RV/24 Beavers travel to No. 10 Mountaineers for second round of NCAA playoffs

Football looks to bring home its first ever NCAA Playoff Second Round victory Saturday

RV/24 Bemidji State University Football travels to No. 10 Western Colorado University this weekend for the second round of the NCAA Playoffs. The game is available for streaming on ESPN+ and will be broadcasted on the Beaver Radio Network.

The Beavers, who are now 9-3 this season after last weekend’s first-round win, are meeting the Mountaineers for the first time in the history of the two teams.

Bemidji State advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division II Football Championship Playoffs last Saturday after defeating No. 16/15 Angelo State University 24-14 in San Angelo, Tex.

The Beavers’ run game and defense dominated the Rams with BSU taking 231 yards on the ground and allowing just 93.

Bemidji State earned two of its three touchdowns from its rushing efforts, including a 59 yarder from Connor Carver, the first touchdown of his career.

Hitting 1,000 yards this season, Brice Peters caught three passes from Sam McGath to grab 31 yards and propel himself over the 1K receiving-yards milestone.

Kicking specialist Connor Mantelli tied his career longest field goal kick at 47 yards, giving Bemidji State a 17-7 edge over Angelo State early in the fourth quarter.

The Beavers are led defensively by a bevy of student athletes with 40 or more total tackles. Colton Hinrichs leads the defensive front with 66 total tackles, followed by Marco Cavallaro, Jacob Drietz and Marcus Hansen each with 52.

Hansen leads the team in tackles for a loss and sacks with 13.5 TFL (65 yd) and 7.5 sacks (46 yd). He has also marked the team high in quarterback hurries with 18.

The leading rusher for BSU is Jayden Washington with 744 yards and four rushing touchdowns. In just his sophomore season, Washington is just one yard away from hitting the 1,000 career-rushing-yards mark.

Connor Mantelli leads Beaver kicking specialists in points scored with 36. He is in third place on the team behind starting wide receiver Bubba Peters and quarter back Sam McGath.

The winner of this match will go on to the Elite 8 quarterfinal round and take on the winner of the Colorado State University Pueblo versus Minnesota State University Mankato game. Those that advance past the quarterfinals will be reseeded ahead of the semifinal round.