The Tabor College football team lost to Bethany 21-14 Saturday (Oct. 11) in Lindsborg. The Swedes took a 21-0 halftime lead on a pair of runs by quarterback Mark Margres and another by running back Sean Dahley. All told, Bethany put up 243 rushing yards.
But the Bluejays rallied in the second half, scoring early on the first drive of the third quarter when Marc Amos completed a 13-yard pass to Phillip Garcia. Tabor made it a 1-score game early in the fourth quarter when Derek Washington capped off a 13-play 85-yard drive with a 25-yard touchdown run. Washington's score came on the heels of a fantastic catch by freshman wideout Heath Redding, who beat his defender with a crisp hitch-and-go route, but then had to contend with a Bethany safety. The safety deflected the pass, but Redding got his hands on the ball to keep the play alive. As the safety attempted to drag him away from the bobbled ball, Redding found the handle and held onto to the 31-yard completion.
A long kick return gave the Swedes sweet field position, but Bethany's drive went nowhere as the Tabor defense forced a fourth-and-9 at the Bluejay 33. Too close to punt but too far away to try a field goal, the Swedes went for it. But Joe Wuest broke through the Bethany line and sacked Margres for an 8-yard loss, forcing a fumble to boot.
Tabor took over at its own 41 and used a 9-play series to reach the Bethany 4-yard line. But back-to-back runs were stuffed: Seth Ramsey was stopped short by Jon Kaehn on second-and-2, and Washington was stopped on third-and-1. Needing a touchdown, Tabor left the offense on the field for fourth down, but an incomplete pass turned the ball over to Bethany.
The Swedes took over with 6:25 left and ran off all but 17 seconds, with Dahley carrying the ball eight consecutive times to kill the clock.
Tabor got the ball back with 17 seconds to go, but could not complete a pass to spark a last-second comeback.
Up next, Tabor hosts Saint Mary.
