BEMIDJI, Minn. (Chet Anderson Stadium) - Bemidji State built third-quarter leads of 31-0 and 38-6, then held off a furious rally and held off the Northern State Wolves, 45-33, in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football showdown this afternoon.

Bemidji State built a 31-0 lead with 13:28 to play in the third quarter after Alvaro Carvajal (San Francisco, Calif.) recovered his own fumble in the end zone for BSU’s fourth touchdown of the afternoon.

The teams then traded touchdowns over the next five minutes, with Northern State breaking up the shutout on a 64-yard catch-and-run from John Russell to Wade Ginsbach with 11:12 to play in the period, and BSU quarterback Nathan Sannes (Fertile, Minn.) scrambled in from a yard out with 8:46 to go in the third after a fumbled punt attempt gave the Beavers the ball at the Wolf four-yard line. The Sannes score and Michael McDonald’s (Muskegon, Mich.) ensuing extra point put BSU on top, 38-6.

From there, however, the Wolves would assemble a furious rally behind the passing of Russell and get as close as 11 points before BSU shut the door on the rally and escaped with the victory.

Russell hit Turner Johnson from five yards out to cap a 10-play, 45-yard drive, and Johnson scored again from 25 yards out on an option pass from wide receiver Greg Agho with 3:06 to play, pulling the Wolves within 38-20.

Ginsbach scored from 28 yards out with 12:21 to play in the fourth quarter, an the extra point pulled the Wolves to within 11 points, 38-27.

BSU crushed the rally by assembling a six-play, 62-yard drive capped by a 27-yard Carvajal run with 10:12 to play. Northern State answered with a 22-yard pass from Russell to Ginsbach with 8:26 to play, but fumbled on the third play of their next drive to effectively kill the rally.

The Wolves assembled one final desperation drive, putting together an 18-play, 76-yard marathon which ended when BSU’s Zach Christ (Buffalo, Minn.) broke up a Russell fourth-down pass in the end zone.

Russell completed 22-of-44 passes for 325 yards and four touchdowns in the second half alone. For the game, he was 30-of-54 for 362 yards and the four scores with two interceptions.

Ginsbach finished with 13 receptions for 223 yards and three touchdowns. He is the first receiver to go over 200 yards against a Bemidji State defense since Winona State’s Chris Samp on Oct. 9, 2004.

Carvajal had another strong outing for Bemidji State. He rushed for 65 yards on 13 carries and scored three touchdowns, his third three-touchdown game in BSU’s last four starts.

Sannes struggled to his worst day as BSU’s starter, completing 9 of 22 passes for 106 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Sannes was 0-for-5 and threw both interceptions during the third quarter; the Wolves converted both picks into touchdowns to help spark their rally.

Sannes also rushed for 34 yards and scored two touchdowns on the ground.

Northern State ran 85 plays, and four BSU defenders ended the day with 10 or more tackles. Jeremiah Johnson (Glidden, Iowa) led the way with 13, while Christ and Ben Baratto (Crosby-Ironton, Minn.) had 12 and 11, respectively. Chris and Baratto also broke up two passes each. Northern State’s Stephon Betts had a game-high 14 tackles, including eight solo stops.

The victory leaves BSU one game behind Concordia-St. Paul for second place in the NSIC standings with two games to play, although the Golden Bears hold the head-to-head tiebreaker. The NSIC’s second-place team represents the conference in the Excelsior Springs Mineral Water Bowl, pitting the NSIC against the second-place team from the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletics Association.

Bemidji State wraps up the home portion of its 2005 schedule against Minn. State-Moorhead on Saturday, Oct. 29. Opening kickoff from Chet Anderson Stadium for the annual “Battle for the Axe” traveling trophy rivalry is set for 1:30 p.m. Central time. The Battle Axe is the fourth-oldest traveling trophy in NCAA Division II football, as the Beavers and Dragons have battled for the trophy each year since 1948. BSU has won the Battle Axe each of the last five years, its longest streak since the 1950s.

NOTES: Nathan Sannes has thrown a touchdown pass in 19 consecutive games... Michael McDonald kicked a career-long 35-yard field goal in the second quarter.