DATE: December 2, 2006
Pittsburg State’s Germaine Race becomes NCAA Division II career rushing leader

EXCELSIOR SPRINGS, Mo. (Tiger Stadium) - Pittsburg State’s Germaine Race rushed 33 times for 183 yards and four touchdowns, becoming NCAA Division II’s all-time rushing leader and leading the Gorillas to a 35-27 victory over Bemidji State in the 2006 Mineral Water Bowl.

Race’s 183 yards gave him 6,985 yards for his four-year career, moving past Emporia State’s Brian Shay, who rushed for 6,958 yards for the Hornets. His four touchdowns capped a career which saw him become the leading scorer in the history of college football, in all divisions, with 658 career points scored. Race is the first player in the history of college football to score 600 or more career points and score more than 100 touchdowns.

Three of Race’s four touchdowns in the contest came in the third and fourth quarters, after BSU had assembled a run of 20 unanswered points to take a 20-14 lead on a 10-yard run by Cory Wardrope (Anchorage, Alaska) with 9:41 to play in the third quarter. His four touchdowns scored tied a Mineral Water Bowl record set in 1948 by Don Cazzell of Excelsior Springs High School when the contest served as a bowl game for Missouri high schools.

Race helped the Gorillas rally with runs of seven, 16 and 21 yards as the Gorillas pulled away to a 35-20 advantage late in the fourth quarter.

Pittsburg State got off to a quick start, building a 14-0 lead just five minutes into the contest. The Gorillas forced a three-and-out on BSU’s game-opening possession, then responded to the punt with a six-play, 62-yard touchdown drive which culminated in a six-yard run by Germaine Race.

The Gorillas forced a second three-and-out, and needed just one play to score after the BSU punt. Geno Waters immediately found Bryan Pray down the middle of the field for a 44-yard touchdown strike, and the PAT helped the Gorillas build a 14-0 lead.

From there, however, BSU’s fortunes began to improve on both sides of the football. The Beavers got on the scoreboard for the first time of the afternoon with a safety, stopping Race in the end zone. Following a BSU punt which left the Gorillas pinned at their own one-yard line, Pittsburg State pushed out to their own 14-yard line. Race carried to the left and ran into traffic, and attempted to cut back across the field. He looped back into the end zone where he was stopped for the fifth safety recorded by the BSU defense this season.

Michael McDonald (Berkeley, Ill.) pulled BSU within nine points on a 37-yard field goal with 13:01 to play in the second quarter, the second-longest kick of his career.

From there, Pittsburg State would turn the ball over on all three of its possessions in the second quarter, with all three turnovers coming on its own side of midfield, to allow the Beavers a chance to fight back into the contest. The Gorillas fumbled on back-to-back offensive plays in the second, and Josh Rose (Stillwater, Minn.) ended the third Gorilla drive with an interception and a 27-yard return.

BSU failed to convert on the pair of fumbles, turning the ball over on downs after the first and seeing McDonald narrowly miss a 42-yard field goal after the second, but the Beavers were able to capitalize on the Rose interception. BSU assembled a five-play, 28-yard scoring drive which ended on a two-yard dive by Eurice Watson (Dayton, Ohio). The extra point helped BSU pull within two points, 14-12, and cap a streak of 12 unanswered points to end the half.

Wardrope led a 10-play, 60-yard touchdown drive, capped by his 10-yard touchdown scamper, to stake BSU to its first lead of the contest, and a two-point coversion pass from Wardrope to Dan Nagengast (Plymouth, Minn.) put BSU on top 20-14.

Pittsburg State answered with a big return from Pray on the ensuing kickoff, and Race capped a five-play drive with a seven-yard touchdown run with 6:54 to go in the third. The extra point put the Gorillas back on top by a point, 21-20.

The Beavers assembled a 14-play drive to answer and drove as far as the Pittsburg State seven-yard line, but a delay of game penalty and a personal foul drove the Beavers back to a 50-yard field goal attempt. McDonald was short on the attempt and Bryan McMurtrey returned the missed kick 37 yards to start the Gorillas at their own 39-yard line.

Geno Waters found Deerek Ryan for a 41-yard pass down the middle of the field on the first play of the ensuing Gorilla posssession, and Race scored from 16 yards out on the next play to help put the Gorillas ahead 28-20 and essentially seal the victory.

Bemidji State, which committed 14 penalties for 115 yards on the afternoon, saw penalties derail several opportunities to reverse its fortunes in the fourth quarter. The Beavers converted a fake punt with 8:38 to play to leave the Beavers at midfield, but a dead-ball personal foul pushed the ball back 15 yards and Watson would later fumble at midfield to end the threat.

On the following Pittsburg State drive, Race was stopped for no gain on a second and five rush to the right side, but the Beavers were hit with a late-hit personal foul and then drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for arguing the call. The 30 yards in penalties pushed the Gorillas down to the BSU 21-yard line, and Race scored on the next play to help push the Pittsburg State lead to 35-20.

James Moore scored from one yard out to cap a six-play, 80-yard scoring drive sparked by a 55-yard completion from Wardrope to Danny Rodgers (Plymouth, Minn.) with 3:21 to play, but the Gorillas ran out the clock after taking the kickoff and sealed the eight-point victory.

Wardrope completed 15 of 30 passes for 192 yards and rushed 17 times for 20 yards. He went a fifth consecutive game without being responsible for a turnover, extending his personal streak of consecutive pass attempts without an interception to 109 and consecutive offensive plays - passing attempts and rushes - without a turnover to 170 dating back to Oct. 14 at Wayne State.

Wardrope’s 20 yards gave him 185 for the season and moved him into a three-way tie for 10th on BSU’s single-season rushing list for quarterbacks.

Watson did his part to match the record-setting efforts of Race. The BSU sophomore carried 30 times for 155 yards and a touchdown, with a 25-yard long run. His 30 carries and 155 yards were both season highs for a BSU running back, and marked the first 30-carry effort by a BSU back since Alvaro Carvajal had 32 carries at Southwest Minnesota State on Oct. 2, 2004.

Schreiber finished with five receptions for 62 yards; he improved to 1,907 yards for his career and moved into third place on BSU’s career receiving yardage charts. He will enter his senior season in 2007 needing just 769 yards to become BSU’s all-time leader in receiving yards.

The Mineral Water Bowl loss is the sixth in a row for the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference representative in the game, dating back to a Winona State triple-overtime victory over Emporia State in the first game of the NSIC-MIAA format in 2000.

Bemidji State ends its 2006 season with an overall record of 9-3, while Pittsburg State completes its campaign at 10-2.

NOTES: Pittsubrg State’s 14-point first half was tied for its third-lowest scoring first half of the season... The Gorillas were shut out in the first half of their Nov. 4 loss to Northwest Missouri State and scored 12 in the first half against Washburn on Oct. 7... Michael McDonald’s 37-yard field goal in the second quarter was the second-longest kick of his career, trailing only a 39-yard kick at Northern State on Sept. 30, 2006.

--beavers--