Shawntrel Garner Leads Red Men in Blanking of Bethel, 31-0
The Bethel Royals traveled to Kenosha, WI on Saturday and found the Carthage Red Men to be quite ungracious hosts, as the defense for Carthage allowed just 162-yards of total offense in blanking Bethel, 31-0. Shawntrel Garner led the squad with 9-tackles, including a sack, and scored a touchdown on an interception return, and Kyle Friberg threw for 298-yards and 3-touchdowns in the victory.
Following a scoreless first quarter where both defenses were in complete command, the Red Men would take the lead with 3:45 left in the half. A Kyle Frieberg 42-yard pass to James Cobbs put the ball at the Bethel 24. The drive stalled, but Lance Unland hit a 22-yard field goal to put Carthage on top 3-0.
The Royals were forced to punt on their next possession, giving the Red Men the ball at their own 46 with 1:13 left until the break. Friberg hit back-to-back passes, one to Azu Whigham for 14-yards and the other to Evan French for 9 to get the drive going. On third and four it looked like the Bethel defense may come up big again, but Friberg found James Cobbs for 17-yards and a first down with about 30 seconds left. On the next play, the Carthage QB hit Dominic Lucito for a 17-yard touchdown strike to make it 10-0.
It had taken a little bit of time for the offense to get going, but the Carthage defense was in complete control. After allowing the Royals 39-yards on their opening drive, the Red Men gave up a total of zero yards over the next four possessions. Bethel headed to the locker room with just 51 total yards in the first 30 minutes of the game.
To start the second half, the Royals moved the ball to the Carthage 39, but faced a fourth and 6 and were forced to punt. Carthage began their first drive of the half at their own five, but needed just 4-plays to get into the end zone, thanks to a 65-yard pass from Friberg to Tommy Bazarek for the score. That made it 17-0.
They would find the end zone on their next drive as well. A Royals punt gave the Red Men the ball at their own 44. A Jamel Davis run for 2-yards began the drive before Cobbs dropped a pass from the Carthage quarterback. Friberg then headed back to pass and found Manny Jones for 54-yards and the touchdown to make it 24-0.
It would stay that way until the fourth quarter when the defense would reach the end zone. Carthage was forced to punt from their own 5 and it went just 25 yards, giving Bethel the ball at the 30. On third and 9, Joey Lee went back to pass, but his throw was picked off by Shawntrel Garner, who raced 84-yards for the touchdown. That made it 31-0, which would be the final.
The Carthage Red Men defense gave up 162 total yards of offense, including just 21 on the ground. They also held Bethel to 3 of 14 on third down conversion attempts, intercepted two passes, and recorded 5-sacks. Shawntrel Garner had 9-tackles, a sack and an interception return for a touchdown.
Kyle Friberg had a huge game, going 14-23 for 298-yards and 3-TDs. Manny Jones and James Cobbs each had 3-receptions. Jones had 82-yards receiving and a score, and Cobbs had 76-yards. Bethel got 6-receptions for 63-yards to lead the offense.
The Bethel University Royals (0-2) will travel to Moorhead next Saturday to take on the Concordia College Cobbers (2-0). Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 PM.
By Robert Pannier
