Total Tiger Team Effort leads to dominating win over #6 Bethel

After a tough loss to Reinhardt 2 weeks ago, Georgetown knew they had a lot of work to do to right the ship heading to Mid-South Conference play. The Tigers put in the work in the 13 days leading up to Saturday's road trip to Bethel and responded as well as Tiger fans could hope for. Jayson Hayes returned 2 interceptions for touchdowns, while Darius Neal turned in one of his best outings as a Tiger in a 52-24 Georgetown win. The win was the first over a top 10 team since the 2017 playoffs when Georgetown defeated 6th-ranked Baker (KS). It marks the first regular season win over a top-10 team since 2014 when Georgetown beat 4th-ranked Faulkner.

In the 1st, Georgetown held Bethel on the opening drive, sparked by the first of 4 Tiger sacks, this one courtesy of Colton Cornish. The Tigers' ensuing drive was stalled at the Bethel 45, but Georgetown kept field advantage thanks to a Drew Rader punt that pinned Bethel to its own 4. On the first play of the Wildcats' drive, Jayson Hayes stepped in front of a Joaquin Collazo pass and took it in 8 yards for the opening score of the ballgame. After another exchange of punts, Bethel drove the ball down to the Georgetown 6-yard line. On the first play of the 2nd quarter, the Wildcats missed a 22-yard field goal attempt, keeping Georgetown ahead, 7-0.

Georgetown took the ball to the Bethel 48 but were forced to punt once more. A muffed return by Bethel though was recovered by Georgetown at the BU 5-yard line, and on the next play, Darius Neal marched across the line for a score to double the Tiger lead to 14. Bethel answered with a mix of runs and passes on its next drive and was able to convert on a 31-yard field goal to get on the board with just under 4 minutes remaining in the 1st half.

With the Tiger passing game struggling against a strong Bethel secondary, freshman Chandler Godby helped out the cause with a 65-yard kick return to put GC at the Bethel 34-yard line. On play 1 of the drive, Darius Neal found space down the left sideline for 25 yards to the BU 9. His next carry put the ball at the 1, where Gehrig Slunaker called his own number from under center for the score, making the game a 21-3 Georgetown lead. Bethel answered immediately with a 47-yard TD pass to get back within 21-10. Georgetown had one final drive moving but Bethel picked off a Slunaker pass inside the BU 10 and kneeled the clock out to keep the score at 21-10, in favor of Georgetown at the break.

Georgetown would start the 3rd quarter with a short field as Chandler Godby tallied another 65-yard kick return to put the Tigers at the BU 27 start the half. Bethel's defense held, but Drew Rader drilled a 43-yard field goal, giving GC a 24-10 lead. Bethel went 3-and-out on its next drive, but the ensuing punt hit a Tiger as it was bouncing and Bethel recovered at the GC 33. The 6th-ranked Wildcats would ultimately find the endzone, but the PAT was missed.

The Tigers next drive stalled once more near midfield, but Drew Rader delivered another terrific punt to back the Wildcats up to their own 7 to start. Bethel's punt game was not up to the level of Rader's as the Wildcats were forced to kick and a the punt went just 26 yards. Georgetown took over on the Bethel 33-yard line, looking to add to the lead. Darius Neal was more than happy to oblige as he took the 2nd play the distance for his 2nd score of the day. Rader's extra point gave Georgetown a 31-16 lead with 3:58 left in the 3rd quarter. The Tigers special teams covered the ensuing kickoff brilliantly as Bethel was forced to start its drive on its own 7. The Wildcats were forced to punt from their own 12 after a 3-and-out, and the BU punting game faltered once more as a punt of just 8 yards put Georgetown on the Bethel 20 to start. Isaiah Cobb took the reins in the backfield and behind a stellar offensive line performance, Cobb would ultimately score from 3 yards out, making it a 38-16 Tiger advantage on the 1st play of the 4th quarter.

Bethel answered with a 72-yard drive in just 4 plays and 1:35 to get within 38-24 with 13:10 remaining in the game. Head Coach Chris Oliver decided to put the game on the shoulders of his massive offensive line and was rewarded. The Tigers never threw the ball on the next drive, going on the ground 8 times for 75 yards, the final 25 coming from Darius Neal, who ripped up the gut untouched for his 3rd score of the day. The extra point made the score 45-24 with 8 minutes to go.

With Bethel starting on its own 13, Romarion Warner tallied a QB sack on the first play, followed by the 2nd pick-6 of the day for Jayson Hayes. This one came from 18 yards out and was the final dagger in Georgetown's 52-24 statement win.

With his performance, Jayson Hayes became just the 6th player in Georgetown Football history with multiple INTs returned for TDs.

Darius Neal finished the day with a career-high 180 yards and 3 TDs. He now has 10 rushing TDs in just 4 games in 2023. In total, the offensive line led the way for Georgetown to rush for 247 yards against a Bethel D that allowed just 74 yards per game.

Georgetown's came into the day with just 2 QB sacks all year long, but tallied 4 today. Chad Holleran, Romarion Warner, Colton Cornish, and Issac Young were all credited with the QB takedowns. The defense held Bethel 28 points and 121 yards below its season averages. The game marked the first time Bethel had trailed at any point this season, but Georgetown led wire-to-wire on this Saturday.

Special teams also proved huge. Drew Rader averaged 41 yards on 4 punts and put 3 of said punts inside the Bethel 20. He also averaged nearly 50 yards per kickoff while converting on all 7 extra points and the 43-yard field goal. Chandler Godby averaged over 45 yards per kick return, setting the offense up with multiple short fields.

Georgetown will look to carry the momentum back to Toyota Stadium for Homecoming next Saturday against Cumberland. Kickoff is set for 1:30pm.