BEMIDJI, Minn. — The Axe is back in Moorhead! The Minnesota State University Moorhead football team held on for a thrilling 31-26 win over Bemidji State in action Saturday at Chet Anderson Stadium in Bemidji, Minn.

MSUM is now 7-3 overall — their best start since 1996 — and 5-1 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North Division. Bemidji State fell to 6-4 overall and 4-2 in the North.

"For us to win the Axe four out of the last six years against a quality program like Bemidji, it's pretty big," MSUM head coach Steve Laqua said. "It was a great team effort. We played through some injuries. It was a gritty performance. I don't know if I could be any more proud of this team than I am today."

There were several heroes in the win for MSUM.  Junior quarterback Bryce Meehl had the best day of his Dragon career, completing 28-of-33 passes for 424 yards and two scores. Sophomore receiver Jake Richter had a career-high 13 catches for a career-high 234 yards — just three yards away from the MSUM single game record — and two scores. Sophomore receiver Grady Bresnahan had seven catches for 137 yards.

"Bryce and Jake round a rhythm today," Laqua said. "We felt like they were stacking the box to take us out of our run game Bryce did a good job of taking what they gave him, whether it was throws to Jake or Grady or the other receivers."

Senior safety Aaron Doan had 12 tackles to lead the defense while senior linebacker Michael Strand had 10 tackles and a huge fumble recovery in the fourth quarter. Freshman defensive end Gerald Smith had 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble while sophomore defensive end Darius Woods-Steichen added another sack, forcing a fumble in the final two minutes to help seal the win.

MSUM was clinging to a 31-26 lead and Bemidji State had just recovered an onside kick with 2:12 left in the game. On the Beavers' first play, Woods-Steichen sacked BSU quarterback Alex Ogden and forced a fumble, which Strand recovered at the BSU 30-yard line.

"It was a game with a lot of big plays,' Laqua aid. "Certainly that was a huge one."

Sophomore running back Zach Simons, who rushed for two more scores, converted a first down with two 5-yard runs and MSUM ran out the clock from there.

BSU led 7-0 after one quarter but the Dragons scored twice in the second quarter to take a 14-7 lead into halftime. Richter caught a 10-yard pass from Meehl for one score while Simons rushed for a score in the final minute of the half. More importantly, the Dragon defense kept a high-powered Bemidji State attack in check by holding the Beavers to seven points.

Simons added another score early in the third to make it 21-7, giving MSUM 21 unanswered points. After a BSU score cut it to 21-13, Richter caught a 70-yard touchdown pass from Meehl — MSUM's longest scoring play this year — to make it 28-13.  Later, senior Joe Tjosvold kicked a key 32-yard field goal to make it a two-score game at 31-20 with 6:38 left.

"The defense played well in the first half and the offense played well in the second half," Laqua said.

Matthew Domek added a sack for MSUM. Junior linebacker Devante Delbrune had eight tackles and a half-sack.

MSUM hosts St. Cloud State at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7 to close the regular season.

Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game: Today's win means that the Dragons won all three traveling trophies in the same season for just the second time. The Dragons also won the Axe, Paddle and State Farm trophies in 2016.