DATE: November 10, 2006
Beavers clinch first-ever outright conference title; remain in hunt for NCAA Playoffs

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (H.H.H. Metrodome) - Twenty-fourth ranked Bemidji State wrapped up the first outright conference championship in its 81-year football history and remained in the hunt for its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division II Playoffs with a 44-20 victory over Upper Iowa in the 23rd Merchants Bank NSIC Metrodome Classic.

BSU clinched at least a share of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference title last week, its first championship since 1959 and the fifth in school history, but the 2006 crown is the first of the five to be won outright by the Beavers. The victory was BSU’s ninth of the season, tying a school record for wins set in 2000 and marking just the second nine-win season in school history, and helped complete the first undefeated conference season in school history at 8-0.

The Beavers set the tone for their championship-clinching victory on their first play from scrimmage and never looked back. BSU’s defense forced a three-and-out on the first Upper Iowa possession after the game’s opening kickoff, and a punt left BSU starting at its own 14. On the first BSU snap, James Moore (Houston, Texas) threw a lead block to spring Anthony Schreiber (Berkeley, Ill.) on an option toss to the right, and Schreiber bolted 86 yards for a touchdown.

Upper Iowa retaliated on its ensuing possession, assembling an eight-play, 65-yard touchdown drive sparked by a 41-yard run by quarterback Andrew Jones, and a nine-yard completion from Jones, who also serves as the Peacock punter, to Allan Conrad on a successful punt fake. A two-yard T.C. Hicks run helped Upper Iowa balance the scoreboard at seven points each with 10:29 to play in the first.

From there, however, BSU would score the game’s next 17 points to pull away and put the contest out of reach. The Beavers pulled ahead 9-7 on a safety following an illegal kick through the end zone on a botched punt snap with 7:13 to play in the second, and Schreiber scored his second touchdown of the evening on a 27-yard catch-and-run from Cory Wardrope (Chugiak, Alaaska) with a minute and 37 seconds remaining in the first half.

BSU took a 17-7 lead into halftime, and after forcing a Peacock punt on the first possession of the third quarter pulled ahead 24-7 on its first drive of the second half. Wardrope completed 3-of-3 passes on the drive for 46 yards, and capped the drive with a nine-yard jump ball to George Kadlec (Chicago, Ill.) in the corner of the end zone. It was Kadlec’s seventh touchdown reception of the season, tied for 10th on BSU’s single-season list, on just nine total receptions this year.

Upper Iowa chipped into the lead with 5:54 to play in the third quarter, capping a 12-play, 75-yard touchdown march with a six-yard pass from Jones to Kyle Hosch.

BSU responded with two unanswered touchdowns to slam the door. Eurice Watson (Dayton, Ohio) picked up a blitz in the BSU backfield to secure the pocket for Wardrope, who found Schreiber streaking down the middle of the field for a 34-yard touchdown reception with seven seconds to play in the third, and Watson capped a two-play, nine-yard drive after a BSU interception with 13:32 to play in the fourth to help BSU go ahead 37-20.

Hicks scored from two yards out with 12 minutes to play, but Wardrope called his own number on a one-yard dive to cap the game’s scoring and give BSU the 44-20 victory.

Schreiber had a huge day for BSU, hauling in a game-high seven receptions for 125 yards and two touchdowns and adding the 86-yard touchdown run in the first quarter to give him three touchdowns on the afternoon. Ha also returned seven punts for 56 yards and had a six-yard kickoff return, giving the BSU junior 273 all-purpose yards in the contest.

Schreiber’s touchdown grabs were the 17th and 18th of his career, moving him into sole possession of fourth place on BSU’s career list. His 125 yards boosted his career total to 1,845 yards, jumping him past Chad Postal (1,760, 1990-92) into fifth all-time at BSU.

The stellar evening continued Schreiber’s history of dominant performances in the Metrodome. In three appearances in the Dome, Schreiber has 28 receptions for 406 yards and five touchdowns with 565 all-purpose yards.

