St. Olaf Falls in MIAC Opener, Will Host Homecoming and Hall of Fame Game September 26

Nationally ranked Bethel scored on its first five possessions on the way to a 49-3 MIAC victory over St. Olaf on Saturday at Manitou Field in Northfield.

Royals' freshman quarterback Trey Anderson threw a trio of touchdown passes to three different receivers and ran one in himself. Bethel outgained the Oles 523 to 248 yards. St. Olaf was held to 4-of-13 on third down conversions. Running back Connor McCormick (senior, Caledonia) carried 15 times for 159 yards to lead the Oles' offense. He had long runs of 45 and 71 yards.

St. Olaf broke the shutout in the third quarter on a 21-yard field goal by Owen Witte (freshman, Wessington Springs, S.D.).

Running backs JJ Strnad (senior, Palo Alto, Calif.) and Bryan Aviles (junior, Clermont, Fla.) missed the game with injuries. Linebacker Jake Guenther (senior, Mount Dora, Fla.) also was out. A couple of injuries occurred during the game as well, including the loss of safety/long snapper Coleman Foley (junior, Edina).

St. Olaf (1-2, 0-1 MIAC) hosts Concordia-Moorhead (2-1, 0-1) on Saturday, Sept. 26, at 1PM. It is homecoming and the hall of fame game. New inductees into the athletic hall of fame are Craig FitzSimmons (class of '79, basketball), Keith Peterson ('84, baseball), Brent Eilefson ('92, hockey) and Nicole Trnka Hess ('02, volleyball). These individuals will be honored at halftime of the football game. There is also a banquet at 6PM that night in the Black and Gold Ballroom in Buntrock Commons.

The Cobbers are coming off a competitive 24-16 loss to top 10-ranked St. Johns. This past weekend marked the opening weekend of MIAC play.