When: Saturday, Sept. 18
Where: Bemidji, Minn.
Time: 1:30 p.m.
Location: River Falls, WI 54022
Enrollment: 5,800
Head coach: John O'Grady (16th season 85-60-3 overall record)
(best time to reach O'Grady is early mornings, phone: 715/425-3135)
Assistant coaches: Kevin Bullis, Jamie Herrick
National affiliations: National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Div. III
Conference: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Conference members: Eau Claire, La Crosse, Oshkosh, Platteville, River Falls, Stevens Point, Stout, Superior, Whitewater
Nickname: Falcons
Colors: Red and White
WIAC championships: (18) 1915, 1916, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1933, 1938, 1947, 1958, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1998
Offensive formation: Wishbone
Defensive formation: 4-4
2004 overall record: 0-1-0
2004 conference record: 0-0-0
2003 overall record: 2-7-0
2004 conference record: 2-5-0
Home field, phone: Ramer Field (4,300) press box phones, 715/425-3746 and 715/425-3369
Trainer: Gary Eloranta 715/425-3130
Sports information director: Jim Thies 715/425-3846
Web site: http://www.uwrf.edu/sports/sports0405
Football web site: http://www.uwrf.edu/sports/sports0405/fb_menu.htm
Sports information fax: 715/425-4486

Falcons Play at BSU on Saturday
The Falcon football team (0-1 overall) plays on the road against another Div. II opponent this week at Bemidji State.

The Falcons will travel to Bemidji for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff on Saturday. Both teams are coming off losses last week. UWRF lost on the road at D-II Concordia-St. Paul (47-25) while the Beavers dropped to 2-1 with a 50-43 loss at Chadron State.

The Falcons will look to improve in many areas including hanging on to the football. River Falls put the ball on the turf six times last Saturday, losing five. The RF defense will have to improve on a performance that yielded 263 rushing and 242 passing yards for a total of 505 yards and 47 points.

There is good and bad news for the Falcon defense this week. The good news is that they don’t have to face Concordia’s all time leading passer James McNear, who put up 164 yards and one touchdown through the air and 150 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Instead they face Bemidji State’s Nathan Sannes who was 34-56 for 500 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions against Chadron and has thrown for a total of 886 yards this season. The good news about Sannes is that he is not the running threat that McNear was. Sannes has run the ball 29 times for only 60 yards (3.1 avg.) this year.

More bad news this week is that River Falls has to stop a Beaver offense that has scored 40 or more points in each of its last five games and set a new single game school record with 658 total yards against Chadron. The Bemidji offense averages 547.7 yards a game, 298.3 in the air and 249.3 on the ground.

The Beavers are an explosive first half team, scoring 85 of their 134 total points in the first two quarters this season. The Bemidji offense is similar to the Falcons in the fact that they dominate time of possession. Both teams average having the ball for over 10 minutes more than their opponents.

The Falcon offense faces a Bemidji defense that gave up its most points since 2002 last week (50) and has allowed over 30 points in two out of three games this year. The River Falls offense started fast last week scoring a touchdown on its first possession. This week it’s going to be tough to start fast considering that the Beaver defense has only given up 12 points in the first quarter all season.

Against Concordia the Falcons ran the ball 75 times for a total of 404 yards (5.4 per carry) and threw it seven times for 87 yards. Bemidji gives up 192 rushing yards per game with a 5.8 average per carry. River Falls rotated the quarterback position between sophomore Andy Kolstad and freshman Dave Affeldt. Both played solid except for fumbles. Kolstad fumbled three times, losing two and Affeldt lost his only fumble. Affeldt had a 23-yard touchdown run to go along with 69 yards on 13 carries and 24 yards on 2-2 passing. Kolstad ran 14 times for 49 yards and was 3-4 for 63 yards in the air. Senior running back John Peterlik showed his all around ability by leading River Falls in rushing and receiving. Peterlik had 150 rushing yards on 26 carries with one touchdown and four receptions for 41 yards.

