November 23rd, 2024 4:40pm
SAN ANGELO, Texas. – RV/24 Bemidji State University Football defeated No. 16/15 Angelo State University 24-14 for the Beavers fourth-straight NCAA Playoff first round win. The Beavers are the only team in the NCAA to earn a first-round win in each of the last four seasons.
Quarterback Sam McGath got things going late in the first quarter with a short five-yard rushing touchdown. His touchdown was set up by a huge 60-yard punt return from Drayton Lehman, plus a five-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on ASU, putting the Beavers at the five-yard line. Connor Mantelli added the PAT kick to make it a perfect 7-0 lead.
ASU tied things up around four minutes into the next frame on a one-yard, one-play drive caused by a blocked punt kicked by Mantelli that was recovered by Angelo State. BSU's next drive would end the tie after a Sam McGath to Brice Peters connection from the nine-yard line, ending a 14 play, 75-yard drive with a score of 14-7.
The third period sat scoreless, but things picked up in the final frame. Connor Mantelli tied his personal best field goal distance at 47 yards to give the Beavers the 17-7 upper hand. ASU answered back with a passing touchdown with just under six minutes remaining to pull within three. Finally, Beaver quarterback Connor Carver saw time in the second half of the game and proved he deserved to be on the field when he took home a 59-yard rush all the way into the endzone to cement the Beavers' lead and grab the win. This was Carver's first collegiate touchdown and the redshirt freshman grabbed 114 rushing yards on the day, leading the Beavers' run game.
Bemidji State's defense held Angelo State to just 93 yards on the ground and 138 through the air. Angelo State's did the opposite by keeping the Bemidji State passing game at just 31 yards and the ground attack at 231 for a grand total of 262 offensive yards. First downs were hard to come by for both programs, BSU marked 11 with seven rushing, two passing and two from penalties, while ASU had 13 with six each through the air and on the ground, plus one off a penalty. As a whole, the Beavers lost just eight yards total during rushing attempts, meanwhile the Gang Green Defense caused 35 for ASU.
In just his second game of his BSU career, Connor Carver led the charge with 114 rushing yards, a rushing touchdown and a long of 59 yards. He did not lose a single yard in his eight attempts. Jayden Washington followed Carver with 49 net rushing yards on ten attempts and Sam McGath marked 37 with a touchdown on 12 rushes.
The Beaver defense thrived under pressure, working tightly together to stop the Rams' offense from making much progress. BSU totaled seven tackles for a loss of 36 yards and four sacks for 30 yards. Angelo State's Braeden Fuller had not thrown an interception all season, that is until Bemidji State's Isaiah Johnson stepped onto the turf. Johnson grabbed two interceptions and marked 26 interception-return yards, plus a pass breakup and two tackles. Theodus Ringgold had his best game with seven total tackles, one solo and six assisted, plus two tackles for a loss of 20 yards and 1.5 sacks for 19. He also got a hand on one pass.
Drayton Lehman dominated the special-teams return game for BSU with four punt returns for 79 yards and his huge 60-yard return that set the Beavers up for a score. Landon Arends tallied five kickoffs for 299 yards, an average of 59.8 yards, and Connor Mantelli marked five punts for 180 yards, plus one made and one missed field goal kick and three point-after kicks.
Bemidji State now prepares to head to No. 10 Western Colorado State University next Saturday for the second round of playoffs. The second round will also be streamed on ESPN+ and will be broadcasted live on the Beaver Radio Network. More information on the game will be released in the coming week.