DATE: October 14, 2006
Cory Wardrope, James Moore lead Beavers to first-ever 4-0 start in conference play

WAYNE, Neb. (Cunningham Field) - Redshirt freshman Cory Wardrope (Chugiak, Alaska) earned his first career start at quarterback, and rewarded the Bemidji State coaching staff with a strong performance as he helped rally the Beavers from a 14-point first-quarter deficit in a 40-37 victory at Wayne State (Neb.). Wardrope completed 17 of 29 passes for 255 yards and two touchdowns and added 52 yards on 19 rushes, leading Bemidji State to the first 4-0 start in conference play in the program’s 81-year history as a varsity program.

Wayne State’s Silas Fluellen hit Logan Masters for a pair of first-quarter touchdowns, a 33-yard strike to cap an 80-yard scoring drive off of the game’s opening kickoff, and a 42-yard catch-and-run two plays after Wardrope was intercepted to end BSU’s first drive of the contest.

BSU’s Seth Iverson blocked a Kurtis Hoefling punt with 54 seconds left in the first quarter, and on that play BSU began its rally. Wardrope kept the ensuing BSU drive alive with a 21-yard scamper on 3rd and 5, then after finding Anthony Schreiber (Berkeley, Ill) for a 12-yard gain James Moore () ended the drive with a five-yard touchdown run to get BSU on the board. The extra point by Michael McDonald (Muskegon, Mich.) pulled BSU within a touchdown with 14:18 to play in the second.

On the first play of the ensuing Wayne State drive, Beaver linebacker Matt Heber () intercepted Fluellen and returned the pickoff 25 yards for a touchdown. McDonald’s extra point attempt was blocked by Adam Peterson, leaving BSU trailing 14-13.

The teams got into a field goal battle for the rest of the second quarter. McDonald, who came into the game with one field goal attempt on the season, attempted three field goals in the final 10:11 of the first half. He connected from 34 yards out to give BSU its first lead of the day, 16-14, with 10:11 to play and later missed what would have been BSU’s first 40-yard field goal in six years from 47 yards out with 2:54 to play.

Wayne State’s Nick Hope connected from 42 yards out three plays after Wardrope’s second interception of the first half to put the Wildcats back on top, 17-16. But Wardrope atoned for his miscue by hitting his first two passes on BSU’s two-minute drill offense, a 47-yard connection with Schreiber and a 12-yard dart to George Kadlec (). The drive pushed BSU to the Wayne State 10, and McDonald connected from 27 yards out with no time remaining in the second quarter to help BSU take a 19-17 lead into the locker room.

Jonathan Hawks (Gainesville, Ga.) returned the second half-opening kickoff 43 yards to help the Beavers start deep in Wayne State territory, and Moore stepped in from 10 yards out three plays later. McDonald’s PAT kick failed, and BSU pushed its lead to 25-17. It was the first of four consecutive touchdown drives by the two teams to open the second half.

Wayne State pulled back within two, 25-23, on a 79-yard touchdown run by senior Zach Molacek, but Tyler Jones was stuffed on a failed two-point conversion attempt. BSU answered with a 15-yard pass from Wardrope to redshirt freshman Warren Ballard (), and Molacek later scored from one yard out to again pull Wayne State within two, 32-30, with 9:19 to play in the third quarter.

Wardrope threw his third interception of the contest, this time to Matt Greenway, and Wayne State took over with 5:48 to play in the third. Fluellen promptly connected with Josh Peterson for a 63-yard touchdown on the first Wildcat play after the interception, and Hope’s extra point helped Wayne State recapture the lead, 37-32.

Wardrope immediately got BSU back into the game, however, and led the Beavers to their ultimate go-ahead score. He completed 4-of-4 passes on the drive following the interception for 62 yards, including the drive-ending 29-yard touchdown dart to Schreiber, and carried once for five yards. For good measure, he added a two-point conversion on the ground to leave BSU with a 40-37 lead.

Wayne State turned the ball over on downs on its next drive when Molacek was stuffed for a one-yard gain on 4th and 2 from the BSU 24-yard line, were held to three-and-out on their next drive, and saw Fluellen throw four consecutive incomplete passes - three intended for Logan Masters - to end Wayne State’s final opportunity of the game with 1:34 left. BSU took over and Wardrope took a knee on three consecutive plays to run out the clock on the come-from-behind victory.

