BEMIDJI, Minn. - The Northern State Wolves (2-3, 2-1) dropped their first game in the NSIC this weekend, losing to Bemidji State (4-1, 3-0) 35-7. The Wolves' defense hung tough and forced only field goal attempts when BSU reached the red zone early on, but the Beavers continued to push and took the game 35-7.
Bemidji drove down the field and grabbed an early 3-0 lead with 10:12 left in the first quarter as kicker P. Potemra put a 21-yard kick through the uprights. Later in the first, the Northern defense was able to limit the Beaver offense inside the red zone again, and settled for another field goal, with Bemidji taking a 6-0 lead. In the second quarter, the Northern defense was able to hold inside the red zone for the third straight time and force another field goal attempt, however this time the Beavers were unsuccesful.
The Wolves took over from their own 20 yard line, but were only able to get three plays in before attempting a punt which got blocked and was recovered by BSU at the NSU 9 yard line. This led to an eventual Bemidji State touchdown with 8:01 left in the second quarter and was followed up by a succesful two-point conversion giving the Beavers a 14-0 lead.
The Northern offense was not to be held for long. After receiving the kickoff, the Wolves marched down the field sparked first by a 21-yard pass from Ellingson to Covington. Ve'e continued the momentum with a 7 yard run of his own and then Ellingson connected again, this time to McNabb for 18 yards, giving the Wolves a 1-10 on the Bemidji 34 yard line. The Wolves continued to eat up yardage and soon found themselves on the Bemidji 9-yard line after a 7 yard rush by Ellingson and a 10 yard personal foul penalty against the Beavers. This would be all the Wolves needed as Ellingson connected with Cahoy on the very next play with a 9 yard touchdown pass. Parrott added the point after closing the gap 7-14. Unfortunately, this would be the only points Northern would put up on the scoreboard.
The Beavers were able to tack seven more onto their score in the second quarter taking a 21-7 lead into halftime. Bemidji State scored a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter giving them a 35-7 lead. This would also be the last of the scoring by either team.
NSU quarterback Eric Ellingson threw 39 passes on the day completing 20 of them with one touchdown pass and one interception. Matthew DeVine led the Wolves rushing with 34 yards and a long of 13. Brian Jark led the Northern receivers with 8 catches on the day for a total of 112 yards and a long of 29. Mike Cahoy got good action catching four passes for a total of 49 yards and one touchdown. Altogether the Wolves offense totalled 276 yards. Dustin Swearingen led the Northern defense with 11 total tackles on the day. Bryar Johnson and Mike Preciado each had 10 tackles and Ryan Olerud added 9 of his own.
The Beavers had 375 yards of offense including 204 passing yards. Kadlec caught 4 passes for 89 yards and one touchdown. BSU rushed for three touchdowns including two from Wardrope. Newman led the Beavers with 95 rushing yards and one touchdown on 25 carries.
The Wolves host Wayne State next weekend at Swisher field for Gypsy Days. The game will kickoff at 2:30 pm.
