Box Score

BEMIDJI, Minn.  – Inopportune mistakes and the play of Lance Rongstad and Dustin Kroeplin for Bemidji State University led the Beavers past University of Minnesota, Crookston 35-2 Saturday afternoon at Chet Anderson Stadium on the banks of Lake Bemidji in Bemidji, Minn. The Golden Eagles fall to 1-4 (1-4 NSIC) with the loss while Bemidji State improves to 2-3 (2-3 NSIC).
 
The Golden Eagles continued to struggle to find the end zone on the road as they are yet to score an offensive touchdown in a road game this season. In addition, UMC has been outscored 154-8.
 
The Golden Eagles took the kickoff and drove down the field aided by two face mask penalties for the Beavers. Stephen Henderson (Sr., TE/K, Chatsworth, Calif.) attempted a 34 yard field goal but missed wide.
 
The Beavers got the football on the next drive and drove 80 yards on 12 plays culminating in a five-yard touchdown run by Kroeplin to put Bemidji State ahead 7-0 over the Golden Eagles.
 
Late in the firat quarter, The Golden Eagles' Cecil Brown Jr. (Sr., DB, Edison, Ga.) recovered a muffed punt by BSU's Beau Wakefield at the UMC 44 but an interception from BSU's Scott Christensen ended the opportunity on third down. BSU turned it into their own opportunity as Beaver quarterback Rongstad ran 34 yards to pay dirt for BSU to put the Beavers up 14-0.
 
BSU added to their lead late in the second quarter as Rongstad hit Justin Lee for a 66 yard touchdown pass.
 
The Golden Eagles took the ball 78 yards on the following drive using key passes from Barge to Keith McBride (Sr., RB, Lodi, Wis.) for 11 yards and 26 yards in addition to a 14 yard pass to Keith Osgood (Jr., WR, Goulds, Fla.) and an 11 yard completion to Josh Ross (Fr., WR, Palmdale, Calif.). But Richard Haley (Sr., RB, Detroit, Mich.) fumbled the ball at the one yard line again nullifying a long drive for the UMC offense as the Golden Eagles came up empty on the scoreboard.
 
Each team held each other early in the third quarter. However, after a big third-down stand  late in the third quarter by the Golden Eagles, Talo Pascal (Fr., RB/WR, Arlington, Texas) made an error in judgment as he tried to field a punt at the five yard line but fumbled it. The ball was recovered by BSU's Jordan Noskowiak and set up five-yard touchdown pass from Rongstad to Troy Dale to put the Beavers up 28-0.
 
Bemidji State added to its lead as they culminated an 80 yard drive with a six-yard touchdown run by Justin Lee to make it 35-0 early in the fourth quarter.
 
After being stopped on offense, Chris Secrest (Sr., K/P, Hollywood, Fla.) used a 39 yard punt to pin Bemidji State at the 1. The Golden Eagles' Brown and Ricky Jacobs (Jr., LB, Junction City, Kan.) tackled Avery Walker in the end zone for the safety to make it BSU 35, UMC 2.
 
UMC was led by Barge who was 18-of-33 for 139 yards with an interception. Pascal led the Golden Eagles on the ground with 52 yards on four carries including a 44-yard rush. Haley added 52 yards on 17 carries. McBride led the Golden Eagles in receiving with four catches for 50 yards.
 
Defensively, the Golden Eagles were once again led by Brown. The senior defensive back has led the team in tackles through all five games this season and had a career-high 16 on Saturday afternoon. Brown came into the game as the NSIC's leading tackler. Andrew “Rock” Hall (Jr., LB, Detroit, Mich.) added nine tackles. Brown and Cole Jackson (Jr., DL, Ames, Iowa) each had sacks for UMC while Deryck Woods II (Jr., DL, Keller, Texas) and Kevin Ellis (Jr., DL, Chicago, Ill.) added half sacks.
 
Secrest had a good day punting for UMC averaging 37.6 yards a punt and pinning the Beavers three times inside the 20.
 
Rongstad led the Beavers through the air going 11-of-18 for 159 yards and two touchdowns. Kroeplin paced BSU on the ground with 93 yards on 14 carries with a touchdown while Avery Walker added 67 yards on six carries while Rongstad had 53 yards on 10 carries. The Beavers had 241 yards on the ground and 409 total yards of offense to UMC's 236 yards of total offense. Lee led BSU in receiving with four catches for 86 yards including his 66 yard catch.
 
Cory Crosby led the Bemidji State defense with 13 tackles.
 
The Golden Eagles will return to action next weekend as they face St. Cloud State University at 1 p.m. at Ed Widseth Field.
 
For more information, visit the Golden Eagle Athletics Web site at www.goldeneaglesports.com.

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The University of Minnesota, Crookston is an NCAA Division II Institution and a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). The Golden Eagle Equestrian team is a member of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA).
 
 
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