ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – The Coe College football team suffered a second-round defeat to no. 3/4 Bethel University Saturday afternoon in the NCAA Division III Playoffs, falling 51-26 to the host Royals. Coe, which won its first playoff game since 2016 last weekend, ran into a tough test in heavy snow with Bethel racing out to an early 14-0 lead. The Kohawks got back into the game with a long touchdown pass from
Brady Kelly to
Jeron Senters late in the first quarter to bring Coe life. The Royals controlled the rest of the first half, scoring two more touchdowns and a field goal while limiting the Kohawk offense to a handful of first downs. Coe scored the opening touchdown of the second half as a blocked punt from
Cayden Schultz and a return from
Keegan Hisler set up a six-yard plunge from
Quincy Drummer. Bethel and Coe traded quick scores on the next two drives but the Royals put the game away for good at the start of the fourth, capping off a lengthy drive with a two-yard touchdown. A touchdown run from
Tre'sean Cunningham and a quick stop from the defense made things interesting again near the seven-minute mark of the fourth but a failed fourth down play ended the Kohawk chances. In total, Coe finished with 286 yards of offense as Kelly had 176 yards through the air and two touchdowns. Drummer and Cunningham showed well on the ground with 87 and 69 yards respectively while both finding the end zone. Defensively, Coe was led by
CJ Johnson with 10 tackles with
Henry Ryan (9),
Noah Tolbert (7) and
Isaac Stevens (7) rounding out the tackling effort.
GAME FACTS
#3/4 BETHEL 51 - COE 26
- Coe found itself behind quickly in the game as Bethel marched the field on its opening possession for a 63-yard drive in less than four minutes. Coe went three-and-out on the ensuing drive and had the punt attempt blocked, setting up another quick score as Bethel punched it in for 14-0. The Kohawks got back into the game on the following drive, answering with a 45-yard bomb from Kelly to Senters for Coe's first score. Bethel's offense stayed hot, responding with another quick scoring drive after a strong return set up the Royals near midfield. The hosts added two more scores before the end of the half, kicking a 31-yard field goal before a dagger 55-yard catch & score to extend the lead ahead of the break. Coe failed to score on its first drive of the second half but used a big punt block to set up a touchdown minutes later as Drummer rushed for a six-yard score to make it 30-14. Bethel and Coe went back-and-forth with touchdowns on the following drive as Kelly answered a long score from the Royals with a nine-yard touchdown pass to Latrell Taylor. The Royals scored another big touchdown at the start of the fourth, capping off a long drive with a two-yard score with 14:56 left in the game. The Kohawks sustained a long drive, using a pass interference call to extend the possession before Cunningham found the end zone for 44-26. Coe failed the two-point conversion to make it a two-score game and later saw its chances end with a sack on fourth down as Bethel capped the game with another touchdown moments later.
#KohawkNation #TalonsOut
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