Defensive back Trey Anderson’s 23-fumble return for a touchdown was the key play of a 21-point second quarter for Bethel, enabling the Royals to stay in the MIAC conversation with a 41-13 victory over Concordia on Saturday at Arden Hills.

Cornerback Tavian Swanson hammered the Cobbers’ Rylie Sheridan to force the fumble leading to Swanson’s score, then the Bethel defense held Concordia to a three and out, setting up a 62-yard drive that put Bethel up by three touchdowns at the half.

After a scoreless first quarter in which Bethel stopped Concordia twice on fourth down, Royals quarterback Jaran Roste passed 18 and 9 yards to Mathias Durie, then hit Andrew Cole with a 12-yard pass for the first touchdown of the game.

After Swanson’s touchdown, Bethel then went to its ground game, rushing for 51 of the 62 yards on its second scoring drive, with Sam Gibas gaining 23 yards on five carries. Roste capped the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run.

Bethel held Concordia to 136 yards of offense, recovered three fumbles and recorded three sacks.

Gideon Erhabor rushed for a Bethel touchdown and Mike Delich rushed for two in the second half. Sheridan scored twice for Concordia.

St. John’s 57, St. Olaf 7

Quarterback Jackson Erdmann completed 11 of 12 passes for 178 yards and three touchdowns, and rushed for another in less than two quarters of play as St. John’s outgained St. Olaf 659 yards to 206 at Collegeville.

Henry Trost gained 159 yards on just five carries, and Adam Essler added 107 yards also on five tries for St. John’s. Essler scored a touchdown in the second quarter on a 66-yard run. Trost caught a 52-yard scoring strike from Chris Backes with 6:34 to play in the fourth quarter, then added a 60-yard touchdown dash less than three minutes later.

St. John’s needed only 47 seconds to get its first touchdown, a 14-yard pass from Erdmann to Will Gillach. He caught five passes for 119 yards and two touchdowns.

Gustavus 42, Augsburg 0

Michael Veldman completed 13 of 19 passes for 181 yards and a touchdown, and David Peal ran for two scores as Gustavus posted its 500th football victory at St. Peter.

Gustavus became the 57th NCAA Division III program with at least 500 victories. The Gusties’ all-time record stands at 500-359-21.

Gustavus held Augsburg to 98 yards of offense, the third week in a row the Gusties have limited an opponent to less than 100 yards. Defensive back Brady Miller led the Gusties with six tackles, one for a loss. Jake Krull and Kaleb Scott each intercepted a pass. The 98 yards were the fewest the Gusties have allowed since 2014.

Two bad snaps on Augsburg punts set up Gustavus inside the Augies’ 10-yard line, and both led to touchdowns that gave Gustavus a 35-0 lead at halftime.