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All notes courtesy of SMSU athletics communications.
BEMIDJI, Minn. - Bemidji State used a pair of first half turnovers to score two touchdowns and build a 28-0 halftime advantage before earning a 38-0 victory over Southwest Minnesota State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football on Saturday at Chet Anderson Stadium.
The BSU defense was in control all game long, limiting SMSU to 57 yards on offense, seven first downs and 0 for 14 on third-down conversion attempts. The BSU defense also forced three turnovers and racked up eight sacks in shutting out SMSU for the second straight meeting in Bemidji.
BSU forced a fumble on SMSU's opening drive and recovered at the SMSU 15-yard line. Just one play later, the Beavers scored on a Jayden Washington 15-yard rush and never looked back in defeating the Mustangs for the 20th time in the last 21 meetings.
SMSU falls to 1-1 overall, 0-1 NSIC, while BSU earns its first victory of the season after suffering a two-point home loss to Michigan Tech in the season opener.
BSU closed the game racking up 456 yards of total offense on 80 plays and held a 41 to 19-minute time of possession advantage. The Beavers finished rushing for 163 yards, while three quarterbacks combined to throw for 293 yards.
Malachi Kohls recorded a career-high nine tackles for the Mustang defense, while Jett Olson added a career-high eight tackles. SMSU finished with three sacks, including the first career sacks for Julius Brown and JR Vierstraete.
Keegan Patterson forced SMSU's lone turnover of the game, intercepting a pass in the third quarter, for his second INT of the season.
SMSU's Macloud Crowton completed 4 of 15 passes for 17 yards and was intercepted once. Drew Kluender came in relief in the third quarter and completed 3 of 9 passes for 37 yards and one interception.
The Mustangs' Tryg Auten finished the game with a team-high four receptions for 32 yards.
BSU pushed the margin to 14-0 later in the first with Bart McAninch completing a 6-yard touchdown pass to Hudson Omoke with 4:10 on the clock.
McAninch would add a 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter before teammate Antonio Brown added a 12-yard touchdown run later in the quarter to push the margin to 28-0 heading into halftime.
McAninch completed 13 of 20 pass attempts for 191 yards and one touchdown to pace the Beavers.
SMSU returns home next Saturday, Sept. 12, facing Northern State (2-0 1-0 NSIC) for the annual 'Ag Bowl' game with kickoff slated for 5 p.m. at The Schwan Regional Event Center.