Coe falls just short in NCAA Division III football playoff first-round game

CEDAR RAPIDS - Hang around and find a way to win late.

The Coe College football team did that first thing Saturday afternoon in its first-round NCAA Division III playoff game. It couldn’t quite do the second.

Quarterback Cooper Drews threw for a touchdown and ran for another, as 21st-ranked Bethel University held on for a 31-26 win over No. 25 Coe at St. Paul, Minn. Aaron Ellingson also had two TD runs for the Royals (9-2).

Coe’s season ended for a second straight year in the first round of the playoffs and with a 9-2 record.

“Really proud of our team,” Coe Coach Tyler Staker said. “This year, the way they battled, especially our seniors, our fifth-year guys, they did a great job of leading our program. It’s tough, these moments are hard. But these experiences will continue to last. These feelings will fade over time. Just really proud of the way these guys battled today and all season.”

The Kohawks got 254 yards passing and two touchdowns from quarterback Brady Kelly, both to former Cedar Rapids Kennedy prep Jeron Senters. A sophomore from Florida, Kelly was pressed into starting duties late in the regular season because of an injury to starter Clay Krousie.

Bethel’s defense harassed him all day with pressure. The Royals also significantly slowed down Coe running back Trenton Barnes, the American Rivers Conference’s Offensive MVP, to the tune of 49 yards rushing (and a TD) on 21 carries.

“They were bringing it, they were physical,” Barnes said. “I thought we had some things working. In the long run, they just got the best of us.”

“They’ve got a really good front seven. They got after it, especially the second half,” Staker said. “We saw a lot of pressure, they had 44 sacks coming in. They got after us pretty good in the second half, made it tough for us to rush the football. They did some things with their D line, did some different line stunts, and they were able to get quite a few negative-yard plays with some of those sacks. That hurt us ... They were as good as advertised defensively.”

Coe’s defense did a nice job against a high-scoring Bethel offense that averages over 50 points a game by employing a plethora of wide receiver screens and slant patterns. Drews completed 38 of 53 passes for 268 yards, with main targets Micah Niewald (15 catches) and Joey Kidder (13 catches) accounting for 109 yards each.

The Kohawks forced four turnovers: three fumbles and an interception.

“They liked the quick-game, RPO action,” said Coe fifth-year linebacker Ben Adelsberger. “They were watching the backers pretty heavy there, so we were trying to confuse Cooper a little bit back there. Their O line was getting after it, getting kind of gritty on us. I felt like we battled hard. A couple of plays, fourth downs went a little tough for us today.”

A recovery of a muffed punt set up Coe’s first touchdown: a 3-yard Barnes run. Down 14-7 in the second, Coe defensive end Alex Aitchison sacked and stripped Drews deep inside Bethel territory, with the ball flying backward straight into the arms of Coe’s Barron Lenz, who ran in for the 13-yard fumble recovery touchdown.

The extra-point attempt was no good, as was a third-quarter field-goal attempt. Bethel was up at halftime, 21-20, getting a touchdown and field goal in the third to extend its lead to 31-20.

“In games like this, every point matters,” Staker said.

Kelly and Senters hooked up for a 4-yard motion flip pass for touchdown to make it 31-26 with 6:29 left in the game, with the two-point pass attempt incomplete. Coe got the football back, albeit at its 3, with 2:10 left.

But a game-winning drive was not in the cards. The Kohawks could only move to its 20, a 4th-and-5 pass falling short of the intended receiver.

“This ride, I don’t think I’d change a thing,” Barnes said. “Going to Coe, I think, was one of the best things I’ve done so far in my life. The bond, the friendships I’ve made along the way I will never forget. I’ve got life-long friends that have come out of this.”

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