DATE: November 12, 2006
football
Beavers earn first-ever post-season appearance, will face MIAA’s Pittsburg (Kan.) State

BEMIDJI, Minn. - Bemidji State’s post-season fate was determined today, and the Beavers will make their first-ever post-season football appearance at the Mineral Water Bowl. BSU will match up with Pittsburg (Kan.) State of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association in the Dec. 2, 2006 contest in Excelsior Springs, Mo.

Bemidji State enters the Mineral Water Bowl as the champion of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. The Beavers finished their regular season 9-2, tying a school single-season record for victories and winning nine games in a season for just the second time in school history, and were undefeated in the NSIC at 8-0. BSU’s 8-0 NSIC record tied with three others for the third-best in conference history, trailing only the 9-0 NSIC campaigns assembled by Winona State in 2001 and Minnesota Duluth in 2002.

BSU’s NSIC championship is the fifth in BSU’s 81-year football history, but the first in a span of nearly five decades. BSU last captured the NSIC title in 1959. The Beavers won the 2006 NSIC title outright, finishing with a one-game lead over second-place Winona State, marking the first outright championship in school history. Each of BSU’s previous four conference crowns - in 1947, 1950, 1957 and 1959 - were co-championships.

Pittsburg State finished third in the MIAA regular-season race with a 9-2 overall record and a 7-2 record against the conference. The Gorillas’ two losses came on Sept. 16 to Missouri Western State, 48-35, and Nov. 4, 2006 to Northwest Missouri State, 41-14, at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. Both losses came to teams which are in the 2006 NCAA Playoffs; Northwest Missouri State is the No. 1 seed in the Southwest Region, while Missouri Western State is the No. 5 seed in the Southwest.

Pittsburg State is one of the most-storied programs in Division II football. The Gorillas have captured 27 conference titles in their 97-year football history, including 13 MIAA crows in the last 20 seasons alone. Pitt State has appeared in a national championship game six times in its history, and won the 1991 NCAA Division II national championship with a 23-6 win over Jacksonville (Ala.) State. Pitt State won NAIA national championships in 1957 and 1961.

The Gorillas traditionally sport one of the most-potent offenses in the nation, and thus far the 2006 season has been no exception. Pittsburg State ranks third nationally in total offense, averaging 467.6 yards per game, is sixth in the country in rushing averaging 246.9 yards per game on the ground and leads the nation in scoring averaging 46.7 points per game. The Gorillas have scored 50 or more points in a game four times this season, including an 87-0 win over Panhandle State on Sept. 9, a 63-20 win over Southwest Baptist on Oct. 21 and a 59-57 thriller with Emporia State on Sept. 30.

Pittsburg State’s Germaine Race is seventh in the nation in rushing at 145.2 yards per game and is second nationally in scoring at 14.0 points per game. Race also ranks 14th nationally in all-purpose yardage at 150.9 yards per game. Wideout Bryan Pray is 19th in the country in receiving yardage (85.9) and 20th in all-purpose running at 141.5 yards per outing.

The Bemidji State / Pittsburg State matchup will be strength-versus-strength. To counter the potent rushing attack of the Gorillas, BSU will rely on one of the nation’s stingiest rushing defenses. BSU has held 10 of its 11 opponents this season and 12 of its last 14 overall dating back to last season under 100 yards rushing as a team, and seven times this year the Beavers have held an opponent under 25 net yards as a team. Through games of Nov. 4, BSU ranked second nationally in rushing defense allowing just 42.4 yards per game.

Excelsior Springs is a city of 10,000, located 35 miles northeast of Kansas City, Missouri. It was founded in 1880 on the site of one of the many mineral water springs that occur naturally throughout the city. The waters were used to treat a variety of maladies and before long visitors were arriving from all over the world.

In its heyday, Excelsior Springs attracted over 500,000 visitors annually. The Mineral Water Bowl has been an Excelsior Springs tradition since 1948. The Bowl got its start as a high school game, and made its return after a 17-year hiatus in 1992 as a post-season junior college contest. The Bowl has hosted Division II teams since 2000, and today is the only NCAA-sanctioned bowl game for Division II football.

The Mineral Water Bowl will be held at Tiger Stadium on the campus of Excelsior Springs High School, where it has been held since 2004.

General-admission tickets to the Mineral Water Bowl are $10, and are available via telephone order, fax or e-mail. Tickets to the pre-game banquet on Friday, Dec. 1 are available for $25.

For more information on the Mineral Water Bowl, visit http://www.mineralwaterbowl.net

All national leaders are through games of Nov. 4, 2006.

--beavers--