The Hamline Football team lost to Bethel University this past Saturday, Nov. 2, 55-6 at Klas Field. The Pipers faced a tough challenge as they went up against the top team in the MIAC and the number five rated Division III football team in the nation.

The Royals wasted no time after kick off to put Hamline to work by quickly taking over inside the Pipers 40-yard-line. Bethel then marched quickly into the Hamline endzone, putting together a five play 39 yard drive that ended with a one yard touchdown run for the Royals.

Bethel then went to the air for their next two scores as they were able to complete 55 and 33 yard touchdowns against the Piper defense to put them up 20-0. The Royals would add two more touchdowns to go up 34-0 before Hamline was able to score.

The only points of the day for the Pipers came near the end of the first-half. With the ball at the

Hamline 33-yard line, first year wide receiver Naji El-Araby took the handoff 67 yards into the Bethel endzone for Hamline’s lone score of the afternoon. The first-half would end 34-6.

With the beginning of the second-half, Bethel’s offense continued to look unstoppable as they were able to score three more touchdowns and win by a final score of 55-6.

Despite struggling to win games, Hamline’s football players continue to stay optimistic. Their team’s preparation each week begins with the week of practice leading into the games, which was important against a high caliber team like Bethel.

“I feel very good about the offense’s preparation,” said senior offensive lineman Patrick Chilton. “We were able to successfully run the ball against one of the best run defenses in the nation in St. Thomas last week, and we are hoping to continue our strong running game. We feel very good about our chances this week playing against one of the best top-ranked teams in the nation.”

No matter what the result of the previous week was, the Pipers remain positive and bring focus each day to practice according to Chilton.

“The past several weeks we’ve been focusing on perfecting our technique,” Chilton said. “As a relatively young team we’ve been able to largely eliminate the mental mistakes that were plaguing us [earlier] in the year, so we’ve been able to work on improving our techniques as much as we can. We’ve also been focusing on remaining upbeat and positive, always playing hard regardless of whether we are winning, losing, or tied.”

Chilton wasn’t the only offensive player who had positive things to say going into the game. Senior offensive lineman Charlie Miller was also satisfied with the preparation of the team leading up to the game.

“We had a good week of practice,” Miller said. “The focus for this week was to really concentrate on our [running] game. We know that they are going to try to stop the run, so we worked hard on getting those plays down perfectly.”

Hamline’s defense also felt good going into the game.

“I feel our preparation was solid and we’re ready to take on the challenge of playing Bethel [we have been] improving every day no matter who we play,” first-year safety Anthony Hill said.

With two games remaining in a 2-6 season, the football team still has lots of motivation to improve. Both Chilton and Miller referred to the final game of the season at Macalester as one the team has been looking forward to all year.

“Macalester should be a fun game and really competitive,” Miller said. “This is the game that the whole team has looked forward to since training camp.”

Winning the bucket against Macalester has been a team goal, and would put a positive spin on a season full of struggles.

“My main expectation, as well as the other seniors and the rest of the team, is to beat Macalester and bring the bucket back to its true home,” Chilton said.

Next weekend, the Pipers travel to St. John’s before heading south on Snelling across I-94 the following weekend for their season finale at Macalester on Nov. 16.