SELINSGROVE, PA - Susquehanna University's football team played perhaps their grittiest second half all year long as they pulled out the best in themselves to defeat Bethel in last minute fashion Saturday, 24-21, to advance to the NCAA Division III Semifinals, marking the furthest the program has ever gotten that was matched only one other time by the 1991 team. The River Hawks only held the lead for 38 seconds, which happened to be the last 38 ticks of the contest after quarterback Josh Ehrlich fought his way across the goal line on a fourth and goal from the one yard line. Susquehanna moves on, traveling to North Central Saturday, Dec. 21 at 12 p.m. Central / 1 p.m. Eastern Time.

Susquehanna overcame a shaky first half that yielded only seven points as Bethel took a 14-7 lead at halftime. After the Royals scored the game's first touchdown on a fast-paced opening drive that resulted in an Aaron Ellingson touchdown, the River Hawks defense buckled down, keeping the Royals in check long enough for the offense to cook up a touchdown run of their own. That came in the form of a one-yard touchdown run from back Matt Surtz, capping off a 15-play, 66-yard drive that spanned 7:40 to tie things up at 7-7 with 8:11 left to play before the half. The Royals regained their one-touchdown lead late in the half as David Geebli ran in one from seven yards out in the closing minutes of the second quarter. Bethel got the ball to start the second half, but were turned away as Susquehanna's response measured out to a 90-yard scoring drive over nine plays and 4:33 when Ehrlich threw a dime to Chris Bookter in the back of the endzone for an 18-yard connection and a tie score once again. The Royals responded with a similarly-impressive scoring toss as quarterback Micah Niewald found Cooper Drews from 16 yards out on the first play of the fourth quarter, going back up, 21-14.

Facing fourth and four from Bethel's 18 later in the quarter, Susquehanna opted to turn to its field goal unit to chip away at the lead. Last week's hero Dominic Bourgeois was called on for the 35-yard try, booting it right down the middle as the clock showed 8:30 left and the Royals hanging to a 21-17 lead. The River Hawks regained the ball with 5:27 to play, putting together a scoring drive that will go down in the history books. Ehrlich took many shots from the Royals all afternoon, finding himself flushed out many times and throwing on the run, as well as Bethel totaling six sacks and picking him off twice on deep balls. All told his day concluded on the passing chart completing 14-of-27 for 215 yards with one touchdown. On the ground he covered 46 yards on 15 carries. Starting at their own nine, Ehrlich helped get the Hawks out of the danger zone, finding receiving threat Kyle Howes for a 28-yard connection that turned out to be Howes' 200th career reception, becoming the second person ever in school history to do so. Later in the drive facing second and 17 at their own 42, Ehrlich again made a "Howes call", completing his longest pass of the game for 42 yards and prime real estate at Bethel's 16. On third and six, running back Rahshan La Mons, who totaled 125 yards rushing on 31 carries, trickled eight yards up to the Royals' four yard line, forcing BU to burn all of its timeouts with under one minute left. That's not to say the Royals were down and out, as their stiff defensive front stuffed Susquehanna three times at the one yard line. With 38 seconds left the River Hawks had one more shot. Lining up in the shotgun with La Mons to his left, Ehrlich opted to keep it himself, fighting through two Royals defenders and getting enough of the ball over the goal line to send Doug Arthur Stadium into a frenzy with a 24-21 lead.

After a successful squib kick from Bourgeois set Bethel back to its own 27, Drews aired it out to get the Royals closer to a potential scoring opportunity with no timeouts, aided by a few clock stoppages on first downs. With five seconds left at Susquehanna's 30, Drews fired a prayer that found receiver Joey Kidder in the endzone, but was called back due to a holding penalty. After an unsportsmanlike drew Bethel back to its own 45 for an untimed down, the Royals could only hope for a series of laterals to hit the mark, but was not realized. 

Susquehanna, under tenth-year head coach Tom Perkovich, continue its historic run with the most wins ever in a season with a 12-1 record, topping the previous mark of 11 set by the 1986 and 1991 NCAA-bound teams. The program has also amassed 51 victories over the last five seasons, winning at least ten games four of those years. Waiting for them in the semifinals is a 13-0 Cardinals team that has reached the last four NCAA Division III national championship games, capturing the 2019 and 2022 national titles. They made it this far by hosting and defeating Whitworth 42-17, Hope 41-21, and Springfield after Saturday's 27-3 decision. On the other side of the bracket Mount Union is set to host Johns Hopkins Saturday, with the winners of both games heading to Houston, Tex. for the Stagg Bowl on Sunday, Jan. 5 from Shell Energy Stadium. 

Howes and Bookter each caught four passes, with Howes' last two receptions hauling his numbers up to 105 receiving yards. Bookter's 18-yard touchdown reception highlighted a day where he totaled 53 yards. La Mons added three catches for 17 yards, while Sean Yamada, Hunter Morgenroth, and Surtz each had one catch. The defensive unit posted three sacks, including highlight-worthy solo sacks from Jake Schultes and Brian Layton, with Layton and Shane Quast combining for an additional hit on Drews. The River Hawks notched one turnover on the day when linebacker Drew Robinson forced a ball our after Drew found Micah Niewald for what appeared to be a first down, which was recovered by lineman Brandon Shipley. Robinson's day was also marked by six total tackles, including four solo and one breakup, while Shipley had four tackles. Safety Andrew Wells led the defensive squad with eight total tackles, including five solo with one breakup, while cornerback Steven Williams broke up two passes with seven total tackles, including six solo and two for loss. Linebackers Garrett Carter and Jesse Ruisch each logged seven tackles also, with Ruisch having six solo tackles and Carter three. 

The senior receiver Howes now has 201 career receptions and 2,930 career receiving yards, second only to Mark Bartosic (2000-03) in both categories. He is currently tied with Bartosic's 2002 campaign for the second-most receptions in a season with 74, with Bartosic's 78 catches in 2003 standing as the record, while moving to second all-time also with 1,235 receiving yards. Ehrlich became the first Susquehanna quarterback ever to amass 3,000 yards passing with 3,079, along with tying the most completions in a campaign with 218 alongside Nick Crusco's 2017 numbers. His school record for passing touchdowns in a season swells up to 33. Bourgeois is now 5-for-5 on the year in field goals after assuming field goal duties halfway during the year. Schultes' sack racks up his sack total to 8.5 on the year and 17.5 for his career, while Layton's blindside sack and half a sack mounts his sack total to 5.5 on the season and 6.5 lifetime.