Wardrope completed 16 of 21 passes for 221 yards and three touchdowns, and added three yards rushing on 11 carries to improve to 5-0 as BSU’s starting quarterback. Wardrope is thought to be the first freshman in Bemidji State history to begin a career with a victory in each of his first five starts at quarterback.

For the fourth consecutive game, Wardrope did not turn the ball over. He extended his streak of consecutive passing attempts without an interception to 78, dating back to the third quarter at Wayne State on Oct. 14, and including rushing attempts has assembled a streak of 125 offensive plays without a turnover.

Watson led a BSU ground game which generated 220 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 43 attempts with a game-high 109 yards on 21 carries. It was the second 100-yard rushing game of Watson’s career.

Jones completed 17 of 33 passes for 205 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions for the Peacocks. Dwayne Croker caught six balls for 84 yards, leading a group of six different Peacocks to catch a pass in the contest. Jones led Upper Iowa on the ground as well, using his 41-yard first-quarter run to post a team-high 31 yards on 15 rushing attempts.

The Beaver defense recorded 10 tackles-for-loss and piled up six sacks, holding Upper Iowa to 23 net rushing yards on 29 carries. The Peacocks became the 10th team in 11 games this season to be held under 100 yards as a team by the nation’s second-leading rush defense, and the seventh to generate less than 25 net yards.

Robert Molstad (Champlin, Minn.) finished with four tackles (two solo), and had a team-high 2.5 tackles-for-loss and a sack. Molstad has piled up 5.5 tackles-for-loss in BSU’s last two contests.

Jared Dunn (Healdsburg, Calif.) also had a big day on the BSU front seven, finishing with three total tackles and two sacks.

Bemidji State out-gained Upper Iowa 441-228 on the evening, racking up 22 first downs to 12 for the Peacocks. The BSU offense has not turned the ball over since the fourth quarter of the Oct. 28 win over Southwest Minnesota State, and has run 128 consecutive plays without a turnover.

Bemidji State (9-2 / 8-0 NSIC) picked up a win in its first-ever meeting with Upper Iowa (3-8 / 3-5 NSIC) and won for the fifth time in its last six trips to the Metrodome. The 2006 NSIC Champions now await their post-season fate; already assured the first post-season appearance in school history, the Beavers, ranked eighth in the Northwest Region, remain in the hunt for their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division II playoffs. BSU’s next opponent will come either Nov. 18 in the playoffs or on Dec. 2 in the Mineral Water Bowl against a to-be-determined opponent from the MIAA.

NOTES: BSU’s 8-0 final record against the NSIC is tied for the third-best conference record in NSIC history; Minnesota-Duluth (2002) and Winona State (2001) hold the record for most wins in an undefeated NSIC season; both went 9-0... Other 8-0 NSIC seasons were produced by Northern State (1999); Minn.-Duluth (1980); and Minn.-Morris (1978)... BSU improved to 8-13 in 21 appearances in the Metrodome Classic... BSU has won five of its last six Classic appearances and has scored 20 or more points in each of its last seven Classic contests... BSU went over 40 points in a Dome game for the fifth time; BSU’s 44 points scored are its fourth-most in a single Dome game... Schreiber’s 86-yard touchdown run was the first BSU scoring run of 70 or more yards since Dan Mell had a 73-yard scoring run against Southwest Minnesota State on Oct. 13, 2001... It is the longest run by a BSU player since the start of the 1999 season... It was the longest scoring play at BSU since Jason Leden hauled in a 95-yard touchdown pass from Geoff Martinson against Southwest State on Oct. 13, 2001... Zach Stafford had one-half sack, moving him into a tie with James Midboe and Bob Brabender for 10th on BSU’s single-season list (6.5); Stafford also had 1.5 tackles-for-loss, giving him 26.0 for his career and moving him into a tie for ninth all-time at BSU... BSU had two interceptions in the contest, giving the BSU defense 10 interceptions in its last four Metrodome games...

--beavers--