BOXSCORE ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – Ayrton Scott (SO, Minneapolis, Minn./Southwest HS) threw three touchdown passes, including two to Joey Sonnenfeld (SO, Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo HS), but their Augsburg College football team was unable to rally past Bethel University, as the host Royals scored a 31-28 win in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest on Saturday afternoon at Royal Stadium.

Bethel (4-0 overall, 2-0 MIAC), the No. 5-ranked team in the latest D3football.com Division III national poll, scored 17 straight points in the second half to break a 14-14 halftime tie, and Augsburg (3-1 overall, 2-1 MIAC) was unable to complete the rally, despite scoring twice in the final 7:35 to cut the margin to three points.

Scott completed 19-of-27 passing for 186 yards and three touchdowns against two interceptions, while rushing 19 times for 90 yards. Sonnenfeld caught six passes for 74 yards and two touchdowns – a 12-yarder in the second quarter and a 27-yarder in the fourth quarter. Adam Carl (SR, Eagan, Minn.) caught seven passes for 59 yards and a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Bethel opened the scoring on an 11-play, 82-yard drive, capped by a 23-yard pass from Erik Peterson to Reese Walker. The Royals' drive included a 22-yard gain by Marshall Klitzke on a fake punt. Augsburg countered with an eight-play, 78-yard drive, capped by a 16-yard touchdown run by Phil Putratz (SR, Mazeppa, Minn./Zumbrota-Mazeppa HS). Jerise Washington (JR, Roseville, Minn./Mounds View HS) caught a two-point conversion pass from Scott Bossard (SO, North Branch, Minn.) to make the score 8-7 Auggies. Putratz gained 60 yards on 10 carries in the game, while catching three passes for 22 yards.

Klitzke capped a 10-play, 68-yard drive for the Royals with a three-yard scoring run early in the second quarter, but the Auggies answered back to tie the game. Enrico Barrozo (SR, Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) intercepted a Peterson pass and returned it 44 yards to the Bethel 21-yard line. Three plays later, Scott completed a 12-yard touchdown pass to Sonnenfeld to knot the score at 14-14.

The Royals scored on three consecutive drives to take a 31-14 lead in the second half. Klitzke capped a six-play, 65-yard drive with a seven-yard touchdown reception from Peterson, Jay Hilbrands caught a 38-yard touchdown pass from Peterson to end a nine-play, 80-yard drive, and after an Augsburg fumble on its own 27-yard line, the Royals scored on a 31-yard field goal by Andrew O'Reilly.

The Auggies trimmed the Bethel lead on its next two drives. A 14-play, 87-yard drive was capped by a seven-yard touchdown pass from Scott to Carl, and following an interception by Hakeem Bourne-McFarlane (SR, Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy HS), Augsburg cut the lead to three points nine plays later on Scott's 27-yard touchdown pass to Sonnenfeld.

Bethel outgained Augsburg by a 398-360 margin in the game. Klitzke gained 109 yards on 24 carries to lead the Royals. Peterson completed 18-of-26 passes for 216 yards and three touchdowns against two interceptions. Hilbrands caught three passes for 51 yards.

Defensively, Augsburg linebacker Michael Juberian (JR, Richfield, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's HS) led all players with 19 tackles (six solo), while Barrozo had 10 tackles (four solo), and Felix Coleman (JR< alexandria,="" minn./jefferson="" hs)="" had="" nine="" tackles="" (three="">

For Bethel, Josh Treimer had 10 tackles (seven solo), while Kevin Flaherty had nine tackles (two solo), and Landon Mathis and Ben Wahlquist had eight tackles each.

Both teams return to MIAC play next Saturday (10/12) at 1 p.m. with road games, as Augsburg plays at Saint John's and Bethel plays at Concordia-Moorhead.