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MARSHALL, Minn.: Bemidji State rallied from a 14-12 halftime deficit by scoring 18 unanswered points in the final half to earn a 30-14 victory over Southwest Minnesota State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play on Saturday night in Marshall.

The victory for BSU (2-1 overall, 1-1 NSIC) was its 11th straight over SMSU (2-1, 1-1 NSIC) dating back to the 1998 season.

BSU earned the victory with a dominating performance in the third quarter, with the offense scoring 16 straight points, while the Beaver defense limited SMSU to just 44 total yards in the quarter.

BSU racked up 401 yards of offense in the game, including 218 rushing yards. Dustin Kroeplin led the Beaver offense with 96 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 18 carries. BSU quarterback Derek Edholm completed 14 of 25 pass attempts for 183 yards and one touchdown.

SMSU was limited to 268 yards of offense, including just 31 rushing yards. Ryan Ratekin finished the game completing 19 of 37 pass attempts for 237 yards and two touchdowns, but was also intercepted twice and was sacked four times. Mustang running back Gannon Moore rushed for a team-high 38 yards on 15 attempts, while catching a team-high five passes for 75 yards and one touchdown.

SMSU's Nick DeCaneva led all players with 14 tackles, including three tackles for loss, two sacks and two forced fumbles. Joe Stupka added 11 stops for SMSU.

The Mustang defense set up the game's first points forcing a turnover on BSU's first offensive possession. Facing second and four from the BSU 30-yard line, Edholm was sacked by Nick DeCaneva, who stripped the ball loose with teammate Logan Van Dyke recovering the ball at the BSU 28-yard line.

SMSU took advantage and pushed across the game's first points as Ratekin tossed a 12-yard touchdown pass to Shane LaDage with nine minutes and 21 seconds left in the opening quarter to give SMSU a 7-0 lead.

BSU answered on its next possession marching 60 yards on just four plays with Lance Rongstad plowing in from five yards out to trim the lead to 7-6 with 8:09 left following a missed extra point.

The Beavers then took their first lead of the game on its next possession, starting from their own 36-yard line and moving 64 yards in eight plays capped by an Edholm 7-yard touchdown pass to Nate Solors. The two-point conversion attempt failed to keep the score at 12-7 with 32 seconds left in the half.

SMSU's offense struggled on its next two drives, with Ratekin intercepted on the first play of the second quarter and then a three-and-out on SMSU's next drive. The Mustang defense held its ground and forced BSU to turn the ball over on downs twice, including a sack and forced fumble by Randy Erickson to set up the Mustang offense at the SMSU 27-yard line.

The Mustang offense then put together its best drive of the evening moving 73 yards on 10 plays with Ratekin lofting a perfect pass to Moore from 21 yards out to push SMSU back in the lead at 14-12 with 1:50 left in the half.

BSU missed a 37-yard field goal attempt with 20 seconds remaining in the half to keep SMSU in the lead at 14-12 into halftime.

BSU started the second half at its own 49-yard line, but again the SMSU defense forced a three-and-out, keeping the momentum on the SMSU side, but it didn't last long. SMSU was forced to punt following three runs by Moore and BSU answered back taking the lead for good on its next drive.

Kroeplin took over rushing five times on BSU's next drive and scored from 13 yards out to give the Beavers a 20-14 lead following the two-point conversion.

The Beaver defense then forced another three-and-out and following a 38-yard punt return by Rogstad, BSU took over at the SMSU 36-yard line. Just six plays later, the Beavers pushed the lead to 14 points following Kroeplin's second touchdown run, this time from two yards out with 3:31 remaining in the third quarter to build the lead to 28-14.

The BSU defense then scored the game's final points early in the fourth quarter as BSU's Jordan Lardinois forced an intentional grounding by Ratekin in the end zone for a safety and push the margin to 30-14 with 8:04 left in the game.

BSU's defense held SMSU to just 40 yards of total offense on its first four possessions of the second half in building the 16-point lead.

SMSU did put together a drive on its next possession, moving from its own 12-yard line, down to the BSU 24-yard line, but three incomplete passes and a sack on fourth down ended the drive.

Southwest Minnesota State will continue conference play next Saturday with a road game at Augustana College (3-0, 2-0 NSIC) in Sioux Falls, S.D., starting at 1 p.m.