No. 16 Tigers Fall to Bethel in Overtime

MCKENZIE, Tenn. – The No. 16 Georgetown College football team (5-3, 2-2 MSC) took a 26-23 loss in overtime to Bethel University (4-3, 3-1 MSC) at Walter Butler Stadium on Saturday afternoon.  

Dating back to the 1995 campaign, Georgetown leads the all-time series against Bethel, 14-5.

THE BASICS
Final | Bethel 26, Georgetown 23
Records | Bethel (4-3, 3-1 MSC), Georgetown (5-3, 2-2 MSC),
Location | McKenzie, Tenn. (Walter Butler Stadium)

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

• Gehrig Slunaker completed 9 of his 21 passes for 102 yards.
• Georgetown ran for 219 yards on the ground, led by 111 yards from Guy Bailey. 
• Colin Bratcher led the receiving charge with 59 yards on five catches with one touchdown.
• Nate Craft scored eight points on the day with two field goals and two PATs.
• The Georgetown defense held Bethel to 285 total yards on 86 plays, led by a game-high seven tackles from John Carter-Myers. 

SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter:

• The Tigers started the game with the ball and were quickly stopped on their opening drive after consecutive handoffs and an incomplete pass.
• Bethel's first drive of the day went 10 plays and spanned 32 yards, but the Wildcats were stopped on 4th down.
• After the Tigers took over on the 34-yard line and had six consecutive positive yardage plays, an incomplete pass on 3rd down set up a 38-yard Nate Craft field goal attempt, which went wide left.
• The Wildcats were quickly stopped on three plays on their next possession before Gehrig Slunaker was intercepted on the next Georgetown drive for a 41-yard pick-six. Bethel took the 7-0 lead into the second quarter. 

Second Quarter:

• The Tigers' first drive of the second quarter resulted in another Slunaker interception, this time with no return.
• The Wildcats drove 32 yards and converted on a 47-yard field goal, on the extra possession to take a 10-0 lead.
• Georgetown needed just one play to get on the scoreboard on its next series.
• Jarren Johnson took the football 68 yards for the Tigers' first touchdown of the day.
• After the next three series ended in punts, the Tigers missed a 53-yard field goal attempt with 2:30 to play in the half.

Third Quarter:

• Bethel began the third quarter with the ball, and the Tiger defense quickly held up, forcing a 3-and-out.
• Georgetown took over, and the offense was rolling from there.
• Taking over on the 47-yard line, the Tigers moved the ball forward on every play and ended with a 19-yard Gehrig Slunaker pass to Colin Bratcher for a touchdown to take a 14-10 lead.
• From there, Nate Craft smacked in a 24-yard and a 26-yard field goal to give Georgetown a 20-10 lead after three quarters.

Fourth Quarter:

• To start the fourth quarter, Bethel pounded the ball down the field with 10 straight rushing plays.
• Four different Wildcats got a rush and combined for 75 yards to make it a 20-17 game with 10:27 to play.
• The Tigers took over and rushed four straight times before being stopped on 3rd down. Just 2:30 came off the clock before the Wildcats regained the football.
• Bethel's next drive was quickly thwarted and forced into a punt.
• Georgetown took over, and its rushing game went to work, taking time off the clock.
• In the end, Drew Rader was forced to punt, leaving Bethel just 1:25 of time left.
• After two rushes and two complete passes combining for 37 yards put the Wildcats on the 36-yard line, the Tigers called a timeout with just :20 seconds to play to set up their defense.
• A quick seven-yard gain was followed by a Bethel timeout before a five-yard gain forced the Tigers into trying to ice the Wildcat kicker.
• Zachary Clutch connected on a 41-yard field goal to force overtime.

Overtime:

• Georgetown started the overtime period on offense and ended up converting a 40-yard field goal attempt to take a 23-20 lead.
• Bethel took over and, with four straight rushing plays, found the end zone for the 26-23 victory.

UP NEXT
The Tigers remain on the road next Saturday, November 8, when they take on the University of the Cumberlands (4-5, 1-4 MSC) at 1:30 p.m. 

The Patriots went on the road and lost 40-37 to (RV) Cumberland. The Tigers lead the all-time series against the Patriots, 32-8, having won four of the past five matchups.