Given new life by selection committee, Bethel Football opens playoffs on road Saturday

The Bethel Royals thought their season was over. A last-second loss to St. John’s in the regular season finale left the Royals 8-2 and facing long odds for landing an at-large bid into the NCAA Division-III Football playoffs.

But after a few other results later in the day broke their way, the Royals landed above the cut line as determined by the NCAA’s selection committee and will open the postseason at Central College in Pella, Iowa on Saturday.

Click the video box on this page to watch KSTP Sports’ pre-playoff interviews with Bethel’s senior QB Jaran Roste, junior DB Matt Feldick and head coach Steve Johnson

The loss in the finale was the Royals second to the Johnnies this season. They were 8-0 against the rest of their schedule.

The fact St. Johns finished ranked #5 in the nation and earned a top seed in their quadrant of the national bracket was enough to keep the Royals second loss to the Johnnies from ending their season.

The Royals are 1-4 all-time against Central College, but won the most recent meeting in a frigid, rainy/snowy D3 National Quarterfinal back in 2007.

Central is 10-0 and features one of the highest scoring offenses in the nation – outscoring opponents by an average final score of 59-15 this season.