Bemidji State 38 Wayne State 28

            Three Wayne State turnovers resulted in 21 Bemidji State points and the Beavers racked up 565 yards of total offense to defeat the Wildcats 38-28 in Northern Sun Conference football played Saturday afternoon at Chet Anderson Stadium in Bemidji, Minnesota.  The host Beavers improve to 2-0 on the season while WSC falls to 1-1.
            Neither team scored on their first two possessions of the opening quarter, but then each team started moving the ball and scoring points.
            Bemidji State opened the scoring midway through the first quarter on an eight-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Brandon Arlt to wide receiver Brice Peters putting the Beavers ahead 7-0 at the 7:55 mark.
            Wayne State answered on the ensuing drive as the Wildcats marched 74 yards on just four plays and found the end zone on a 37-yard run from freshman Jacob Keiser to knot the score at 7-7 with 6:30 to go first quarter.
            The Beavers regained the lead early in the second quarter when Alt and Peters hooked up again on a scoring play, this time from 16 yards out, to cap a 92-yard drive on nine plays that gave Bemidji State a 14-7 lead.
            The Wildcats responded again and evened the score at 14-14 on the following drive as WSC moved 75 yards on 15 plays with Keiser hauling in an 11-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Tavian Willis with 8:11 to go before halftime.
            A Wayne State interception late in the first half gave BSU the ball at their own seven yard line and the Beavers closed the half marching 93 yards, culminated by a six-yard pass from Alt to Bryce Duffy giving Bemidji State a 21-14 lead at halftime.
            The turning point in the contest came on the first two Wildcat possessions of the third quarter as WSC fumbled the ball on both series that resulted in two Bemidji State touchdowns allowing the Beavers to take control of the game.
            The first BSU score came on a 40-yard scoring strike from Alt to Duffy at the 13:23 mark and the second touchdown came on a 14-yard scoring pass from Alt to Peters at the 10:05 mark that quickly increased the Bemidji State lead to 35-14.
            Early in the fourth quarter, Bemidji State used a Mason Hoffer 27-yard field goal to take a 38-14 advantage with 10:25 to play.
            Wayne State scored on the ensuing drive as Willis fired a seven-yard scoring pass to Trystn Ducker, cutting the Bemidji State lead to 38-22 following a two-point conversion run by Taurean Grady with 8:31 to go.
            The Wildcat defense forced Bemidji State to punt on two straight possessions and scored late in the game as WSC drove 67 yards on six plays and found the end zone on a six-yard strike from Willis to Ducker trimming the Beaver lead to 38-28 with 1:39 remaining to close the scoring.
            Bemidji State held a 565-425 edge in total offense over the Wildcats.  The Beavers had 447 yards passing and 118 on the ground while WSC rushed for 222 yards and gained another 203 through the air.
            Freshman running back Jacob Keiser led the WSC rushing attack with 77 yards on 15 attempts and one score.  Tavian Willis added 60 yards on 12 carries.
            Willis completed 16 of 29 passes for 203 yards and three scores with one interception.  Trystn Ducker had a team-high six catches for 64 yards and two TD's followed by Mason Lee with five receptions for 96 yards.
            Junior linebacker Nicholas Joynt had 14 tackles to lead the WSC defense followed by freshman linebacker Alex Kowalczyk with 11.  Jaylan Scott was credited with an interception while CJ Burress had a fumble recovery.
            Penalties also hurt both teams as WSC was flagged 11 times for 118 yards and Bemidji State 10 times for 77 yards.  Wayne State's three turnovers resulted in 21 Bemidji State points while the Beavers had two turnovers in the game.
            Wayne State will be at home next Saturday evening hosting Minot State in the Family Day Game at 6 p.m. at Bob Cunningham Field.