In front of a sea of white, the Lions put up a goose egg on the scoreboard versus a tough Bethel defense, which has yet to give up a point this season. The undefeated Bethel Bisons knew Bellarmine would be a tough matchup, and the close score reflected that prediction. Bellarmine’s stellar defense kept the game close, with only a sole touchdown given up. Unfortunately, despite having multiple chances in the opponent’s half of the field, the Lions couldn’t punch it in and suffered their first home loss of the year. 

There were of course bright spots for the Lions, one being junior Jacob Hundven, who on 5 punts had 155 net yards of punting, pinning the Braves inside the 10 twice and a crucial pick with 2:39 left in the fourth quarter allowing the Lions the opportunity to score the game-tying touchdown. As well, a couple of forced fumbles by junior Drake Johnston and senior Mac Fortino gave the Lions opportunities to score the other way. The Lions showed a good mix of offense all night throwing and rushing the ball seventeen and sixteen times respectively. Junior Joey Bambrick, who recently committed to play lacrosse at Notre Dame, amassed 47 yards rushing averaging just over 3 and a half yards a carry and was the bulk of the Lion’s offense.

The game of course did not pan out the way the lions were intending especially on the offensive side of the ball. Junior Tyler Stowers went five for 17 totaling 48 yards, half of those being off of one play to junior wideout Andrew Johnson.

Bethel held Bellarmine to under 100 yards of offense and consistently got game-altering stops in their half of the field. Stowers was sacked out of field goal range with 0:52 seconds left in the second and with 6 minutes left in the third quarter which could have drastically changed the outcome. Despite the subpar offensive performance the defense more than made up for it consistently getting stops and forcing the Braves to run the football. The Lions Den as well showed out with hundreds of students coming out and cheering for their classmates all dressed in white. After the loss, the diehard students described the loss as “painful” and “disappointing” but still seemed hopeful for the rest of the season and a talented team.

The Lions look to rebound against Rogers this Thursday, Sept. 15, at 7 p.m. at Sparks Stadium, still looking for their first win of the season.