Bemidji State's Larry Miller closes in for a tackle Saturday at Upper Iowa. Photo via Upper Iowa University
The Bemidji State football team defeated Upper Iowa with a power running game in a 48-7 victory Saturday in Fayette.
The Beavers scored four touchdowns in the first 16 minutes, added two more touchdowns before halftime and rushed for 365 yards.
BSU running back Dustin Kroeplin rushed for 153 yards and three of Bemidji State’s six rushing touchdowns. Quarterback Lance Rongstad passed for 92 yards, rushed for 64 yards and ran for two touchdowns. Brandon Miles rushed for 56 yards and one touchdown.
Bemidji State’s defense limited Upper Iowa to 42 yards rushing and intercepted Upper Iowa quarterback Cole Jaeschke three times. Larry Miller had two interceptions. Dusty Sluzewicz had a team-high six tackles, an interception and a sack.
The Beavers bounced back from last week’s 26-23 loss to No. 10 Minnesota-Duluth and improved to 4-1 (3-1 NSIC) on the season. BSU returns home to Chet Anderson Stadium next Saturday to face Concordia-St. Paul in the homecoming game at 1 p.m.
Bemidji State controlled the clock with a consistent rushing attack to beat Upper Iowa 2-3 (1-3 NSIC). BSU controlled the ball for 40 minutes and averaged just over six yards per carry on 59 total running plays. Rongstad attempted just 14 passes and completed 10 for 92 yards.
The Beavers started fast when Kroeplin rushed for a 65-yard touchdown on BSU’s first offensive play of the game. Rongstad followed with a 15-yard touchdown and Kroeplin scored a two-yard touchdown for the last score of the first quarter to put BSU up 21-0.
Rongstad gave BSU a 28-0 advantage with a two-yard touchdown run on the opening play of the second quarter.
Jaeschke provided Upper Iowa’s only score on a 75-yard touchdown pass to Jessie Hubbard with 13:57 left in the second quarter. Upper Iowa had only 222 yards of total offense against the BSU defense.
Sluzewicz’s 54-yard interception return midway through the second quarter set up a 15-yard Miles touchdown and Kroeplin scored a three-yard touchdown run with 18 seconds to play to give BSU a 42-7 lead at halftime.
Kicker Zach Pulkinen kicked a 22-yard field goal in the third quarter and a 34-yarder in the fourth quarter for Bemidji State’s second half points.
Scoring Summary
BSU 21 21 3 3 – 48
UIU 0 7 0 0 – 7
First quarter
BSU- Kroeplin 65 run (Pulkinen kick), 14:43.
BSU- Rongstad 15 run (Pulkinen kick), 10:49.
BSU- Kroeplin 2 run (Pulkinen kick), 3:00.
Second quarter
BSU- Rongstad 2 run (Pulkinen kick), 14:53.
UIU- Jaeschke 75 pass to Hubbard (Sandoval kick), 13:57.
BSU- Miles 15 run (Pulkinen kick), 8:26.
BSU- Kroeplin 3 run (Pulkinen kick), :18.
Third quarter
BSU- Pulkinen 22 FG, 9:57.
Fourth quarter
BSU- Pukinen 34 FG, 5:04.
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Follow Eric Stromgren on Twitter at @estromgren and on Facebook.
