I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.
Nov. 1, 1998
By Devlyn Brooks
The Bemidji State Beavers football team recorded a legendary 48-18 win over Minnesota-Duluth Saturday at Chet Anderson Field, ending a winless streak versus the Bulldogs that began in the first year of Jimmy Carter's presidency.
BSU rushing sensation Chris Meyer racked up his fourth-ever 200-yard rushing game and six touchdowns -- tying a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference record -- in leading the Beavers (5-3) over the downward-spiraling Bulldogs (3-6).
"(We) won the war of the trenches, and that's how you beat Duluth," Beaver head coach Jeff Tesch said after the game. "When the momentum goes your way, things can snow ball. ... I (just) think we played a good, solid game all day."
UMD interim co-head coach Vince Repesh wasn't so philosophical about his team's performance.
"Was this the kind of game we expected? Was this the kind of season we expected? No," he said. "(Bemidji) didn't do anything we didn't expect them to do, except kicked our a--."
The Beavers, who looked strong from their opening defensive stand to their late fourth quarter touchdown pass by back-up quarterback Kyle Christianson, simply dominated.
The BSU offensive line was so effective, both in rushing and passing, that the Beavers averaged 6.7 yards per play. The defensive line was so dominant the Bulldogs garnered only 212 total yards, half of which came on two late drives.
"They jumped on us quick, and they jumped on us so hard we couldn't recover," Repesh said. "They didn't have a 10- or 11-play scoring drive all day. They scored in four or five. (We) can't win football games that way."
Well, it wasn't quite that quick, but it never too the Beavers more than nine plays to score any of their seven TDs.
After stuffing the Bulldogs in three on their first drive of the game, the Beavers promptly marched 54 yards to score on a 13-yard pass from quarterback Ben Morie to Meyer three and a half minutes into the game.
Bemidji then took its next possession, after stuffing Duluth in three again, for their second touchdown.
Meyer bounded to the outside for 15 yards, beating Duluth to the corner for his second TD.
On Bemidji's third possession, Meyer broke through the middle and then to the outside, outracing all 11 Bulldogs on the field for a 60-yard touchdown on the second play of the drive, making it a 20-0 game.
And so the rest of the game went, the Bulldogs faltering and the Beavers making them pay for their mistakes.
The Beavers had a 34-6 edge at halftime, with the other two scores coming on Meyer runs of 14 and one yard.
The brightest moment for UMD probably came late in the second quarter when linebacker Kris Crown hit Morie and popped the ball out of his hands into Bulldog Jeff Holubar's paws.
Holubar, a defensive end, then rumbled, as only a lineman can, 38 yards untouched for UMD's first score.
The Bulldogs' next TD would also come in the form of their defense, when defensive back Nick Larson intercepted a Morie pass and returned it 33 yards for a touchdown midway through the third.
That cut Bemidji's lead to 41-12.
Meyer's record-tying sixth touchdown also came in the third, when he punched in a basic dive from the Bulldog three yard line.
"My linebackers didn't do a very good job," Repesh said about Meyer's wild day. "I hate helping these guys' stats."
Comments