HIUGHTON, Mich. -- Isaiah Bigby totaled 20 tackles, third-most in a single game in Minot State football history, but it wasn't enough as the Beavers fell 37-3 at Michigan Tech on Saturday afternoon in the first non-conference contest in the Beavers NCAA history.
The Huskies improved to 5-4 on the season while the Beavers dropped to 1-9.
Erik Palmquist led all Beavers rushers with 42 yards in the contest, picking up 4.7 yards per carry. Myles West also added 37 yards on the ground.
Joemah Norman reeled in one catch for 38 yards.
Bigby led the Beavers defensively with his 20 tackles, 12 of them solo, assisted on a tackle for loss, one forced fumble, and recovered that fumble. Isaak Guzman added 11 tackles. Bigby's 20-tackle performance gave him 229 for his career, making him the all-time leader in career tackles at Minot State.
Defensively, Minot State held up fairly well against the Michigan Tech offensive attack, holding the Huskies to 329 total yards.
Coach's Comments
"Tough trip, and a tough match up for us at this point - Michigan Tech is a talented and physical group, they controlled the line of scrimmage and that dictated the day," Minot State coach
Ian Shields said. "Offensively we couldn't get much going; couldn't consistently string positive plays together, didn't convert in critical situations, and didn't execute with the level of efficiency necessary to compete at this level.
"Defensively we didn't tackle as well as we're capable of, and their running back, William Marano, was really productive for them.
"On a positive note, I thought
Isaiah Bigby and
Isaak Guzman both stood out for us; they were making a lot of plays and were really productive.
"Our Special teams were anything but, turned the ball over twice in that phase, once on a fake punt that we didn't execute and another on a fumble with our punt return unit. There weren't many short fields to be had and we were playing on the long end of it most of the day.
"We have one more week left to play, our young men have hung in there through it all. I expect us to finish with a great effort vs Winona State and leave it all out there; it's the last opportunity to play for these seniors and that should be more than enough motivation right there."
How It Happened
Michigan Tech opened a 37-0 lead, but Minot State responded with :33 left in the fourth quarter as Jeremy Caruso kicked a 33-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 37-3.
Game Notes
» Michigan Tech outgained Minot State 329-149 in the contest.
» Minot State converted 3 of 13 third downs while Michigan Tech was successful on 7 of 14.
» The Beavers had two players with more than eight tackles in the ballgame led by Bigby, who had 20.
» Minot State forced one red zone turnover in the contest.
» Alex Fries led the Huskies passing attack, completing 13 of his 18 attempts for 101 yards and one touchdown.
» William Marano led the Michigan Tech rushing attack with 133 yards and one touchdown.
This story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.
