MINOT, N.D. – Minot State University used two big plays to secure its second straight win over rival University of Mary and to keep possession of the "Battle of the Big Lake" Trophy.

First, the Beavers blocked a punt by junior Jaleel Hunn which was recovered for a touchdown by junior Ryan Fila just before halftime. Second, the Beavers had a series of sacks of U-Mary's quarterback with the Marauders driving to finish the game.

The result was a 21-20 Minot State win over the Marauders to take a 13-12 lead in the overall series and retain the rivalry trophy for the second year in a row in Northern Sun Intercollegiate conference football Saturday at Herb Parker Stadium.

"We have talked about wanting the kids to keep battling and we said it again today and you saw that with the blocked punt," said MSU head coach Tyler Hughes. We had a big stop late and the kids played right to the end (of the half). "The end of the game was a great job by our defense."

It was the second-straight dramatic win for the Beavers in the series as last year came down to the wire with MSU winning in overtime.

"We really wanted to win this game and get that trophy," Hughes said. "We had a great week of practice and we talked about it being the best of 25 with it tied at 12. That was important to this group. You always want to come out on top against your rival."

Things looked a little bleak for the Beavers as U-Mary scored 14 points in the matter of eight seconds to take a 20-7 late in the second quarter. On the first MSU play after the Marauders scored on a 58-yard pass from running back Zack Graves to Sam Saucedo, UM made it a 13-point cushion as Jacob Parker picked off a Jose Escobar pass and returned it 26 yards for a TD.

Escobar, however, knew his team would shake off that miscue.

"I came off the field and the defense was all saying, 'we'll pick up you, we've got this,'" the senior quarterback said. "I knew they would. They had a good game plan this week and Trevin (senior Trevin Swensen) got them going. It was a bad play by me, a bad read, but I knew they would pick us up."

The defense didn't allow another score and it was the special team's play three minutes later that turned the tables. With just 1:06 remaining in the half, Hunn broke through the middle to block the punt at the goal line. The ball darted into the end zone, but spun back into the field of play just before going out of bounds where Fila fell on it to make it 20-14 at halftime.

"The football gods were looking down on us for that one, for it to make a turn like that," Escobar said. "It was such a big play because we could smile a little going into the locker room."

"It was a great play and it was crazy how it didn't go out of bounds at the end," Hughes added. "Our guys did a good job of securing it."

The Beavers (3-8 overall, 3-8 NSIC, 2-5 NSIC North) controlled much of the game from there and allowed just one first down in the third quarter thanks to a big drive to start the third quarter. But MSU failed to score in the quarter.
Minot State, however, took the lead early in the fourth as Escobar found Ray Watkins from a yard out to cap a nine-play, 82-yard drive.

"We had a 9-minute drive to open the third quarter and it was a good drive, but it stalled in the red zone, so it was good to get some points early in the fourth quarter on our next drive," Hughes said. "We needed to have some success early and needed to get a score relatively quick to keep our momentum up."

Neither team got much going in the shape of offense after the drive setting up the late defensive stop. After two first downs for U-Mary to move into MSU territory with less than two mintues to play, the Beavers upped the pressure. First, Swensen and lineman Loni Fonua sacked U-Mary's Nick McCann for an eight-yard loss on 2-and-1, then Dalton Houghton earned his fourth sack of the year and finally Fonua ended any drama with another sack on fourth down.

"I think there was a lot of tension on the start of that drive as they only needed a field goal and had good position," Hughes said. "They (U-Mary) didn't have far to go for a field goal so we needed to get aggressive and dial it up. One of those was a coverage sack and the others were our guys just getting it going."

MSU allowed just 246 yards of total offense and outrushed the Marauders 175-137 overall.

U-Mary (1-10, 1-10, 1-6) got 101 yards rushing and 58 yards passing from Graves and McCann passed for 51 yards. U-Mary threw the ball just 12 times for 109 yards total. Danielle Whitaker paced the defense with 10 tackles including three for a loss.

Senior Jarvis Mustipher rushed for 96 yards on 20 carries, while Ben Zahniser finished with 39 and Tyere Hunter 34 as MSU finished with 175 rushing overall. Escobar passed for 146 and two TDs. Cordell Pimienta caught five passes for 63 yards, while Watkins and Lavante Bushnell each caught TD passes. Houghton and Steven Scott each finished with five tackles, while Bryce Broome, Elijah Mosley and Swensen added 4.5 stops.

"Any time you can get the win is great and when it's against the school down south it's even better," Esobar said. "Rivalry games bring out the best in both teams. It was a crazy game with trick plays and momentum shifts – we had it all today. It's a great feeling to win a game like this."

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.