1 week Ago By Alex Faber
BEMIDJI – Two weeks ago, the Bemidji State football team lost a last-second heartbreaker by one point to Northern State on the road. The Beavers went into last week’s bye with that sour taste in their mouths, with a tough five-game stretch to close the season on the other side of the bye. In Saturday’s Battle of the Beavers at Chet Anderson Stadium, Bemidji State found a bottle of mouthwash and picked up some momentum with a 21-9 win over the visiting Beavers of Minot State.
It’s the 20th consecutive time BSU won the installment of the NSIC rivalry. “It’s really important for us to get our attitude back as a team,” senior defensive back Jacob Vasquez said. “We suffered just an ugly loss against Northern State and to come out here, back at home, remain undefeated at the Chet, that was just big for us.
Get the attitude going for the rest of the year, get ready to win out.” It was a grinder of a game, featuring a pair of teams focused heavily on possession. Running a triple-option offense, Minot State presented a unique look to test a hitherto stout BSU defense.
But Bemidji State had clearly spent the bye week studying MSU’s offense. On the first two drives of the afternoon, BSU kept its opponents behind the sticks from the jump on first down, immediately throwing the option out of rhythm. Those stops behind the scrimmage wound up being a constant for the Beavers' defense.
Though Minot State managed to put a few solid drives together down the stretch and popped off a couple of big plays – highlighted by a 50-yard rush by quarterback Carson Chrisman – the visitors ultimately couldn't find a way to consistently crack a well-rested defense. “As a defense, that’s what we’ve been preaching the past two weeks,” Vasquez said. “Try to kill the run, kill the option, make the quarterback pitch the ball.
Just the way we’ve been working it the past week and a half with our bye week at practice, working their offense because we do not see that a lot, it’s been good. We were talking on the sideline like, man, our scouts really prepared us this week.” BSU earned 13 tackles for loss –including three sacks – and MSU finished with less than 150 yards of total offense.
Senior defensive lineman Cade Barrett accounted for three of those tackles for loss and one sack. “That’s real big, to hold any college football team, in my opinion, under 10 points,” Vasquez said. “It’s imperative for us, that’s how you win games.
” To make matters worse for Minot State, Bemidji State also managed to win the 2-1. “We knew with what type of offense they ran, we needed to possess the ball and couldn’t give them freebies, couldn’t give them turnovers,” senior quarterback Sam McGath said. “We had a couple games where we’ve had a couple turnovers, so it’s nice to clean that up and see that and help the offense and the defense.
” One of defensive coordinator Joe Ford’s primary focuses coming out of the bye week was an increase in “opportunistic” plays to force turnovers and offer the offense extra possession. Bemidji State did just that in its first game back. In the waning seconds of the first quarter, redshirt junior linebacker Colton Hinrichs forced a fumble and BSU took over in MSU territory.
But the most important turnover of the afternoon came courtesy of Vasquez. Trailing 14-9, Minot State was driving deep in Bemidji State territory, grinding its way to the doorstep of the redzone. However, Vasquez came screaming in on a rushing play and laid out a hit that brought MSU’s momentum to a screeching halt.
“I saw the ball pitched, I triggered on my guy and it looked like as I was getting there he was fumbling the ball,” Vasquez said. “I just tried to hit him as hard as I could to jar it loose, stayed on top of him, and I saw one of my teammates get the ball.” Bemidji State took over at its 20-yard line and milked some precious time off the clock on a short drive.
“We talk about it all the time, trying to force turnovers,” Vasquez said. “Whether that’s a fumble or an interception and we do feel that we haven't done the best job of creating turnovers. .
.. So to get two forced turnovers (and) get them back is big for us because that’s just giving the ball right back to our offense.
” The only turnover of the day for Bemidji State was a muffed punt early in the third quarter, which breathed some life into the opposing sideline when MSU had started the second half with a three-and-out. Minot State took over at the opposing 37-yard line and went on to score its only touchdown to make it 14-9. “We had the game completely in hand, got a three-and-out right away in the third quarter and we had the turnover,” head coach Brent Bolte said.
“It really changed the flow of the game, they got a little more belief on their sideline. But kids found a way, and again, it was all three phrases. I’m proud of those guys for getting the W and finding ways to get it done.
” Offensively, it was almost entirely a ground-based attack for BSU – the Beavers finished with just 66 passing yards on 17 attempts. However, McGath was still a major feature of the offense. Bemidji State leaned its senior signal caller heavily in the rushing game, calling quarterback-designed rushes in high-leverage situations – at the goal line, in fourth-and-shorts, etc.
McGath answered the call almost every time. He converted two fourth-down attempts with his legs, scored two touchdowns on the ground and earned a team-high 80 rushing yards. “We put a lot on Sam’s plate this week,” Bolte said.
“Happy for Sammy, he did a really good job. He’s the MVP in my mind for just handling the structure of what they were doing and presenting and getting us in the right place.” McGath’s second touchdown came with 5:52 left in the fourth quarter, making it 21-9 and essentially sealing the game against the run-oriented opponents.
“We knew we sealed the deal with that last touchdown,” McGath said. BSU’s running backs were also key pieces of the game plan. Senior Jarrett Gronski was pivotal in the Beavers’ second scoring drive in the third quarter.
He kept chipping away at Minot State’s defensive line, rumbling ahead for positive gain after positive gain until BSU found itself at the goal line. Gronski capped off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown rush at the goal line to give his team a 14-0 lead. “The o-line played phenomenal, every run play it felt like there was a hole out there to go hit,” McGath said.
“The running backs played well, and when everyone’s focused on the running back, I’m able to scoot out the back door.” Bemidji State finished with 184 total rushing yards – outrushing its triple-option opponent by 70 yards. Next up on the slate for the Beavers is a 1 p.
m. road game at Winona State next Saturday. “Every game is important,” Bolte said.
“(This win) kind of catapults us in the back half of the season with four remaining and just kind of keep doing what we’re doing and prepare for next week against Winona on the road.” MSU 0 3 6 0 – 9 BSU 7 7 0 7 – 21 First quarter – BSU TD, McGath 7-yard run (Mantelli PAT), 7-0 BSU. Second quarter – BSU TD, Gronski 1-yard run (Mantelli PAT), 14-0 BSU; MSU FG, 33-yard kick, 14-3 BSU.
Third quarter – MSU TD, Lovett 13-yard run (Price PAT missed), 14-9 BSU. Fourth quarter – BSU TD, McGath 8-yard run (Mantelli PAT), 21-9 BSU..
