BEMIDJI, Minn. – Despite a near-200-yard team rushing performance, Concordia-St. Paul (2-6, 1-6 NSIC) wasn't able to overcome three blocked punts and three interceptions, falling 38-3 on the road to #15 Bemidji State (6-1, 6-1 NSIC) on Saturday afternoon at Chet Anderson Stadium.
 
With their only set of back-to-back road games of the season now in their rearview mirror, Concordia will return home next Saturday, October 28 for a noon kickoff against Northern State (3-4, 3-4 NSIC). The Wolves are facing Wayne State this evening in their week eight contest.
 
Concordia junior running back Jaylin Richardson produced his fourth 100-yard rushing performance and third in the last four weeks with 22 carries for 112 yards to lead the Golden Bear ground game. He was aided by sophomore Daniel Hornacek with six carries for 59 yards, a long run of 41 and an average of 9.8 per carry.
 
Richardson now has 730 rushing yards at 5.1 per carry on the season while Hornacek increases his average to 8.0 yards per rush (34-271) in his change-of-pace role to Richardson.
 
The Golden Bears nearly topped 200 rushing yards against a Bemidji State defensive front that has only yielded 100 or more rushing yards to three opponents as the Golden Bears join Winona State (36-148) and Minnesota State (43-295) as teams to have success on the ground against BSU.
 
Meanwhile, BSU countered with 223 team rushing yards on 40 attempts with three touchdowns while the CSP secondary held standout quarterback Brandon Alt to 114 yards and two touchdowns (10-16).
 
Concordia also kept the ball out of Alt's hands with a 35:16 to 24:44 time of possession advantage despite going 1-17 on third downs, adding a 50 percent success rate (4-8) on fourth down.
 
While the ground game was activated for Concordia, Bemidji State capitalized on big plays in the special teams, blocking three first-quarter punts which led to 19 points including two scoring drives of one play for four and six yards, respectively for the host Beavers.
 
In the second quarter, the Beavers used a pair of interceptions on back-to-back drives to shift momentum and scoring chances, the first being a pick-six for a 10-yard touchdown and a 31-0 lead, followed by an interception in the final minute of the half to negate Hornacek's 41-yard run that put Concordia in scoring position, with the interception ending the drive at the BSU 18-yard line.
 
In the third quarter, Concordia got on the scoreboard with a season-long 42-yard field goal by Payton Eue as CSP drove 35 yards on 12 plays, taking 5:42 off the clock. Eue is now 8-of-11 on the season, and he had a pair of kickoffs for touchbacks in the game.
 
The field goal came with 40 seconds to play in the third quarter and was CSP's second-to-last drive of the day. CSP's final drive was perhaps its best, despite coming up empty on fourth down, the Golden Bears used 16 plays to drive 70 yards in over seven minutes (7:10) as their final two drives of the day combined for 28 plays, 105 yards, and 12:52 of time, ball control momentum they can bring into week nine against Northern State.
 
While CSP had an imposing day on the ground, the pass game had a hard time breaking through against the Beavers. Redshirt freshman Reed Styer picked up his first career start, becoming the ninth freshman to start a game in Concordia's Division II-era (1999-present). He completed 6-22 for 22 yards while adding 3-19 rushing including a 17-yard first down scamper in the first quarter. He was sacked once and intercepted three times.
 
Junior third-year incumbent starter Conner Cordts came on in relief in the third quarter, completing 5-11 for 42 yards with a long of 19 yards to Troy Ellison, and added 7-15 rushing while being sacked twice.
 
Ellison led CSP's receivers with four catches for 34 yards while Drew Enke added 3-19. The duo was targeted 15 times.
 
Redshirt freshman safety Machai Campbell led Concordia's defense with eight tackles, all solo stops, while Jawon Carr, Carter Otto, and Javon Jones each had a tackle for loss, and safety Cyrus McClure had a pair of pass breakups including one in the end zone. Defensive lineman Islee Cassidy forced and recovered a fumble in the first quarter, as well.