BOX SCORE

BEMIDJI, Minn. – Bemidji State rushed for 437 yards and earned its 12th straight win over Southwest Minnesota State with a 41-10 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference victory on Saturday night in Bemidji.

SMSU drops to 1-2 overall, 1-1 NSIC, while BSU improves to 3-0, 2-0 NSIC.

BSU finished the game with 515 yards offense and 31 first downs, while the Beaver defense, which ranks 13th in the country in rushing defense and 14th in scoring defense, limited SMSU to just 189 yards of total offense, including 40 rushing yards and 11 first downs.

Dustin Kroeplin rushed for a game-high 165 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries to pace the Beavers.

Gannon Moore led SMSU with 29 yards rushing on 10 attempts with one touchdown, while also catching a game-high five passes for 71 yards. Tyler Peschong finished the game 15 of 32 passing for 149 yards and one interception. Tyler Erickson caught four passes for 30 yards, while Cody Condon added three receptions for 29 yards.

Levi Reiff racked up a career-high 13 tackles, including 1.5 for loss to lead the SMSU defense. Mark Schollmeyer and Phil Breidall each finished with 12 tackles, which is career-highs for both players. Joe Stupka added nine stop and had one interception and one fumble recovery.

The game started on a sour note for the Mustangs as they were forced to punt on their opening possession and on the ensuing punt attempt a low snap was not handled by punter Mike Wenk and BSU took over at the SMSU 16-yard line. The Beavers took advantage of the miscue and scored three plays later on a 2-yard run by Dustin Kroeplin with 12 minutes and 28 seconds left in the quarter.

SMSU was forced to punt on its second possession, but on the BSU punt return, Tyler Tonderum forced a fumble and teammate Joe Stupka recovered at the BSU 42-yard line. The Mustang offense failed to take advantage and punted three plays later.

BSU then put together a 10-play, 88-yard drive and stretched the lead to 14-0 lead with 5:02 remaining in the opening quarter following a 5-yard touchdown run by Kroeplin.

SMSU answered back with its best drive of the half as Gannon Moore capped off an impressive 80-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown run with 12:32 on the clock to trim the BSU lead to 14-7. It was the 19th career touchdown for Moore, ranking fifth in school history.

The Mustang defense forced BSU to punt on the ensuing possession and SMSU's Dan Timm broke through and partially blocked the punt setting up SMSU at the BSU 33-yard line. SMSU moved the ball to the 12-yard line but the drive stalled and the Mustangs were forced to settle for a 29-yard field goal by Wenk with 8:45 remaining to cut the deficit to 14-10.

Bemidji was able to stop the Southwest Minnesota State momentum with two long scoring drives in the final 5:07 to build a 27-10 halftime lead.

The Beavers added two more touchdowns in the second half to put the game away and remain the only unbeaten team remaining in the conference.

Southwest Minnesota State will return home next weekend for homecoming and face Augustana College (0-3, 0-2 NSIC). Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. at Mattke Field at the Regional Event Center.