Bemidji State overcame a heroic effort from Molacek, who has a history of big games against the Beavers. Molacek hit the nation’s No. 1 ranked rushing defense for 141 yards on 19 carries and scored twice, including a 79-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Coming in, Bemidji State had allowed a total of 43 yards rushing over its previous four games combined, had not allowed more than 58 yards to a running back all season and had allowed a total of two touchdowns to starting running backs.

Molacek has gone over 100 yards against Bemidji State in each of the last three seasons, and has scored two touchdowns against BSU each of the last two years. For his career, Molacek has rushed 69 times for 408 yards and four touchdowns against BSU and has seen his yardage total go up each year.

Still Molacek’s Herculean efforts were not enough to help Wayne State hold off BSU’s rally.

Bemidji State trailed three times in the game - 14-0 with 9:56 to go in the first quarter; 17-16 with 32 seconds to play in the second quarter; and 37-32 with 47 seconds to play in the third. BSU erased all three deficits, giving the Beavers their third come-from-behind victory this season and their 21st in 11 seasons under Jeff Tesch.

For the second consecutive week, James Moore turned in a strong performance as BSU’s starting running back. Moore carried 29 times for 119 yards and scored twice, making him the first Beaver with consecutive 100-yard rushing games since Tyler Olson had a three-game 100-yard streak in 2004.

Schreiber also continued his history of huge games against Wayne State. He caught a team-high seven passes for 121 yards and scored BSU’s ultimate go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter. In the last two seasons, Schreiber has 25 catches for 360 yards and four touchdowns against Wayne State.

Schreiber’s seven receptions moved him to 118 for his career, moving him into a tie with Michael Nordyke for fifth on BSU’s career list. His 121 yards improved him to 1,592 for his career and propelled him past Ben Woodford (1,590) into eighth on BSU’s career yardage list, and the touchdown was his 13th to pull him into a tie with Nordyke for seventh all-time at BSU.

Wardrope finished 21 of 29 for 255 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions in his first career start. He also rushed for 52 yards on 19 carries.

Fluellen completed 18 of 39 passes for 325 yards and three touchdowns for Wayne State in the losing effort. He was intercepted once, but was not sacked by a Beaver defense which entered the afternoon leading the NSIC in quarterback sacks. Masters led all players with eight receptions for 127 yards and scored the two first-quarter touchdowns.

Heber turned in his second consecutive strong outing for the BSU defense. He finished with four tackles (two solo) with two tackles-for-loss and the 25-yard interception return touchdown. Heber’s touchdown is the third interception return touchdown by the BSU defense this season, most by a Beaver defense since the 2003 team also had three, and tied for the most in a season in 11 years under Tesch. It was the 19th defensive touchdown scored by BSU in the Tesch era.

Adam Peterson led the Wildcats with nine tackles, one tackle-for-loss, a 15-yard interception return and a blocked kick. Troy Pribnow had five tackles, including a game-high three tackles-for-loss, two solo sacks and a 32-yard interception return for the Wildcats.

McDonald’s two field goals and two successful PAT kicks gave him eight points for the game, moving him to 151 points for his career. He became just the second kicker in BSU history to go over 150 points for his career, and he now trails BSU’s career kick-scoring leader Neil Collier by just four points.

The victory extended BSU’s winning streak in true NSIC road games to four dating back to the 2005 season, tying the longest streak in school history. BSU also won four consecutive conference road games from Oct. 9, 1999 to Sept. 16, 2000 - a streak which also saw its fourth win come at Wayne State.

The win also pulled BSU to 6-7 all-time in its series against the Wildcats. BSU improved to 2-4 all-time in road games against Wayne State and picked up its first road win in the series since 2000. BSU head coach Jeff Tesch coached his 112th career game, moving him into first all-time at BSU in games coached. With today’s win, he is now 67-46 with the Beavers.

Bemidji State improved to 5-2 with the victory and remained amongst the NSIC’s unbeaten at 4-0 in league play. Wayne State fell to 3-4 overall, 3-2 in the NSIC, and saw its first three-game winning streak since 1995 come to an end. The Beavers return home to open a season-long two-game homestand on Oct. 21, when they host Winona State in what will be a battle of the NSIC’s lone remaining unbeaten teams in conference play. Opening kickoff from Chet Anderson Stadium is set for 1:00 p.m. Central time on the BSU campus.

--beavers--