ARDEN HILLS, MINN.—The No. 3 Bethel University football team will advance to the 2025 NCAA Division III Football Championship Quarterfinal following a 35-24 victory over UW-Platteville in the third round at Royal Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Royals will be making their second-straight, and seventh overall appearance in the NCAA Division III Championship Quarterfinal. They will travel to No. 1 North Central (Ill.) on Saturday, December 13. Game time is scheduled for 12 p.m.
The Royals, who have now tied the program record for wins in a season, move to 12-0 while the Pioneers conclude their 2025 season with a 9-3 record.
Bethel 35, UW-Platteville 24
The game's opening play from scrimmage resulted in a Bethel fumble on their own 29 yard-line, giving Platteville great field position. It took them just four plays to punch it in courtesy of Trevor Burnett's one-yard touchdown run that gave them a 7-0 lead with 13:12 remaining in the first quarter.
The ensuing drive ended with a Royals punt before the Pioneers handed them their largest deficit of the season at 10-0 off Brady Mobley's 31 yard field goal with 3:56 remaining in the opening frame.
This ignited a Bethel team that got 24 yards rushing from David Geebli, and 4-of-4 completions for 36 yards from quarterback Cooper Drews. That included a 15-yard touchdown pass to Taye Manns with 00:29 on the first-quarter clock, which narrowed Platteville's lead to 10-7.
Will Barthel intercepted a pass on Bethel's two yard line at the 10:18 mark of the second quarter. The Royals drove the ball 98 yards on 14 plays. The drive ended with Tyler Terry's five-yard touchdown grab with 5:04 on the second-quarter clock that gave Bethel their first lead of the game at 14-10.
The opening stages of the second half was deja vu from the first half as it was Bethel's turn to capitalize on a Platteville miscue. Tyler Drury recovered a Pioneer fumble on the kickoff, giving the Royals great field position on Platteville's 31. David Geebli punched it in on the first play, a 31-yard touchdown run that pushed the Royals' lead to 21-10 with 14:45 left in the third.
After Bethel's defense forced a Platteville three-and-out on the next drive, Taye Manns carried the offense with 39 yards rushing on seven carries throughout the following series. It included his four-yard touchdown run that widened Bethel's cushion to 28-10 with 9:18 left in the third quarter.
Platteville's first two offensive plays of the fourth quarter saw quarterback Nathan Uselding complete passes of 37, and 20 yards to wide receiver Trevor Syse. The 20-yarder resulted in a touchdown that narrowed the Royals' lead to 28-17 with 12:44 left in the fourth quarter.
Geebli's monster day consisted of a 44-yard carry from Bethel's 41 to Platteville's 15 on the ensuing drive. It set up Dylan Staska's five yard touchdown grab from Cooper Drews that pushed Bethel's lead to 35-17 with 7:07 remaining.
The Pioneers also utilized a big play to set up their next touchdown as Uselding's 51-yard strike to Kristian Gavric put them at Bethel's 12-yard line. This set up Trevor Burnett's four-yard touchdown run that closed the game's scoring at 5:57, making the score 35-24.
David Geebli's career outing consisted of 169 yards and one touchdown on 21 carries. Cooper Drews completed 19-of-28 passes for 185 yards and three scores. Those touchdown passes went to Manns, Terry, and Staska. Rundell paced the receiving core with seven catches for 62 yards.
Jackson Braun led the Bethel defense with a career-high 11 tackles, one sack, and one forced fumble. Devin Williams also had 11 tackles and one forced fumble.
Both offenses eclipsed the 400+ yard threshold as Bethel had the slight advantage 444-407. The Pioneer's stellar offensive output had alot to do with Pioneer quarterback Nathan Uselding completing 25-of-31 passes for 298 yards and one touchdown. As well as Zackary Bothun's 123 yards on 17 carries. Trevor Syse caught nine balls for 100 yards and one touchdown. Platteville's defense was led by Elijah Krantz and Cormac Sammons, who each had 12 tackles.