MINOT, N.D. – The Beavers showed their growth on the turf but that growth didn't show up in the win column – for now.

Undaunted, the Minot State football team goes back to work this week, hitting the road to play at Sioux Falls at 1 p.m. on Saturday and looking to build on a strong effort in a 52-25 loss against No. 5 ranked Minnesota State, Mankato this past weekend.

"There was a lot of positives to be had against a quality opponent in Mankato," first-year Minot State head coach Ian Shields said. "It was a tall task going into the game, but I was proud of our effort, I thought it was our best effort game this season."

The Beavers (0-3 overall, 0-3 NSIC) held Minnesota State to 100 yards less than its offensive season average and Minot State's ground game got rolling, racking up 274 yards and averaging 6.9 yards per carry.

Evan Lovett led the ground attack, rushing for his first career 100-yard game with 101 yards, while Myles West added 88 yards on the ground for the Beavers.

"We're getting better, we're still not good," Shields said.

"We're getting better at our style of play," Minot State's coach added. "I think the O-line did a nice job up front, our quarterback Dawson (Macleary) did an excellent job executing.

"Evan and Myles were the beneficiaries of a lot of guys doing their job."

Minot State looks to build on that trend against a Sioux Falls team in a very similar situation as head coach Jim Glogowski is in his first year at the helm of the Cougars (1-2, 1-2) who have faced a tough schedule to date, a start that includes a 54-26 setback against Minnesota State, Mankato, as well.

But Coach Shields recognizes just how dangerous an opponent the Beavers face this weekend in South Dakota.

"Sioux Falls is talented on both sides of the football, they do an excellent job," he said, adding, "those kids are used to winning.

"Last time we went on the road, we did not perform well," Shields added.

That was against a pass-heavy Minnesota State Moorhead team on Sept. 9.

This time, the Beavers face a little more traditional and balanced attack in the Cougars who are led by sophomore quarterback Camden Dean, a dual-threat signal-caller who has completed 47-of-60 passes for 528 yards and three touchdowns while also rushing for 136 yards on 27 carries and four touchdowns.

He's helped offensively by junior running back Dylan Rudningen, who has run for 204 yards on 31 carries and four touchdowns, and junior receiver Carter Slykhuis, who has 17 catches for 197 yards and two scores.

On the other side of the ball, sophomore defensive back Eli Schlangen leads the Cougars with 18 tackles, while redshirt freshmen linebackers Matt Goehring and Michael Stenbroten, and redshirt freshman defensive back Garret Hoffman each have 16 tackles for a defense allowing 254.7 yards rushing per game.

The Cougars have done a good job taking the ball away, though, as Goehring has one of three interceptions, and Sioux Falls also has recovered two fumbles.

But Coach Shields isn't focused on the Cougars roster or stats.

"So much of our focus needs to stay internal," he said, "just how we play; building our culture, how hard we can play, the effort we can play with, winning the turnover battle."

And that last one might be the biggest key for the weekend and Minot State getting win No. 1 of the season.

"Let's start with the turnover battle," Shields said. "That needs to happen, we've got to take care of the ball offensively, and we need to get something out defensively, we need to make some plays on the ball in the air defensively, and we need to tackle better."