St. Olaf 24, Bethel 17

With nearly three minutes left to play, quarterback Dan Dobson connected with wide receiver Jake Schmiesing for a 30-yard touchdown, giving unranked St. Olaf the boost it needed to push past No. 12 Bethel 24-17 Saturday in Northfield, Minn.  

Schmiesing also got things started for the Oles (7-2, 5-2) in the first quarter with a Dobson 7-yard touchdown pass. St. Olaf held its early lead going into the second quarter until Dobson was intercepted by linebacker Seth Mathias, who then ran 44 yards for a Royal touchdown to tie the game at 7.

Bethel (7-5, 5-2) struck again just before the half when kicker Nathaniel Van Loon converted a 22-yard field goal to give his team a 10-7 lead.

After a St. Olaf touchdown in the third quarter and one from Bethel early in the fourth, kicker Lucas Wainman tied the game at 17-17 with a field goal.

That’s when Schmiesing and Dobson were able to finish things off for the Oles, preventing the Royals from getting their revenge after Dobson spoiled their homecoming game on a successful last-minute drive in a 30-28 win last season.

Dobson went 25-for-41 for 227 yards and three touchdowns against Bethel.

The Royals’ loss puts the team out of contention for anything but an at-large bid for the NCAA playoffs.

St. Olaf travels to St. Paul to take on conference champion St. Thomas (9-0, 7-0) and Bethel will host St. John’s (4-4, 2-4) Saturday in Arden Hills.

Augsburg 58, Macalester 41

Augsburg scored 34 points in the second quarter en route to a 58-41 victory over Macalester. Three of those scores came from completions between quarterback Ayrton Scott and wide receiver Tyler Swanson.

Augsburg (6-3, 4-3) rallied from a 20-0 deficit and went into halftime with a 34-27 lead. After a touchdown from both Macalester (5-4) and Augsburg early in the third quarter, Macalester running back Mike Adams tied the game at 41 with his 26-yard touchdown run.

The tie held five minutes into the fourth quarter, when Augsburg scored the first of the game’s final 17 points.

Augsburg will face Carleton at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis next weekend while Macalester will play Hamline.

St. John’s 55, Hamline 10

Seven different Johnnies (5-4, 3-4) scored touchdowns in the team’s 55-10 victory over the Pipers Saturday at Klas Field.

With Hamline’s (1-8, 0-8) starting quarterback Kevin Ackerley and his backup Zach Brautigam out with injuries, the Pipers completed just three passes. The Pipers’ only scores came from kicker John Broback’s 38-yard field goal and running back Ryan Ferkinhoff’s 1-yard run.

Running back Jake Essler lead the Johnnie brigade with two 3-yard touchdowns late in the second quarter.

Hamline will wrap up its 2012 season with a nonconference game against Macalester Saturday at home. St. John’s will face Bethel Saturday in Arden Hills.

Gustavus 41, Carleton 27

Running back Jeffrey Dubose scored two touchdowns in the second quarter and two in the fourth to help put his team over the Carleton Knights 41-27 Saturday in Northfield, snapping a four-game losing streak.

Gustavus (2-6, 1-5) was able to capitalize early with an 11-play, 82-yard drive, resulting in a 6-0 lead over Carleton (3-5, 1-5) in the first quarter.

The Gusties complied 196 yards rushing compared to the Knights’ 69.

Gustavus will host Concordia Saturday while Carleton will travel to Minneapolis to face Augsburg Saturday in the Metrodome.

Briggs LeSavage can be reached at lesa4364@stthomas.edu.