WAYNE, Nebraska – Minot State put together another nice effort running the ball with a 253-yard performance on the ground and two rushing touchdowns but ultimately fell short 27-21 to Wayne State College Saturday afternoon on the road at Memorial Stadium.

It was a hard-fought game that did not go the Beavers way. Coach Shields made note following what was a good battle between the Beavers and Wildcats on Wayne State's Homecoming.

"It's just a tough loss and it was an extremely competitive game. We had opportunities to make it different, but we were a play or two away from getting it done on the road," Shields said.

The Wildcats improved to 4-1 on the year and 3-1 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play, while the Beavers fell to 4-2 overall and 3-2 in conference matchups.

Evan Lovett totaled 77 yards to lead the Beavers' ground attack and added one touchdown in the game, picking up 4.3 yards per carry along the way. Carson Chrisman also tacked on 69 yards and one touchdown on the ground with 4.9 yards per carry. Tyson Ruzicka chipped in with 67 yards as well, getting 7.4 yards per carry.

Jonathan Noriega hauled in two catches for 34 yards and one score.

Jalen Corprew showed out for the Minot State defense, totaling 1.5 TFL. Cody Raetzman collected 9 tackles, which led the team.

Minot State recorded a stellar outing on the ground, racking up 253 rushing yards while averaging 4.7 yards per carry.

Defensively, Minot State did well in neutralizing the Wayne State passing attack, holding them to 95 yards. However, it was the ground game and dual-threat capability from the quarterback that helped spark the win for the Wildcats. There were times in the contest where Wayne State and their offense were tough to put away.

"Give credit to Wayne – that's a good team that's used to winning. Their QB (Bohn) is a special player, and we struggled getting him contained and their offense off the field in critical situations," Shields asserted.

The numbers were there, and the Beavers had some nice moments that could have turned the tide. They were tested and responded just about as well as they could, but it was all Wildcats in the end.

"Our men played hard, battled through some real adversity, and there were some real positives as well. I'm proud of the competitive spirit this team has shown and there's a lot of heart and fight in our locker room. We will grow from this collectively and move forward," Shields remarked.

How It Happened
Minot State scored first and took a 7-0 lead on the opening drive of the game. Wayne State (NE) then scored three times to take a 21-7 lead before the Beavers put a touchdown on the board to cut it to a 21-14 game.

Wayne State (NE) scored to increase their lead to 27-14 before Minot State answered with 1:54 remaining in the fourth quarter and narrowed the gap to 27-21. Neither team scored again in the game.

Game Notes
» Wayne State (NE) outgained Minot State 380-299 in the contest
» Wayne State totaled 285 rushing yards, with 6.6 yards per carry and had two 100+ yard rushers.
» Minot State tallied 14 points in the fourth quarter, accounting for 66.7% of their total score.
» Minot State converted 3 of 10 third downs while Wayne State (NE) was successful on 4 of 10.
» The Beavers had two players with more than eight tackles in the ballgame led by Cody Raetzman, who had nine.
» Minot State went 3-for-4 on fourth down, converting on 75 percent of attempts.
» Wayne State went 4-for-4 on fourth down, converting on 100 percent of attempts.
» Minot State won the time of possession battle 30:57 to 29:03.
» Nick Bohn led the Wildcats passing attack, completing 10 of his 17 attempts for 95 yards and added 102 rushing yards.
» Akeem Knox led the Wayne State (NE) rushing attack with 113 yards and one touchdown.
» There were 0 turnovers in the game, with neither team losing the football but not forcing any takeaways.
» Minot State committed only 2 penalties as a team all game

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