The Lake Forest College football team was ahead 14-13 after to quarters before Bethel pulled away in the second half of Saturday's NCAA Division III Tournament second round game.

The Foresters jumped out to the early lead, traveling 78 yards in seven plays for a touchdown on the game's opening drive. They faced 4th-and-inches at the Bethel 40 when graduate student A.J. Jackson broke through the line and saw nobody between him and the end zone.

Jackson, who entered the game tied for the national lead with 20 rushing touchdowns, carried the ball 11 times for 93 yards in the contest. He also caught a touchdown pass later in the afternoon and will likely finish the year tied-for-first in the nation in scoring at 16.8 points per game.

A sack by senior Donnevan Plummer on third-and-goal from the four forced the home team to kick a field goal on its first drive but the Royals reached the end zone on the first play of the second quarter to take a 10-7 lead.

A 25-yard return by junior Tommy Carberry and late hit by Bethel on the ensuing kickoff gave Lake Forest great field position. Senior quarterback Joshua Gasca completed a 7-yard pass to classmate Langston Metoyer on 3rd-and-6 to keep the drive going and then found Tee Land, another senior wide receiver, in the end zone for a 26-yard touchdown pass to put the visitors back on top 14-10. Land led Lake Forest with six receptions for 91 yards on the day and finished his career ranked eighth in team history with 1,535 receiving yards and fourth with 21 touchdown catches..

The Forester defense kep the Royals from scoring on their next two drives with the first ending with a punt and the second on a red zone interception by fifth-year safety Trenton Brail. It was the 10th career interception for Brail, tying him for 10th place in program history.

Bethel reached the Lake Forest 3-yardline in the final minute of the half but was forced to settle for another field goal to make the score 14-13 in favor of the Foresters.

Lake Forest forced a punt on the opening drive of the second half but the Royals scored touchdowns on each of their next four offensive possessions and on a blocked punt.

The Foresters' final touchdown came on a 22-yard reception by Jackson with 14:48 to play in the contest. Gasca's pass up the middle of the field reached a leaping Jackson just as he crossed the goal line in front of a Bethel defender. The extra point was the 57th of the year for kicker John Shannon, who finished his freshman campaign just one shy of the single-season program record.

It was Jackson's 36th career touchdown catch and school record 72nd touchdown overall. He finished the game with four receptions for 67 yards and nearly reached his all-purpose average of 166 yards, which ranked fifth in the country entering the day.

Gasca completed 23 of 30 passes for 287 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception in the contest. His 172.09 pass efficiency rating and 67.1 completion percentage on the season are the highest marks in program history.

Sophomore linebacker Blake Ware led the Lake Forest defense with a career-high 11 tackles while Brail added eight stops and junior safety Thomas DeChesaro seven. Two of sophomore linebacker Jackson Sander's tackles occurred behind the line of scrimmage and additional tackles for loss were turned in by Ware, Plummer, and graduate student Jaylen Johnson.

Johnson's 30.0 career tackles for loss are the 10th-highest total in team annals.

Lake Forest was out-gained 444-405 on the day as both teams were held slightly under their 2024 averages for total offense.

The Foresters gained more than 400 total yards per contest for the fourth season in team history and averaged more than 40 points for just the second time.

The loss was the first of the year for Lake Forest, which matched the school record with 10 victories. Bethel advances to the third round of the playoffs at 10-2.