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4/22/2010 - FOOTBALL Defense earns Green/White Game victory, 48-29

BEMIDJI, Minn. (Chet Anderson Stadium) - The Bemidji State University football team concluded its 15-session 2010 spring season Thursday with its annual Green/White game.  The ‘Gang Green’ defense forced a pair of turnovers and allowed its counterpart just 249 yards of total offense to gain the 48-29 spring game victory for the fourth time in the last five seasons.

Dusty Sluzewicz (Jr., DB, Homer Glen, Ill.) paced the defensive unit with four tackles and a quarterback sack while Alex Mock (Jr., LB, Williston, N.D.) posted two stops and a sack, Brody Scheff (Jr., DB, Waconia, Minn.) registered an interception and Garrett Lee (So., DL, Otsego, Minn.) picked up a fumble.

Lance Rongstad (So., QB, Eleva, Wis.) led the White Team on a pair scoring drives, completing nine of 16 pass attempts for 103 yards with an interception in addition to 19 rushing yards.  Redshirt freshman quarterback Larry Miller (Fr., QB, Dallas, Tex.) paced the Beavers’ ground game piling up 65 yards on two carries, which included a 65-yard scamper that led to BSU’s second touchdown of the game.  Christian Metz (So., WR, Cambridge, Minn.) added four yards on the ground and hauled in four passes for a game-high 66 yards and score.

After four failed drives and a penalty, the offense found itself in a 10-2 hole after the first quarter of play.  But Rongstad went three-for-three and racked up 60 yards through the air, including a six-yard pass to Nate Solors (Jr., FB, Elk River, Minn.), to give the offense its first and only lead of the game, 11-10, after a Jesse Sundby (Jr., K/P, Argyle, Minn.) extra point sailed through the uprights.

Gang Green responded by forcing a quick three-and-out to reclaim the lead, 12-11, and made a  goal line stand to turn the tide for good.

After letting L. Miller slip for a 65-yard scamper to give the offense a first-and-goal from the two yardline, Jordan Lardinois (Sr., DE, New Franken, Wis.) sniffed out a bootleg to push White back 10 yards and Scheff stepped in front of an errant Rongstad pass to take a 24-13 lead into halftime.

The defense se the tone early in the second half forcing a three-and-out as the third quarter got underway, but Rongstad led the White squad to its second touchdown on its next drive.  Buoyed by a 34-yard pass interference penalty on a third-and long, Brad Hemling (So., RB, Richland Center, Wis.) ran for 12 yards on three carries before Rongstad connected with Metz from 23 yards out to come within six points of the Green, 30-24, before the quarter came to a close.  

But the defense tightened the clamps in the fourth to cruise to the victory.

Green collected three sacks and scooped up a fumble during the final four drives, while BSU’s offense managed just three first downs and ran out of plays in the final quarter.

BSU uses a unique scoring system for its annual spring scrimmage. The game is divided into four 15-play quarters, with play allowed to continue beyond 15 plays if the offense is driving. The offense is awarded one point for a first down, six points for a touchdown, one point for an extra point, three points for a field goal and two points for a penalty against the defense. The defense can score two points for preventing the offense from gaining a first down or a missed field goal, six points for a turnover and two points for a penalty against the offense.

BSU head coach Jeff Tesch, who is in his 15th season at the helm of the Beaver football program, returns 11 starters on the offensive side of the ball, which includes First-Team All-NSIC quarterback Derek Edholm (Sr., Anoka, Minn.) and eight starters on a defense led by Lardinois, a First-Team All-NSIC defensive lineman.

Bemidji State finished the 2009 campaign with an 8-3 overall record and a 7-3 mark in league play to finish third in the NSIC North Division. The team’s eight wins marks the fifth time in 14 seasons under the tutelage of Tesch that a BSU team has accumulated at least eight victories in a season. In the 70 seasons prior to Tesch’s arrival, Bemidji State recorded just one eight-win campaign.

The Beavers open the 2010 campaign Thursday, Aug. 26 when they travel to Minot, N.D. to battle Minot State University in a nonconference tilt.  The 13th annual Beaver Bash is slated for a 7 p.m. start at MSU’s Herb Parker Stadium.

Box score (unofficial)
Passing (c-a-yds-int-td): Rongstad 9-15-103-1-2, L. Miller 2-4-19-0-0, Edholm 0-3-0-0-0.  Rushing (att-yds-td): L. Miller 2-65-0, Hemling 11-22-0, Rongstad 2-19-0, Wakefield 1-12, Kroeplin 5-11-0, Haas 1-5, Metz 2-4-0, Solars 2-3-0, Edholm 1(-3). Receiving (rec-yds-td): Metz 4-66-1, Schultz 1-35-0, Plain 2-21-0, Leonhardt 1-19-0, Dale 1-7-0, Solors 1-6-1, Gandrud 1-6-0, Wakefield 1-5-0, Duncan 1-0-0. Tackles: Beste 5, G. Miller 5, Olds 5, Wright 5, Kelly 4, Bromm 3, Crosby 3, J. Johnson 3, Schmidt 3, Sluzewicz 3, Watkins 3, Young 3, Belinger 2, Christensen 2, S. Johnson 2, Knutson 2, Mock 2, Sczepanski 2, Shaver 2, Stoffel 2, Syrstad 2, Wills 2, Zimmerman 2.  Sacks: Mock 1, Sluzewicz 1, Syrstad 1, Watkins 1. Fumble Recoveries: G. Lee 1. Interceptions: Scheff 1.

--bsu--