MINOT, N.D. – The records don't matter with a trophy on the line and Saturday the Beavers made sure to bring home the hardware.

Celebrating Senior Day in style, the Minot State football team won the Battle of the Big Lake led by three interceptions on defense and a tie-breaking touchdown by senior Ben Bolinske, toppling in-state rival the University of Mary 17 -10 at First Western Bank Field at Herb Parker Stadium in NSIC action.

"I'm on cloud nine," Bolinske said. "I'm so excited not just for sending the seniors out with a win but the whole team, I thought we played complimentary football to the max."

Minot State (1-9 overall) sent 10 seniors – Bolinske, David D'Amico, Spencer Gordon, Pat Hardy, Troy Kowal, Logan Krueger, Peyton Lamouruex, Carson Medeiros, Caleb Ness, and Jordan Sanford - home smiling after their final game on the Minot State campus as all 10 were honored before Saturday's rivalry match-up.

The Beaver defense then set the tone as Kyle VanBerkom made an interception on Mary's first drive, one of three picks by the Minot State defense that stymied the Marauders all day long.

A defensive struggle, the Beavers finally broke in front on Ali Mohamed's 11-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter for a 7-0

A late touchdown gave the Marauders (2-8) momentum heading into the halftime break, momentum that Mary used to march down the field until Knylen Miller-Levi's interception at the 2-yard line turned the game's momentum around.

"I think the big thing was getting those takeaways," Minot State coach Mike Aldrich said. "Not just that one, but all of them."

Minot State answered later in the quarter with a scoring drive capped by a 28-yard touchdown run by Bolinske for a 14-7 lead.

"It's pretty easy when there's a 10-foot-wide gap to run through," Bolinske said, adding, "and Evan Lovett had a pretty big block there.

"It was awesome; a big run to put the team ahead and put us in a position to win."

From there, the Minot State defense made that lead hold up and a 27-yard field goal by Dillon Fedor with 32 seconds left helped ice the win.

Bolinske led the way on offense, rushing for 69 yards on seven carries, while Mohamed added 75 yards on 26 carries.

Defensively, Justin Coleman added an interception, Sean Pugh-Sykora added a fumble recovery, and Krueger had two of the Beavers' five sacks in the win.

The final home game for Minot State, the Beavers now hit the road to close out the 2022 season playing at Concordia, St. Paul next Saturday.