DATE: October 7, 2006
Blair Sandy touchdown pass with 41 seconds left lifts Marauders past Beavers

BEMIDJI, Minn. (Chet Anderson Stadium) - Statistically, it was a game one might have expected Bemidji State to dominate. Playing before a Homecoming crowd of 1,676, Bemidji State outgained NCAA Division II newcomer Mary by 195 yards, 362-167; put up 21 first downs to Mary’s eight; ran 84 plays on offense to Mary’s 44, and held the advantage in time of possession by nearly 15 minutes.

Yet the Maruaders capped a five-play, 53-yard scoring drive with a four-yard pass from Blair Sandy to Justin Fleck with 41 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, helping Mary to a 27-21 victory over the Beavers.

The short-field touchdown drive capped a field position battle between the first-time opponents in the fourth quarter.

With 10:26 to play in the fourth, Bemidji State took over following a 56-yard Mary punt, aided by what was a near-constant 20-mile-per-hour wind blowing in off the lake throughout the afternoon. The Beavers took possession at their own 16-yard line, and marched into Mary territory with nine of 12 plays coming on the ground. James Moore (Houston, Texas), making his first career start with BSU’s top two running backs on its depth chart - Tyler Olson (Alvarado, Minn.) and Eurice Watson (Dayton, Ohio) - in street clothes on the sidelines, carried six times for 27 yards on the drive, en route to a career-best 120-yard afternoon. However, on the 12th play of the drive BSU tried a reverse to senior receiver Chad Christianson (Hudson, Wis.) around the right side, and Christianson turned in the seventh of BSU’s seven fumbles on the afternoon. Mary fell on the loose ball at their own 33 to end the scoring threat, and took over with 4:47 to play ath their own 35.

Mary went three-and-out on the ensuing possession, but a wind-aided 65-yard punt by Saul Helgeson pinned BSU at its own 20 with 4:11 remaining. The Beavers were unable to recover from a first-down false start penalty, and a 35-yard punt by Michael McDonald (Muskegon, Mich.) set the Marauders up at their own 47 with 2:09 left on the clock.

Sandy completed three consecutive passes, six yards to Kyle Taylor, 25 yards down the left sideline to Matt Wall and 13 yards to Rod Samuel, aided by an incidental facemasking penalty, to set Mary up with first and goal at the BSU four-yard line. Sandy threw incomplete to Samuel on first down, then after scrambling around the Mary backfield flipped a four-yard touchdown pass to Fleck on second down to put the Marauders on top. BSU’s Zach Preble (Coleraine, Minn.) blocked the extra point attempt, and Mary led 27-21 with less than a minute remaining.

BSU’s Cory Wardrope (Chugiak, Alaska) went 0-for-3 and was sacked on BSU’s final possession of the contest, and Mary held on for the six-point win.

Despite its complete dominance of the contest from a statistical standpoint, BSU found itself needing to rally from a 21-7 third-quarter deficit in a game frought with mistakes on both sides of the ball.

The Beavers intercepted each of Sandy’s first two attempts of the contest, but mananged just five yards and a punt on a nine-play drive following the first and giving up a 43-yard return of a Josh Williams (Downey, Calif.) interception by Mary’s James Miles on its drive following the second. The interception return gave the Marauders the ball at BSU’s 13-yard line, and Sandy found Wall from nine yards out on the third play of the ensuing drive to put Mary on the board, 7-0.

Williams recovered quickly, completing four of five passes on BSU’s next possession, including a 19-yard completion to Christianson on 3rd and 8 and a 35-yard touchdown strike to George Kadlec (Chicago, Ill.) on a 4th and 11 play to help BSU draw even at 7-7.

Mary continued the scoring burst, answering Williams’ touchdown with a 10-play, 80-yard scoring drive capped by a 21-yard pass from Sandy to Stacy Martin. Sandy was 5-for-6 for 79 yards on the drive, and Rett Thibodeaux’s extra point put the Marauders back on top, 14-7, with 9:46 to play in the second.

The teams traded punts for the rest of the first half, and after a touchback on the third quarter-opening kickoff and a 10-yard sack on third down, BSU forced a punt on the firt Mary drive of the second half.

