MINOT, N.D. – Minot State University couldn't hold on to a second half lead.

The Beavers have led in the second half in each of the past three games, but have relinquished it for losses two weeks in a row.

Minnesota State University Moorhead scored 17 unanswered fourth quarter points to top Minot State 30-20 in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North Division game Saturday at Herb Parker Stadium.

"I felt like the first three quarters we were locked in pretty good," said MSU head coach Tyler Hughes. "I think we had some break downs during the fourth quarter that definitely hurt us. We played three quarters but you've got to play four. We've just got to get better just got to continue to focus. If you lose focus in opportune times bad things happen. We just got to play hard and focus."

Minot State (1-7 overall, 1-7 NSIC, 1-3 NSIC North) took control of the game, outscoring MSUM 20-3 on TDs by Brayden Loertscher (Sr., WR, West Valley City, Utah), Porter Sturm (Sr., WR, Roy, Mont.) and Tyere Hunter (RB, So., Spring Valley, Calif.) from the 6:12 mark of the first quarter until 7:55 remaining in the third quarter.

But MSUM (4-4, 4-4, 1-3) scored the game's final 17 points all in the fourth quarter.

"I think it's a lack of focus and discipline, and I think we go into half time thinking we are ok and we can settle where we're at," said MSU junior linebacker Trevin Swensen (Shelley, Idaho). "We just kind of let off the gas pedal and go into cruise control."

The Beavers overcame a disastrous start as the Dragons scored on a 39-yard field goal by Joe Tjosvold with 10:22 to play in the first quarter and then went up 10-0 as Tyler Lazarz scooped up a blocked punt at the 4-yard line and fell into the end zone for a touchdown.

But Minot State settled in and moved into the lead. First, Loertscher caught his first TD of the season after catching a Jose Escobar (Jr., QB, Norwalk, Calif.) pass around the MSUM 7 and lunged into the end zone.

Sturm's 20-yard TD pass from freshman Isaiah Weed (QB, Bonney Lake, Wash.) early in the second quarter pushed the Beavers into the lead for the first time, 13-10, and Tyere's 9-yard run – his first career touchdown – with 7:55 to play in the third quarter gave MSU a 20-13 lead.

"It's something we've talked about the last couple weeks," Hughes said of Weed getting playing time along with Escobar at quarterback. "We just wanted to make sure we were solid on a few things before we did it. When you're substituting quarterbacks you need to keep your starters in a rhythm. You don't want to disrupt that at all. I don't think it affected Jose, he is a big team player, so when Isaiah is out on the field, Jose is the first guy supporting him."

The Beavers had a golden change to go up two scores late in the third quarter as Weed hit Sturm on a 22-yard pass to the MSUM 15, but three straight penalties – two for unsportsmanlike conduct – pushed MSU out of field goal range.

"It's a matter of knowing how losing your cool potentially can hurt people around you, and in this case maybe it is a 15 yard penalty when it's a third down," Hughes said. "We need to go back to the issue we talked about in the beginning, which is focus. And we just have to be focus on what you have to do. When the whistle blows what you have to do is stop playing, and look at the sideline and get your next play. Too often we just lost sight of that."

The Dragons took advantage of another MSU penalty and drove the length of the field for the tying score on the ensuing possession and then put together a 9-play, 89-yard drive to take the lead on a Kayne Griffith 2-yard TD with just 3:07 to play in the game.

MSUM finished with a 208-80 advantage in rushing yards as Griffith finished with 99 yards, while Zayne Medhaug and Demetrius Carr combined for 109. Carr was 15 for 22 passing for 158 yards, but was sacked six times.

Hunter and Darrel Milburn (Jr., RB, Baltimore, Md.) finished with 42 yards combined rushing as MSU was using its third and fourth running backs due to injury. Escobar was 16 for 38 for 162 yards and one TD, while Weed was 2 for 2 with 42 yards and a score and rushed for 13 yards on two carries. Sturm led the offense with 128 yards receiving on seven catches, while Akkil Walker (Jr., WR, Miami, Fla.) added 45 yards on six catches.

"The run game is what we want to build on and we weren't really able to get that going," Escobar said. "We're not going to go away from that. It wasn't our best performance, but having our first two backs out had a little bit to do with that. We were able to pick it up a little later and Tyere was able to get that touchdown."

Defensively, the Beavers got a huge game from Aaron James (Sr., LB, Oklahoma City, Okla.), who finished with a game-high 16 tackles. That ties him with Levi Freidt, Chad Marshall and Kenny Mack for fourth most in a game since 2004. MSU also finished with six sacks from six different Beavers and 12 tackles for a loss, 2.5 by Mitchell Matthias (Sr., DL, Merritt Island, Fla.) and two each by James and Thomas Bryson (Sr., DL, Layton, Utah). Swensen and Matthias each finished with nine tackles in the game.

The Beavers will play their final home game of the 2015 season next week as they play host to Bemidji State Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

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.