DATE: October 21, 2006
Beavers hold No. 18 Winona State to 98 total yards, -37 yards rushing

BEMIDJI, Minn. (Chet Anderson Stadium) - Bemidji State’s football program took a stranglehold on the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference lead, using one of the best defensive performances in school history to dominate 18th-ranked Winona State, 28-7. The victory was Bemidji State’s first over a nationally-ranked opponent and, coupled with Southwest Minnesota State’s loss today, gives the Beavers an effective two-game lead in the NSIC standings with three weeks left in the regular season.

The Beavers played arguably their strongest defensive game in 11 years under head coach Jeff Tesch, limiting Winona State’s offense to six first downs for the game and 98 yards of total offense. BSU forced three turnovers, including an 18-yard interception return touchdown by linebacker Matt Heber (Mundelein, Ill.), and recorded four sacks and seven total tackles for loss in holding the Warriors to a Tesch-era record negative-37 yards rushing.

The teams took a scoreless tie into halftime, as the defenses dominated the first two quarters of play. The teams combined for 185 yards of offense in the first half, with BSU generating 138 yards on 40 snaps (3.45 yards/play) while Winona State managed just 47 yards on 25 snaps (1.88 yards/play).

Winona State’s longest drive of the first half covered 30 yards after the game’s opening kickoff, and that drive was buoyed by a 24-yard Alex Wiese scamper on the firsdt Warrior play from scrimmage. From there, Winona State would punt five times, lose a fumble and take a knee to end the first half.

Bemidji State fared little better, punting four times on six drives, losing a fumble and missing a 37-yard field goal. BSU did assemble the longest drive by either team in the first half, but needed 14 plays to move 38 yards on the drive capped by the missed field goal.

BSU game records are available back to 1987; today’s contest marked the first for BSU since the beginning of the 1987 season to be scoreless at halftime.

Winona State finally broke through the deadlock in the third quarter, with its defense making the first big play of the day. The teams traded punts to open the third quarter, and BSU took ove at its own 32-yard line. Cory Wardrope (Chugiak, Alaska) connected with Anthony Schreiber (Berkeley, Ill.) for 25 yards on a 3rd and 8 play to keep the drive going, but Eurice Watson (Dayton, Ohio) fumbled at midfield on the next play and Winona State’s Brent Yule scooped up the loose ball and rumbled 49 yards for a touchdown.

BSU punted on its next possession, but its defense would make the play which put the Beavers right back in the game. The Beaver punt pinned Winona State at its own 12-yard line, and Alex Wiese rushed for no gain on first down to set up a second-down pass play. Aaron Boettcher dropped back and rolled out to his right, where he threw right into the arms of Heber. Heber returned the interception 18 yards for a touchdown, and the extra point drew BSU even at 7-7.

“Last week guy just threw it right to me and this week I was able to drop back into coverage and watch the quarterback,” Heber said of his second interception return touchdown in as many weeks for the Beavers. “I don’t know if they’re just making the mistakes or if it’s me just playing good.”

Following Heber’s interception, the Beavers took control of the contest.

Winona State went three-and-out on its next drive, and Wardrope staked BSU to a 14-7 lead when he capped a 10-play, 69-yard drive with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Chad Christianson (Hudson, Wis.) with nine seconds to play in the third quarter.

The Beavers put the game away with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. James Moore (Houston, Texas) put together back-to-back 23-yard runs to help set up a one-yard touchdown dive by Watson with 4:32 to play in the game, and Wardrope capped the historic victory with a three-yard touchdown pass to Dan Nagengast (Plymouth, Minn.) with 1:14 to play.

Heber spearheaded a record-setting outing by the Bemidji State defense. His interception return touchdown was part of a six-tackle effort which saw him roll up 1.5 tackles-for-loss and half a sack. He was bolstered by linebacking partner Zach Christ (Buffalo, Minn.), who paced the Beavers with seven tackles (4 solo), 2.5 tackles-for-loss, one sack and two passes broken up. Willy Plancher (Naples, Fla.) matched Christ’s seven tackles from his cornerback position, forcing a fumble and breaking up a pass.

Wardrope completed 15 of 26 passes for 177 yards and two touchdowns for the Beavers, giving the redshirt freshman two victories in two career starts at quarterback. He also rushed 15 times for 33 yards.

“We got the momentum going in the first half after both teams returned turnovers,” Wardrope said of his performance. “The problem in the first half for us was penalties and turnovers and once we cleared those out of the offensive game we took over.

“We started scoring some points these past two weeks,” Wardrope added. “Our offense is clicking and everyone is getting involved. We’ve been able to get some consistency during practice and now we just try to come out here and execute.”

Moore led the team in rushing for the third consecutive week, picking up a game-high 80 yards on 13 carries. Watson finshed with 44 yards on 22 carries and scored once.

Winona State’s 98 yards of total offense marked the lowest yardage total yielded to a BSU opponent in the Jeff Tesch era (since 1999), and marked the fourth time in eight games this year the Beavers have held an opponent under 200 yards of total offense. BSU’s previous low-yardage total under Tesch and defensive coordinator Rich Jahner came on Oct. 2, 1999 when the Beavers held Concordia-St. Paul to 126 total yards.

The Beaver defense set another Tesch-era mark by holding the Warriors to minus-37 yards rushing. The previous low point was zero yards rushing on 19 carries by Northern State on Sept. 30 of this year. BSU, which entered the game ranked fourth in the nation against the run, has now held five of its eight opponents this season to 15 yards rushing or less.

McDonald converted on four of four extra-point attempts in the game, giving him 155 points for his career and matching Neil Collier for the BSU career record for points scored by a kicker.

BSU’s victory over Winona State was its first in the series since 1995, snapping a nine-game losing streak - its longest in a 69-game series with the Warriors which began in 1932 - and picked up just its third win over the Warriors since 1986. BSU improved to 26-41-2 all-time against Winona State, an even 15-15-2 in Bemidji. The win was the first over Winona State for BSU head coach Jeff Tesch.

Bemidji State (6-2 / 5-0 NSIC) wraps up a two-game home stand next weekend when it hosts Southwest Minnesota State. Opening kickoff from Chet Anderson Stadium in Bemidji, Minn. is slated for 1:00 p.m. Central time.

NOTES: BSU has won five consecutive games against NSIC opponents, tied for the third-longest streak in school history... Matt Heber’s 18-yard interception return for a touchdown gave him an interception return touchdown in each of BSU’s last two games... Heber’s interception was his fourth of the season, tying Jon Aamot’s BSU single-season record for linebackers... Chad Christianson’s third-quarter touchdown reception was the 16th of his career, moving him into a tie with Chad Postal for fourth all-time at BSU...

--beavers--