ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington football team's (8-3) season marches on into the second round of the NCAA Division II Football Playoffs this Saturday as they head to The Land of 10,000 Lakes to take on the Bemidji State Beavers (9-2) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time from Chet Anderson Stadium. 
 
LINKS
 
NSIC Network (PPV): HERE
Live Stats: HERE
Tickets: HERE
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
The Wildcats grinded out a 16-13 overtime victory over the second-seeded and 10^th-nationally ranked Western Colorado Mountaineers in the first round of the playoffs on the road. The victory was the Wildcats first playoff victory since they defeated Tarleton State 27-6 in the second round of the playoffs to advance to the regional final where they fell 21-20 to eventual national champion Northwest Missouri State. 
 
McGill set new career-highs in his young career, guiding the 'Cats through the air after injuries to the running game. He completed 24 of his 47 pass attempts for 277 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. McGill connected with Darius Morrison who put up arguably the best wide receiver performance of the season for the crimson and black recording nine receptions for 118 yards and two touchdowns. Cameron Daniels took over the running game for the 'Cats and posted 81 yards, recording a 17-yard rush as his longest of the game. 
 
Brett McCalla led the Wildcat defense with 10 tackles and added in 1.5 tackles for loss. Brett Accimus and Tanner Volk each followed with eight tackles with Accimus also mustering 1.5 tackles for loss and a pass breakup while Volk added a tackle for loss and added to his NCAA-leading interceptions, recording his 12^th of the season. Josiah Cochran recorded one of his two tackles as the Wildcats lone sack, while Patrick Rogers and Dominic Wieburg tacked on five and four tackles with each recording a pass breakup. 
 
Dan Stewart finished the game punting seven times for 282 yards and an average of 40.3 yards per punt while two landed in the Mountaineers 20-yard line. Josh Jones nailed the game-tying field goal of 28-yards as his only attempt on the day to force overtime. Jones also had three kickoffs and converted his only point after touchdown attempt on the day. 
 
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
 
Bemidji State started out their season 4-0 posting victories over Northern State (49-13), Southwest Minnesota State (34-14), Winona State (36-10), and Mary (41-10). The Beavers fell to fellow NCAA Tournament participant Minnesota State Mankato in a tight 24-27 home game before bouncing back by rattling off four more victories: 33-23 over Wayne State (Neb.), 38-3 over Concordia-St. Paul, 38-31 over 25^th-ranked Minnesota Duluth, and 27-14 over Minnesota State Moorhead. BSU ended the regular season on a sour note, falling to fellow second round participant Augustana by a 38-19 score on the road. BSU responded by showing the Texas Permian Basin Falcons the door in the first round on the road in gritty fashion by a 10-3 score. 
 
"They're a complete team," CWU Head Football Coach Chris Fisk said. "Their quarterback is a two-time Harlon Hill finalist, a really really good player. The guy that recruited him to play at Bemidji State, actually played quarterback for me at the University of Mary, so there's a little bit of lineage between us and BSU. He's a dynamic player, he can make plays with his feet, he has some really really good arm talent, on top of the fact that they have a great running game with a solid offensive line with really capable receivers. They're just another really good team going against our defense this week, offensively speaking."
 
The Wildcats will once again face a dynamic quarterback in Brandon Alt, a two-time Harlon Hill finalist that will surely be in the conversation once again this season. Alt has completed 213 of his 353 passes on the season for 2,760 yards and 25 touchdowns while only throwing seven interceptions on the season. Alt's favorite target has been Dhel Duncan-Busby who's had 47 of those completions for an impressive 755 yards and 10 touchdowns, including the season-long reception of 75-yards. By no means is Duncan-Busby alone as Jake Hill has racked up 38 receptions for 455 yards and two touchdowns, and Brice Peters has made 28 completions for 379 yards and six touchdowns. BSU has a two-headed monster at running back in the former running back for NSIC-rival the Minot State Beavers, Ali Mohamed who's had 112 rushes for 492 yards and seven touchdowns. Joining Mohamed is Sage Booker who's had 89 rushes for 481 yards and five touchdowns. 
 
The Beavers defense spreads the wealth with six Beavers recording 40 or more tackles on the season, led by Max Buduris. Buduris has 59 tackles, seven tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, one interception, 10 pass breakups, and 2 quarterback hurries. Jarrett Klein has accumulated 51 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, one interception, two pass breakups, one quarterback hurry, and two forced fumbles while Spencer Wehr has made 50 tackles on the season, seven tackles for loss, two interceptions, four pass breakups, one quarterback hurry, and one fumble recovery. Stephen Hoffman has made 46 tackles on the season with 12.5 tackles for loss including 5.5 sacks, also adding in five pass breakups, three quarterback hurries, one fumble recovery, and one blocked kick. Marcus Hansen knows how to get into the backfield with 18 of his 45 tackles coming for a loss, 10 of which were sacks. Hansen has also made seven quarterback hurries, three forced fumbles, and blocked one kick. Cole Sorby is the last Beaver with 40 tackles or more with 40 even on the season, three tackles for loss, one interception, and one quarterback hurry to his season. 
 
"Defensively, I think you just saw in the score against UTPB just what they're capable of defensively," Fisk said. "To hold that UTPB offense to just three points. Permian Basin had opportunities to score, they were in the red zone plenty of times to be able to win that game so, that red zone defense really showed up for Bemidji. If you look back and really look at the history of Bemidji's football program, that's been a very good football program for a long time. They've had some really good years and are on a heck of a run right now, I think this is their third consecutive year in the playoffs. I have a ton of respect for that program, when I coached in the Northern Sun, they were always a tough and physical program, and they've maintained that same mentality to today."