MARSHALL, Minn. – Bemidji State University picked up its seventh straight victory scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter to pull away and earn a 34-15 win over Southwest Minnesota State University in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football on Saturday at The Schwan Regional Event Center.
 
BSU, which lost its first two games of the season by a combined four points, improves to 7-2 overall and keeps its NCAA playoff hopes alive. The Beavers, ranked among the top 10 in this week's NCAA region rankings, finished the game with 466 yards of offense on 82 plays and closed with 26 first downs.
 
SMSU dropped its fourth in a row to fall to 4-5 overall. The Mustangs started their third different quarterback on the season with John Romero completing 10 of 24 passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.
 
SMSU running back Jesse Sherwood rushed for a game-high 90 yards on 25 carries and in the process became the seventh Mustang in team history to reach 1,000 yards rushing in a single-season. He has amassed 1,041 yards on 180 carries in seven games he has played this season.
 
SMSU closed the game with 239 yards of offense with 15 first downs on 59 plays.
 
Josiah Hedensten led the Mustang defense with 13 tackles, while Alan Giron added nine tackles with seven solo stops. Onte Burns had eight tackles, including five solo stops, and has now racked up 199 solo tackles in his career ranking tied for first with Nate Rudolph (1996-99) for the school record.
 
BSU quarterback Brendon Alt completed 25 of 38 pass attempts for 359 yards and four touchdowns to pace the Beaver offense. Brendan Beaulieu caught a team-high 10 passes for 107 yards, while teammate Dhel Duncan-Busby caught five passes for 101 yards and two touchdowns. BSU began the game ranked No. 1 in Division II passing offense, fourth in total offense and second in third-down conversions.
 
BSU opened the game's scoring on its first possession of the game with Alt completing a 2-yard touchdown pass to Joey Baron at the 10:04 mark of the first quarter.
 
The SMSU defense forced BSU to turn the ball over on downs on its next two drives, before the Beavers closed a 9-play, 76-yard drive with 12:01 left in the second on a 21-yard field goal by Connor Cusick to make the score 10-0.
 
BSU would fail to score the remainder of the half, but the BSU defense limited SMSU to just 89 yards of offense in the opening half to take a 10-0 advantage into the break.
 
SMSU had a chance to cut into the deficit midway through the second quarter with a first down at the BSU 24-yard line but an unsportsmanlike penalty against the Mustangs helped stall the drive and Romero was later intercepted on 4^th and 15 from the BSU 29-yard line.
 
The Mustangs punted on their first drive of the second half and the Beavers would answer as Alt found Duncan-Busby for a 42-yard touchdown pass with 9:57 left in the third to extend the margin to 17-0.
 
BSU would push the lead to 20-0 with 3:22 in the third on a Cusick 23-yard field goal.
 
SMSU would keep the game close on its ensuing drive as Romero completed a 17-yard touchdown pass to Sherwood with five seconds left in the third quarter to trim the deficit to 20-7. Sherwood had a 20-yard run during the drive while Brye Hardel caught a key 24-yard pass on third-and-one just two plays before the Sherwood touchdown.
 
BSU countered with a key scoring drive on its next possession with Alt tossing a 5-yard pass to Duncan-Busby with 11:31 left in the game to push the lead to 27-7.
 
BSU took advantage of a high snap on an SMSU punt later in the fourth to add to the lead as Alt capped a 32-yard drive in four plays with a 13-yard pass to Baron midway through the quarter making the score 34-7.
 
The SMSU defense would force a turnover with just under two and a half minutes left in the game to set up the game's final touchdown. On the first play following the turnover, Romero connected with Hardel, who made a diving 21-yard touchdown reception with 2:19 left in the game. Romero closed the scoring with a two-point conversion pass to Albert Lemon to make the final score 34-15.
 
BSU finished the game 7 of 17 on third-down conversions and 1 for 3 on fourth-down, while SMSU was just 2 of 12 on third-down and 0 of 2 on fourth-down.
 
SMSU returns to NSIC South Division play next Saturday, Nov. 5, with a 12 p.m. kickoff at Minnesota State (8-2).