MOORHEAD, Minn. – A defensive fight was fought between two Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference teams on Saturday afternoon as Minnesota State University Moorhead hosted Bemidji State in the annual Battle of the Axe game. The Beavers came out with the close 14-6 win, retaining the Axe for the second straight year.

The historic Axe dates back to 1948 when the Dragons won the inaugural battle, winning once in the last three years. The overall Axe series record stands in MSUM's favor, 34-26-3.

The Beavers would get on the board first in the game, going up 7-0 just before halftime on an 8-1yard rive that took 6:01. Derek Edholm completed a pass to Justin Lee for 13 yards to put up six on the board and Jesse Sundby would tally the seventh point on the kick.

A nearly scoreless first half was highlighted by impressive defensive shows from both sides of the field. The Dragons defense started hot as they gave the offense the first shot at the ball as they recovered a fumble in Bemidji's first drive of the game.

In the second half, Bemidji would capitalize on a Dragon error to score again. A bad-snap on a fourth down to punter Patrick Haynes would result in the Beavers gaining field position in the red-zone. BSU would score on a seven yard rush by Dustin Kroeplin to go up 14-0.

The Dragons answered back on their ensuing possession as D.J. Elliott (Milwaukee, Wis.) returned the kickoff 61 yards to the Bemidji State 19-yard line to set-up the Dragons score. E'Boni Lucious-West (Country Club Hills, Ill.) ran in a 5-yard touchdown with 4:26 left in the third quarter to put the team within eight points. The extra point attempt was blocked.

The Dragon defense continued to be strong throughout the rest of the game as they forced BSU to give up the ball three times in the fourth quarter on downs. But, while the Dragon defense was hot, so was the Beaver's, as they forced two fumbles and caught an interception in the Dragon's final possession of the game to capture the win.

The Dragons move to 2-5 overall and 2-4 in the league, while the Beavers are now 4-3 overall and 3-3 in the NSIC.

Lucious-West led the Dragons on offense as he had 64 yards on the ground in 18 rushes. Tyrone Small III (Bellflower, Calif.) had 3 catches for 37 yards while Alex Leach (Pierz, Minn.) andBrandon Thompson (Oakland, Calif.) each ahd two catches for 36 and 34 yards, respectively.

Bryson Pluta (Winnipeg, MAN), filling in for Kevin Koch who was sidelined today, was 10-for-28 from the gun for 128 yards and had two interceptions.

Jake Larsen (Waupun, Wis.) led all tacklers in the game with 16, while Jeff Schuette (Plymouth, Minn.) and Max Pryor (Eden Prairie, Minn.) followed his lead with 12 and 11, respectively.

The Dragons will host Augustana (S.D.) on Oct. 23 in the State of Pink game, a breast cancer awareness event that is set to kick-off at 2 p.m.