ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – Senior quarterback George Bolt threw for a career-high 271 yards on 20-of-28 throwing while adding a career-high three rushing touchdowns as the Bethel University football team landed a 49-7 win over Hamline.
Bethel (5-2, 4-1 MIAC) stayed perfect in Skyline Division play outgaining Hamline (2-5, 0-5 MIAC) by a 571-154 margin. Bolt and Alex Called combined for 297 yards through the air. On the ground, it was the fourth straight week the defense held its opponent under 100 yards with the Pipers rushing for 37 net yards on 21 carries. BU on the ground netted 274 yards on 46 carries.
HOW IT HAPPENED
1st Half
• The Royals offense was first on the field first where Aaron Ellingson capped out a nine-play drive with a 14-yard rushing touchdown with 10:05 left in the quarter.
• Bethel's defense got its first stop of the day stopping Hamline on a 4th-and-2 play as the Pipers turned it over on downs.
• Quarterback George Bolt accounted for the Royals' next two touchdowns rushing it in from one yard out with 2:22 left in the first and five yards out early in the second.
• Bethel forced a pair of punts including one of them being three-and-out.
• Riley Gritz added the Royals final score before the half with his one-yard touchdown run made it 28-0.
��: And that'll be the fourth running touchdown of the day as Gritz runs it in!! #RoarWithUs x #d3fb
— Bethel Football (@BethelRoyalsFB) October 21, 2023
Hamline University 0, #BURoyals 28 // 0:16 - 2nd pic.twitter.com/uJmZwZgATZ
2nd Half
• Hamline punted on the half's opening drive before the Royals marched 79 yards in six plays with Bolt finding the end zone on a 16-yard rush.
• A quick three-and-out by the Pipers put BU's offense back on the field starting on their own 25-yard line.
• Working from the Hamline 27-yard line, Bolt found a wide-open Triston Thomas in the middle of the field at the 15. Thomas made a nice cut to elude a Hamline defender before falling into the end zone with a pair of Piper's on his back.
��: Triston Thomas with the first receiving touchdown of the day!! #RoarWithUs x #d3fb
— Bethel Football (@BethelRoyalsFB) October 21, 2023
Hamline University 0, #BURoyals 42 // 3:14 - 3rd pic.twitter.com/FkpCIK70Ln
• Hamline denied the Royals of a shutout on a 23-yard touchdown reception with 14:21 left in the game.
• The Royals responded with a nice 10-play, 62-yard drive that chewed up nearly six minutes of the clock. Warren Kinney, who had five rushes for 27 yards on the drive ran it in for his third touchdown of the year making it 49-7.
TOP PERFORMERS
Offense
• George Bolt – 20-of-28 for a career-high 271 yards, 1 passing TD, 8 carries for 42 yards, 3 Rushing TDs
• Riley Gritz – 11 carries for 72 yards
• Micah Niewald – 6 catches 88 yards
Defense
• Caden DeWall – 5 tackles, 1 tackle for loss
• Taylor Glynn – 4 tackles, 1 tack for loss, 1 pass breakup, 2 QB hurries
GAME NOTES
• Hamline won the toss and deferred its choice to the second half. Bethel elected to receive.
• Bethel won the time of possession battle for the sixth time this season by a 36:45-23:15 margin.
• The Royals improve to 33-26 all-time against Hamline while extending their winning streak to 27 games against
• Steve Johnson improves to 249-110-1 (.692) all-time where he sits 12th in wins for Division III. He now ties Jimmye Laycock (William & Mary) and Lou Holtz for 29th in all-time wins among all NCAA Divisions.
• Micah Niewald's 88 receiving yards moved his career total to 2,164 yards tying him for fifth all-time with Eric Carlson (1997-00).
• It was the 10th time in the last four years BU surpassed the 500-yard mark in a game.
UP NEXT
Bethel hits the road for a cross-divisional MIAC matchup at Carleton next Saturday, Oct. 28. Kickoff is 1 p.m.
This story was written and submited by Austin Lagesse, Bethel University Director of Athletic Communications