things the first two games, but I also saw areas where we needed to improve. 
 
"Eventually, that will show through and it did for us today."

The Johnnies got the ball back twice after Niewald's touchdown, but both drives ended in interceptions. The first came on third-and-four at the Royals' 35 with 6:53 remaining. The second came on third-and-10 at the Johnnies' 30 with just over two minutes to go.

"We made too many mistakes today across the board," said SJU junior quarterback Aaron Syverson (Minnetonka, Minn.), who threw for 313 yards and a touchdown. "We need to have better execution on both sides of the ball if we want to beat a team as good as Bethel."

The Johnnies did finish with 414 yards of total offense and senior tight end Alex Larson (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge) and junior wide receiver Jimmy Buck (Orono, Minn.) crossed the 100-yard mark for the second consecutive game. Larson caught nine passes for 119 yards, while Buck recorded seven receptions for 113 yards, including a 58-yard touchdown in the third quarter that put his team on top 17-14.

Meanwhile, Trost  - himself returning from an ankle injury suffered in the win over Wisconsin-River Falls on Sept. 10 - carried the ball 21 times for 105 yards and two touchdowns.  

"I thought our offense played great," Wozniak said. "They kept putting up points even when we were giving them up."

Saturday marked just the second time since in Fasching's tenure as head coach that the Johnnies have lost a game they led at halftime and/or the start of the fourth quarter. 

"We just have to flush this one and move on," Wozniak said. "There's no reason to mope around or hang our heads and sulk. We have some things we need to improve, but we're only three games into the season. We have to regroup and come out better next week."

Trost Touchdowns
The 100-yard rushing performance was the sixth for Trost, who moved up a pair of touchdown lists on the afternoon. The pair of rushing touchdowns enabled Trost to break his tie with Jay Conzemius '92 and move into second in SJU history with 36 for his career. The two scores also lifted him past Chris Moore '01 and Chris Palmer '96 into sixth place with 41 total touchdowns (36 rushing, five receiving).

Not a Good Day for SJU Football
SJU is now 5-9 all-time in games played on Sept. 24. The Johnnies have a losing record on six of the 91 days between Sept. 1 and Nov. 30: Sept. 20 (6-7-1 record), Sept. 24 (5-9), Oct. 28 (6-8-1), Nov. 2 (5-7), Nov. 26 (1-3) and Nov. 28 (1-3).

Next Week
The Johnnies return home to host Concordia-Moorhead (2-1, 0-1 MIAC) for Homecoming at 1 p.m. next Saturday, Oct. 1, in Clemens Stadium. The Cobbers suffered a 23-6 home loss today to Gustavus Adolphus in their conference opener.

Homecoming
SJU is 70-20-2 (.772) in 92 known Homecoming games dating back to 1925, including a 6-3-1 record against Concordia. The Johnnies have won 30 of their last 35 Homecoming games.