Rubado: A jinx, deja vu and the thrills of watching Bemidji's game of the year
Sep. 30—If you're a person who believes in jinxes, allow me to offer you a sacrificial lamb.
In the fall of 2014, I made a short walk from the Bergsaker dorms on the campus of Augustana University to the grounds of Kirkeby-Over Stadium for my first NSIC football game.
I had a sports marketing internship during my first semester in college. My duties included anything from halftime activities to being the DJ for volleyball games. Augustana hosted Minnesota Duluth, who entered the matchup as the No. 2 Division II team in the country. The Vikings were looking to pull off a massive upset in their home opener in the second week of that season.
My first college football experience lived up to the hype. Augie led 16-6 with 12:49 left in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs tied the game with a touchdown pass and a field goal in the final six minutes.
UMD sustained its offensive momentum in overtime, scoring on three plays to take a 23-16 lead after the extra point. Augustana's try for the end zone was a little more of a struggle, but a fourth-and-10 conversion from the 25-yard line preceded the game-tying touchdown.
The place went nuts. I could feel the turf shake under my feet from where I stood on the sideline. Augustana was going to do it. They were going to pull off one of the biggest upsets of the season. Or so I thought.
See, the game-tying touchdown pass from Trey Heid to Matt Heller didn't actually tie the game. Lucas Wainman doinked the ensuing extra point off the upright, handing Minnesota Duluth a 23-22 win.
Walking back to your dorm room after a game like that is a surreal feeling. There's nothing to talk about, leaving you silently strolling to the tune of your own thoughts and footsteps.
On Saturday at Chet Anderson Stadium, Minnesota State kicker Matthew Jaeger missed a 34-yard field goal on the Mavericks' opening possession. I stood behind the end zone next to former Pioneer sports editor Micah Friez and said, 'I haven't heard a place get this loud since my first Augustana football game in 2014.'
I jinxed it.
Saturday's gutting loss for Bemidji State left me feeling the same as I did in 2014. The rush of hearing fans exhaust their lung capacity via supportive screams, only for a stroke of bad luck to steal the collective air out of the surrounding vicinity.
Dakota Smith's blocked field goal that secured a 27-24 Minnesota State win and spoiled the Beavers' homecoming festivities left me in a brief state of paralysis. Did that really just happen? Is that how this ends?
I felt the pit in my stomach when trying to think of how BSU kicker Marko Jovisic felt at that moment. I tried to imagine how the Mankato players felt after they won the biggest game of their season. And then I made the same walk I did after my first Augie football game.
I'm nine years older than I was on that day. I'm 350 miles away from where I was on that day. The hair on my head migrated to the rest of my face. But I still got deja vu.
Ultimately, I left my first Bemidji State football game confidently, knowing that I watched an instant classic, and the community of Bemidji made it happen.
The BSU athletic department had to stop selling tickets during the first half, which made Saturday's game a sellout with 3,000 fans. More were gathered at Diamond Point Park, which hosted a tailgate several hours before kickoff. Fans cheered and jeered for three hours and left yearning for their favorite football players to jump in Lake Bemidji to cap the traditional homecoming festivities.
While the gate to the lake on the far end of the Chet remained locked, and the Beaver faithful were left without a statement win, they should be proud of the environment they created on Saturday. Beaver Territory gave attendees new and old a chance to experience the best they had to offer for an occasion that deserved it.
