ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – Carthage College used a huge second half to overcome a 16-point halftime deficit to defeat Bethel University on the road 40-34 in overtime.
 
With the win Carthage moves to 2-0 for the first time under head coach Mike Yeager, while Bethel falls to 0-2 on the season.

"You got your money's worth today if you came to watch this game," said head coach Mike Yeager.  "We knew today was going to be a tough game.  Bethel is really, really good.  That offense is awesome and defensively they are strong.  So we knew that we were going to be in a fight today.  We kept preaching at halftime and the kids did a great job… We made one coverage adjustment defensively, but really that first half we gave up a pick six and had the snafu on the punt leading to two touchdowns right there.  If you hold a team like Bethel to two touchdowns in a half you are doing okay.  A lot of halftime was keeping our kids assured we were doing alright!  We didn't need to change everything and made a little tweak in the second half. Coach Dustin Hass did a nice job making a nice adjustment defensively."
 
Javier Rhoades was the main target for Ethan Olles on the first two drives of the game for Carthage, finding Rhoades twice, along with Kyree Sago once, to put the Red Men in scoring position to open the game.  Unfortunately, both drives stalled deep in Bethel territory with the Red Men walking away with a pair of field goals from Lance Unland to give Carthage a 6-0 lead in the first. 
 
Bethel took advantage of the Red Men's inability to get into the end zone as the Royals scored 21 unanswered points to take a 21-6 lead midway through the second quarter.
 
Carthage cut into the Royals' lead later in the second quarter as London Townsend found the end zone for the first time Saturday as Townsend went over the right side before using his track speed to scamper 48 yards for the Red Men touchdown making it 21-12 with 5:59 left in the second.
 
Townsend finished second on the team with 110 yards and one score.
 
Driving again with less than two minutes remaining before the half, Olles was hit while trying to find Sago and Royals linebacker Dawson Brown stepped in and got a pick-six to push the Bethel halftime lead back to 16 at 28-12.
 
Following a three-and-out by Bethel, Olles went back to work again with his favorite target of the game, finding Javier Rhoades alone down the middle for a 38-yard touchdown pass.  Following the Olles completion to Sean Wells for the two-point conversion, Carthage cut the deficit to a one-score game at 28-20.  Rhoades finished with a team-high six receptions for 138 yards and a score.

"What a great day Javier had today!  Six catches for 138 yards at the tight end position," Yeager pointed out.  "He did a great job blocking all day.  He had just one hold call, but he has come long way and he has become an all-conference player and is a guy we count on.  A great job by Ethan Olles as well today.  Made a lot of great reads.  We had a lot of receivers make big plays in Kyree Sago and James Cobbs and Eddie Miklasz who made key catches in key situations so that was enourmous."
 
Carthage turned to the ground game the rest of the way on the backs of Townsend, Jamel Davis, Lafayette McGary and James Cobbs, as they teamed up for 145 yards on 30 carries and three touchdowns down the stretch.
 
Carthage owned the fourth quarter with Davis capping off long touchdown drives of 12 plays and 17 plays to lead the Red Men back while leaving little time for Bethel to operate, taking a 34-28 lead with 1:38 remaining.
 
Bethel didn't go away however, marching down the field and tying the game with 25-seconds remaining in regulation.  It looked as if the Red Men's comeback was going to be ruined as Bethel lined up for the go-ahead point after touchdown but the Red Men's Darquise Holman made the play of the game blocking the potential game-winner and forcing overtime.
 
After winning the toss and electing to go on defense first, Shawntrel Garner stopped the Royals on a fourth down play which Garner dove at to defend a pass and give the Red Men the ball needing just a field goal to win.

On winning the coin toss and  going on defense first Yeager said, "You always want to go on defense first because on offense you know exactly what you have to do and you are getting the extra fourth down.  But what big play by Shawntrel Garner.  We have changed him in positions to make him more of a factor today."
 
On the Red Men's overtime possession it took just two plays as Jamel Davis opened the possession with a carry of 12 yards followed by a touchdown run of 13 yards.
 
Following up his two-touchdown performance a week ago, Davis finished with 23 carries for 124 yards and the Red Men's final three touchdowns coming in the fourth quarter and overtime.

"Layfayette has been hurting with a bum ankle and really didn't play very much," noted Yeager on the running game.  "It was great to see Jamel and London step-up.  We are going to need all those guys all year because we are going to run the ball.  We went out there today and Jamel went for 124 yards, London went for 110.  Both are averaging over five yards a carry.  Going out we are going to run the ball."
 
As a team the Red Men finished with 532 yards of total offense with 250 coming on the ground.  Olles threw for 282 yards on 18-of-33 passing with a touchdown and an interception.
 
The Carthage defense limited the explosive Bethel offense to 318 total yards of offense and kept them to just six points in the second half and overtime on 129 total yards.
 
The Red Men return to Carthage next week for their 2016 CCIW opener against Wheaton College on September 17th at 1:00 p.m.