ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – Quarterback John Gould entered the game at halftime and led the St. Thomas football team to 24 second-half points, but the comeback attempt fell short as Bethel defeated St. Thomas 35-24 Saturday at Royal Stadium.

Gould threw for 121 yards in the second half and led the Tommies (5-2 overall, 3-2 MIAC) to within four points late in the fourth quarter, but he said the team needs to play a more complete game of football going forward.

“We just have to play that way the whole game, and we can’t just play that way for one half,” Gould said.

Quarterback Matt O’Connell started the game and threw two first-half interceptions, both leading to Bethel touchdowns, to give the Royals (6-1 overall, 5-0 MIAC) a 21-0 lead at halftime. Coach Glenn Caruso said the Tommies can’t afford to spot a quality team a three-touchdown lead and expect to win.

“It’s a top-10 team we played, and if we’re going to be who we want to be, we can’t be giving them that type of lead,” Caruso said.

St. Thomas received the opening kickoff and ran just two plays before O’Connell’s pass intended for wide receiver Pete Fitzsimmons sailed long and into the hands of Bethel defensive back Josh Treimer for the interception.

The Royals marched quickly down the field and opened the scoring on running back Marshall Klitzke’s 4-yard touchdown run, putting Bethel up 7-0 after the Royals’ first drive.

The Tommies threatened to tie the score later in the first quarter, but Bethel’s defense stuffed running back Jack Kaiser on a fourth-and-1 attempt from the Bethel 8-yard line.

On St. Thomas’ third possession, O’Connell threw his second pick on the day, this one to defensive back David Morgan, giving Bethel the ball back.

Royals running back Bridgeport Tusler capped off a lengthy drive in response with an 8-yard touchdown scamper just 20 seconds into the second quarter to double Bethel’s lead to 14-0.

Tusler showed off his dual-threat ability when he added his second touchdown of the day later in the second quarter, this time catching a 27-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Erik Peterson on fourth down, giving Bethel a 21-0 lead with about five minutes left in the half. Tusler finished the game with 86 total yards and two touchdowns.

The Tommies came out in the second half energized, ready for a comeback. Defensive lineman Josh Corbin said the team was ready to play.

“Can’t say I’m not proud of the guys coming out of halftime,” Corbin said.

On St. Thomas’ first possession of the second half, Gould engineered a quick scoring drive, capped off with a 4-yard touchdown pass to tight end Cole Kelly on fourth down with 9:36 left in the third quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Tommies caught the Royals off guard with an onside kick. Kicker Paul Graupner emerged from the scrum with the ball, giving St. Thomas possession at its own 45-yard line.

The Tommies capitalized and scored on a nine-play, 56-yard scoring drive punctuated by running back Nick Waldvogel’s 1-yard touchdown run. Waldvogel’s eighth rushing touchdown of the season made the score 21-14 in favor of Bethel with 5:59 left in the third. Caruso said the Tommies “showed an unbelievable trust and faith in each other and unbelievable toughness.”

“You just can’t be in a situation where you’re not playing that way from the start of the game,” Caruso said. “It was probably 22 good minutes of football that we played today in all three phases, and we got to be a heck of a lot better than that.”

At the end of the third quarter, the Tommies recovered wide receiver Bryce Marquardt’s fumble, but they gave possession right back to the Royals when Gould threw an interception two plays later.

“I just made a bad throw on that post throw,” Gould said. “That was huge that our defense came up with that turnover … We just have to capitalize on that one, too.”

On the very next play, the Royals once again took advantage of a Tommie turnover and scored on Klitzke’s 39-yard touchdown run down the sideline that stretched Bethel’s lead to 28-14.

St. Thomas answered when Gould led the Tommies on their third touchdown drive of the half. Faced with a fourth-and-7 from the Bethel 16-yard line, Gould scrambled to his right before connecting with tight end Charlie Dowdle across the field. Dowdle evaded several Royal defenders before slipping into the end zone for his fifth touchdown of the year.

Defensive back Kyle Coyne picked off Peterson’s tipped pass on Bethel’s next drive, his fourth interception this season. The Tommies were unable to capitalize, though, and settled for a 25-yard field goal from kicker Paul Graupner that made the score 28-24 with 7:45 left in the game.

On the Royals’ next possession, Bethel put the game away with an 84-yard scoring drive that included a fourth-down conversion at midfield with about three minutes to play. With one second left in the game, St. Thomas loaded up at the line of scrimmage to force a turnover, but Bethel running back Brandon Marquardt broke through the desperate attempt for a touchdown to make the final score 35-24.

Caruso said the loss may be painful, but added that the team will need to move forward because of the level of competition still left to face.

“You can’t hang your head for too long on this one because we’ve got another top-25 team coming to our place next week. The nature of this league and this level of football is you better be ready week in and week out,” Caruso said. “There were some positives, but those are gonna be trumped in the next 24 hours by all the feelings of the negatives of all the plays that we did not make.”

St. Thomas hosts No. 20-ranked Concordia-Moorhead next Saturday.

Tom Pitzen can be reached at pitz2014@stthomas.edu.