If the game comes down to a field goal River Falls has the statistical advantage. Sophomore kicker Spazimir Bodurski is one for two. Bodurski made and missed from 37 yards; the make was from the left hashmark while the miss was hooked wide left from the middle.

Bemidji State freshman kicker Michael McDonald had his only field goal attempt of the season blocked from 39 yards away. McDonald has had more success on kickoffs averaging 50.4 yards per kick with one touchback. Punting statistically favors the Beavers. freshman punter Adam Noble has an average of 40.2 yards per punt and a long of 50. Noble has punted for three touchbacks. It only favors Bemidji because Falcon sophomore Jovin Kroll has had only one punt that went 32 yards and was downed at the one.

Mike Nordyke leads the Beavers in kick and punt returns averaging 24.4 yards per kick return and 9.8 yards per punt return. Nordyke’s longest kick return this season has been 48 yards and his longest punt return was 28 yards.

John O'Grady
85-60-3 overall record
1-1-0 vs. Bemidji State

Defense
E
9 Josh Meyer 5-9 246 Sr. Darien, WI/Delavan-Darien
64 Mike Larson 6-0 240 So. Durand, WI
T
58 Aaron Retzlaff 6-2 285 Jr. Shawano, WI
57 Dylan Dabrowski 6-3 240 Fr. Somerset, WI
E
96 Josh Graham 6-3 225 Jr. Wausau, WI/East
94 Jeff Cassellius 6-4 215 Jr. Boyceville, WI/Glenwood City
LB
17 Ben Gillett 6-2 210 Sr. Rosendale, WI/Laconia
47 Steve Arcand 6-0 215 Jr. Clear Lake, WI
LB
38 Nate Gray 6-0 240 Sr. Fond du Lac, WI/St. Mary's Springs
34 Tony Dorner 5-11 225 Fr. Green Bay, WI/East
LB
48 Dan Buker 5-11 230 So. Waseca, MN
45 Jon Haughian 5-10 210 Sr. Rice Lake, WI
WS
7 Matt Farmer 6-0 180 Sr. Tomahawk, WI
14 Joshua Barney 5-11 205 Jr. Clear Lake, WI
SS
27 O'Neal Hampton 5-8 185 So. Richfield, MN
97 Bruce Baillargeon 6-0 185 Fr. Somerset, WI
CB
13 Matt Jordan 5-7 165 So. Thorp, WI
81 Clint Christy 5-10 175 So. Tomah, WI
FS
32 Kyle Hoegh 6-0 205 Sr. Byron, MN
39 Bob Nesvig 5-10 189 So. Gaylord, MN/Sibley East
CB
23 Roman Johnson 5-9 155 Jr. Clearwater, FL
22 Mike Johnson 5-8 165 Fr. Danube, MN/Renville County West

Special Teams
Punt Returns
23 Roman Johnson 5-9 155 Jr. Clearwater, FL
28 John Peterlik 5-7 195 Sr. Cadott, WI
Kick Off Returns
23 Roman Johnson 5-9 155 Jr. Clearwater, FL
28 John Peterlik 5-7 195 Sr. Cadott, WI
Punter
16 Jovin Kroll 6-0 175 So. Poplar, WI/Northwestern
Place Kicker
44 Spasimir Bodurski 5-11 230 So. Cannon Falls, MN/Randolph
Snapper
82 Brad Malpert 6-0 263 Sr. Ringle, WI/D.C. Everest
58 Aaron Retzlaff 6-2 285 Jr. Shawano, WI
Holder
16 Jovin Kroll 6-0 175 So. Poplar, WI/Northwestern

This Week's WIAC Games
Saturday, Sept. 18
River Falls at Bemidji, Minn., 1:30 p.m.
La Crosse at South Dakota, 2 p.m.
Platteville at Drake, Iowa, 1 p.m.
Albion, Mich., at Oshkosh, 1 p.m.
Linfield, Ore., at Stevens Point, 1 p.m.
Lakeland at Whitewater, 6 p.m.

Series Results
1998 River Falls 45, Bemidji 14