BEMIDJI, Minn. (Chet Anderson Field) - A seven-yard touchdown pass from Silas Fluellen to Frederic Bruno capped a 10-play, 67-yard drive to give Wayne State College its first lead of the game at 24-21 with just 1:23 remaining in the game. Despite a valiant effort on the ensuing possession, the Wildcats' Ren Bloomquist would intercept a desperation pass by Bemidji State University quarterback Cory Wardrope (So., Anchorage, Alaska) as time ran out.

The Wildcats scored 14 unanswered points to finish the fourth quarter and hand the Beavers their second NSIC loss in as many weeks.

WSC piled up a 2007 BSU opponent-high 388 yards of total offense, played the field position game and turned one of BSU's three turnovers into seven points to earn the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference victory.

The Beavers were the first to find the end zone as the team took the opening kick off and marched 64-yards in 10 plays as Erick Newman (Jr., RB, Naperville, Ill.) plunged into the end zone from two-yards out to give the Beavers an early 7-0 lead.

The Wildcats bounced back in the second stanza to even the score.

Just as the Beavers were making their way into WSC territory, Cole Fisher stepped in front of a Wardrope pass for one of the Wildcats three interceptions on the day. Four plays later Fluellen scampered around the corner and into the end zone from one-yard out to make it 7-7 going into the halftime break.

As the third quarter got underway, the Beavers were the beneficiaries of a Wildcat miscue.

Fluellen fumbled the exchange on the first play of the third quarter and Seth Iverson (Sr., DL, Hatton, N.D.) would pounce on the lose ball giving BSU the ball on the Wayne State 42-yard line.

BSU would use just 2:39 before James Moore (So., Houston, Tex.) scored his second touchdown of the season to put BSU up 14-7.

The Wildcats put together a sustained drive less than five minutes later to cut the lead to four (14-10) as Bryce Miller kicked a 37-yard field goal to cap a 10-play, 74-yard drive.

The Beavers would get on the board one last time as their 10-play, 63-yard drive would carry from the third quarter into the fourth and Wardrope would hit tight end John Larson (Sr., Little Fork, Minn.) with a 10-yard pass to extend their lead to 21-10. The touchdown reception was Larson's first as a Beaver.

But the fourth quarter would belong to Wayne State.

The Wildcats forced BSU to punt on each of its last two possession and turned two of those three change of possessions into touchdowns.

The visitors would score on an eight-yard pass from Fluellen to Bryan Chapman with 9:44 on the clock and would find the end zone again just over nine minutes later when on the Bruno catch-and-run.

On the day Wardrope was 12-of-21 for 126 yards and three interceptions. He also stood as BSU third-leading rusher with 40 yards on the ground. Moore rushed for a game-high 86 yards on 19 carries and Anthony Schreiber (Berkeley, Ill.) caught four balls for 71 yards.

Jeremiah Johnson (Sr., S, Glidden, Iowa) and Iverson led the BSU defense with 11 tackles apiece while Jason Kunz (Jr., S, Esko, Min. collected the Beavers lone interception.

For WSC, Fluellen complete 24 of his 38 pass attempts for 349 yards and two touchdowns. Logan Masters was on the receiving end of seven passes for 178 yards. and Travis Rhone scampered for 54 yards.

Wayne State improved to 4-3 on the year and 4-1 in NSIC play with the win as BSU falls to 4-3 overall and 3-2 in conference play.

The loss marks the second consecutive week the Beavers have come up short marking the first time since back-to-back losses Sept. 13 and 20, 2003.

The Beavers now hit the road to battle first-place Winona State University Oct. 20th. The games is set for a 3:30 p.m. at WSU's Maxwell Field. The game will be featured live on FSN North.

-bsu-