WAYNE, NE. – Even after surpassing the most wins in the D2 era last weekend, there is still a lot of work to be done for Minot State football. Head coach Ian Shields and the Beavers are encouraged by the direction of where they are headed, even with many games left on the schedule. That continues this weekend when Minot State travels to face another tough opponent in Wayne State College.

At the halfway mark of the season, the Beavers have grown a lot together as a group and are doing a lot of good things on the gridiron that have been commended by coach Shields. "It's been a long time coming from our first year a year ago…now we sit here at 4-1. It feels good, but our focus now is on the next game and we're excited. We need to go play well on the road and that's the challenge this week," Shields said. "This really is a united team; I've used the word synergy. There's a great synergy amongst that locker room."

Minot State (4-1, 3-1 NSIC) faces the Wayne State Wildcats (3-1, 2-1 NSIC), a team that is highly skilled offensively. They have put up big numbers despite a bye week last weekend.

Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. on Saturday at Bob Cunningham Field at Memorial Stadium. The Beavers are coming off a 26-22 win over Sioux Falls, while Wayne State last saw action on September 21 in a close contest with Winona State that ended in a 28-21 Wildcat win.

While Winona put up a good fight against Wayne State, that win acts as an outlier compared to the other games that the Wildcats have won. In their first two games of 2024, Wayne State combined to put up 93 points versus Missouri S&T and MSU Moorhead. Their only loss comes to the hands of Minnesota State Mankato, who has looked the part within the conference. The Beavers are going to have to keep tabs because if they are not careful, the Wildcat offense will make them pay.

"They're exceptional. They do a lot of great things well. They got one of the better quarterbacks in the conference, if not the best," Shields noted ahead of the task that faces them. "They won a lot of games over the years…they are a juggernaut, and everyone struggles against them. We have a big challenge in front of us."

Speaking of scoring a lot to open the season, that is what Wayne State has done to Minot State over the past four contests between both teams. In the all-time matchup history, Wayne carries a 6-1 record heading into this game. The Beavers will look to snap a four-game losing skid to the Wildcats, while also trying to limit the Wildcat offense which has scored 179 points on the Beavers during the four-game stretch. Minot State hopes to avenge a 48-22 home loss on September 30, 2023, in the last time out against Wayne State.

Looking at the Wildcat offensive architects of a 37.25 PPG mark to this point of the season, it is no question the undisputed leader of the pack is quarterback Nick Bohn. The Bennington, NE Senior has 741 passing yards with 11 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions.

Next in line is Kendrick Watkins-Hogue. With 316 receiving yards, what makes him stand out are his 5 touchdowns. The Beaver secondary will have to keep extra tabs on him as he looks to keep an impressive start to the season going.

Latravious Boyd gives Wayne State an option on the ground if they need it. His 300 rushing yards leads the team, along with 3 touchdowns.

Defensively, Dexter Larsen has been everywhere on the field as the Senior linebacker has tallied up 30 tackles and 3.5 TFL. He sits right behind Jackson Bos in that category, as Bos leads everyone on the front seven with 5 TFL. Alongside of Bos, Carter Sitzman and James Frank have gathered a collective effort with 2 sacks each to their name.

Minot State counters Wayne State's offense with a ground attack that is pesky and annoying for all teams that confront it. As a collective effort, the Beavers have racked up a total of 1,277 rushing yards in 5 games, while averaging 255.4 per game. Both stats are good for first in the NSIC.

Evan Lovett leads the backfield of Minot, as he has carried his way to 400 yards with an average of 4.9 per carry. Carson Chrisman and Sam Buckhanan are behind him who are both sitting north of 200 yards each (Chrisman 229, Buckhanan 224). Chrisman has found the end zone 5 times so far in the 2024 campaign, with one score coming last week against Sioux Falls.

The Beaver defense features leading tackler Kevin Speed with 25, who is living up to his name of 'Speed' by quickly wrapping up and bringing down the carriers of the football.

Julian Kameristy has emerged as a force on the defensive line. He is once again causing problems in the backfield to the tune of 5 TFL and 2.5 sacks.

The Beavers are up for the task and ready for what is ahead. "I believe we are focused. I believe we are excited, and we are in relatively good health. For this point of the season, we've played five games now so you're almost halfway through with it already. You only get so many opportunities to play this game in your life, you get 11 a year…you get 11 cracks at it so every one of those is sacred and I expect us to give it our best shot here this Saturday against Wayne," coach Shields said as he prepares to lead his squad embarking on another road test.