MSU Athletics

BISMARCK, N.D. – Minot State University's running backs and offensive line wasn't about to let this one get away.

The Beavers used seven rushing plays, capped by a Jarvis Mustipher (Jr., RB, Melbourne, Fla.) 2-yard touchdown to top rival University of Mary 15-9 in overtime Saturday in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football Saturday at the Bismarck Community Bowl.

The win ended a two-game losing streak to the Marauders, evened the all-time series at 12 wins apiece and most importantly gave the Beavers possession of the "Battle of the Big Lake" Trophy first the first time in its brief three-year history.

"Oh, the trophy for sure," said Mustipher, who had a career-high 154 yards rushing said when asked what felt better, scoring the game winner or lifting the trophy in celebration. "I've been on the wrong end of that two years in a row. That was a great feeling (hoisting it in the postgame celebration) and bring it back to Minot."

Mustipher, Larry Overstreet (Jr., RB, Lehigh Acres, Fla.), Charles Hall (Jr., RB, Hinesville, Ga.) and the Beavers offensive line led MSU to a season-high 254 yards rushing on 53 carries. The group also scored both MSU touchdowns as Hall scored from 1 yard out in the fourth quarter to give MSU a 7-6 lead.

"We felt pretty comfortable with the way we were running the ball," said MSU head coach Tyler Hughes. "We were committed to it early and wanted to get that going and the O-line really wanted it today and really wanted to run the ball down there (in overtime). It's great to get that going against the rivals."

The Beavers (1-5 overall, 1-5 NSIC, 1-1 NSIC North) looked like they would be able to make the Hall TD and a safety on U-Mary midway through the fourth quarter stand. MSU forced a punt, two turnovers on downs and a safety in the second half, but gave up one big drive.

Leading 9-6, U-Mary (0-6, 0-6, 0-2) marched 76 yards on a whopping 17 plays in just 1:29 to tie the game with four seconds to play as Cody Goetz hit a 27-yard field goal.

But, according to Mustipher, the Beavers weren't hanging their heads.

"Since that was just a tie, I wasn't too worried," he said. "I knew it would be in the offense's hands and we would have t make a play. The defense got a big stop. It feels really good to get that first one."

Those heads were definitely up after Goetz missed a chip shot wide left as the MSU defense held in the first overtime.

Seven rushing plays later, five by Mustipher, the Beavers pushed through for a win.

"The guys really earned this today," Hughes said. "Mary played hard and Josh (UMary head coach Josh Kotelnicki) does a great job, but I thought we really played hard too. It's been difficult the past couple of weeks wondering how to get out of this slump, but we had a great week in practice and its gratifying to see us play the way we did today. The win was the reward for that."

Minot State ended up giving up 343 yards – 214 passing yards – but 76 came on the final drive and it took UMary 53 passes to get to the 214 yards. MSU held the Marauders to just 3 of 19 third down conversions, but the Marauders did convert on half of 10 fourth-down attempts. In all, MSU had its best defensive outing in scoring and second lowest allowed yards on the season.

"I thought overall we played outstanding on defense," said Hughes. "Early in the game we were put in a couple bad spots with the botched punt and a turnover and they did a good job playing through those. We played man-to-man basically all game, manned up on every play and sometimes you are going to get beat on that, but overall it was a great effort. It was a satisfying effort."

Aaron James (Sr., LB, Oklahoma City, Okla.) and Thomas Bryson (Sr., DL, Layton, Utah) anchored the defense with 12 and 10 tackles respectively. Bryson played his best game of the season with two tackles for a loss and a pass breakup. Marcel Brinson (Sr., DB, Gilroy, Calif.) and Trevin Swensen (Jr., LB, Shelley, Idaho) each finished with seven tackles and had three pass breakups between them.

UMary's Austin Bolton had 16 tackles to lead all players and Jacob Parker, Danielle Whitaker and Daniel Hunter all had interceptions. Quarterback Caleb Buck finished with 214 yards passing on 50 attempts, hitting eight players. Zach Graves finished with 67 yards rushing and a touchdown, a third-quarter run that gave the Marauders their first lead in 2015.

Overstreet finished with18 carries for 87 yards, while Hall had five carries for eight yards, but scored his third rushing TD of the season. Chase Kimble (Jr., WR, Houston, Texas) finished with two catches for 32 yards to pace the receivers. MSU used two quarterbacks in the game as Jose Escobar (Jr., Norwalk, Calif.) spelled starter Lucas Romanski (Jr., San Ramon, Calif.) just before the half. The two combined for 10 of 17 passing with three interceptions and just 73 yards passing.

The Beavers continue on the road next weekend in North Division play, taking on St. Cloud State Saturday.
 

About Minot State
Minot State University is a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) and NCAA Division II offering 14 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletics programs. The NSIC is a premier NCAA DII, 16-member conference featuring teams in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa. The Beavers are the only public NCAA Division II institution in the state of North Dakota.