BSU came out for its first possession with wholesale changes to its offense, with Wardrope coming in off the bench to replace Williams for the second consecutive week, with Kurt Etchison (Bemidji, Minn.) in at running back and wide receivers Anthony Schreiber (Berkeley, Ill.) and Jonathan Hawks (Gainesville, Ga.) on the sidelines. Etchison was BSU’s feature back on the drive, getting the ball on each of BSU’s five snaps. His first four carries went for 21 yards and drove the Beavers to the Mary 21-yard line, but after a six-yard gain on his fifth carry he was hit and fumbled.

The loose ball was collected by Mary’s Shawn Melland, who managed to get to the right sideline and bolted 85 yards for a touchdown. It was the first fumble return for a touchdown allowed by Bemidji State in eight years, since Minn.-Duluth’s Jeff Holubar returned a Ben Morie fumble 38 yards for a score on Oct. 31, 1998.

BSU began to chip away at the 21-7 deficit later in the third quarter. After a 20-yard punt into the wind on 4th and 11, Wardrope set the Beavers up at the Mary 39 yard line, and hooked up from 26 yards out with Danny Rodgers (Plymouth, Minn.) to pull BSU within a touchdown with 3:28 to play in the third.

The Beavers took advantage of another short Mary punt - this time a 19-yarder - on the ensuing Marauder possession, and Wardrope started the Beavers out at midfield. Moore carried seven times for 36 yards on the drive, capped by a nifty 12-yard run bounced outside for his first career touchdown. McDonald’s extra point drew BSU even with 12:09 to play.

Mary punted after a three-and-out on its next possession, with Helgeson’s 56-yard punt setting up the BSU drive which ended on Christianson’s fumble and starting the field position battle which ultimately led to the Mary win.

Williams completed 10 of 19 passes for 104 yards, one touchdown and an interception, and also fumbled twice - both of which he recovered - in the first half. Wardrope completed 7 of 13 passes for 67 yards and a touchdown. BSU, which had allowed just six sacks in its first five games, surrendered three sacks today - two of Williams and one of Wardropoe.

Moore, who entered the day with 19 carries for 70 yards, finished with 26 carries for 120 yards and his fourth-quarter touchdown. He had 16 carries for 78 yards and a touchdown in the second half alone. Moore was one of eight BSU players to carry the football on the afternoon, as the Beavers piled up 191 yards on 52 carries.

BSU also spread the ball around in the passing game, as Williams and Wardrope combined to complete passes to eight different receivers. Schreiber led the way with five grabs for 39 yards, while Rodgers had four catches for a team-leading 48 yards and one touchdown.

Bemidji State’s rush defense, ranked second in the nation entering the contest, continued to be lethal and limited Mary to just 15 net yards on 19 carries. Sandy carried nine times for a loss of 15 yards on the day, and BSU’s defense recorded five tackles-for-loss and three sacks. The Beavers have allowed a total of 43 yards rushing on 95 carries over their last four games combined.

Zach Christ (Buffalo, Minn.) led the Beavers with seven tackles (one solo), a 10-yard sack, one pass breakup and a 15-yard interception return. Matt Heber (Mundelein, Ill.) also had a big day with six tackles (four solo), 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.

Sandy completed 13 of 25 passes for 152 yards and three touchdowns for the Marauders, against the two interceptions on his first two attempts. He was sacked three times. Wall finished with five catches for 92 yards and a touchdown. Justin Fleck carried 10 times for 30 yards and caught three passes for 13 yards and a touchdown.

Mary’s Brian Finnegan turned in a huge day on defense, finishing with a game-high 15 tackles (three solo), one forced fumble and a half sack. Jesse Laber had 11 tackles (four solo) with three tackles-for-loss, a pass breakup and 1.5 sacks for a loss of eight yards.

The loss snapped Bemidji State’s four-game winning streak and gave the Beavers a losing record against non-conference foes for the first time since going 0-2 in 2002. It also snaps BSU’s winning streak on Homecoming at four games.

Mary improved to 2-4 with the win. Bemidji State (4-2 / 3-0 NSIC) returns to Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action on Saturday, Oct. 14, when it travels to Wayne State (Neb.). Opening kickoff from Memorial Stadium in Wayne, Neb. is slated for 1:00 p.m. Central time.

--beavers--