MINOT, N.D. -- Minnesota State-Moorhead got a four-yard touchdown reception from Brady Perryman with 2:39 left in the ballgame, as Minot State lost 42-38 in heartbreaking fashion to the Dragons on Saturday afternoon at Herb Parker Stadium.

The Dragons improved to 5-4 on the year and 5-3 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play, while the Beavers fell to 4-6 overall and 3-6 in conference matchups.

In a back-and-forth contest, things started to slip away towards the end for Minot in a one-score finish against one of the NSIC's top air-raid offenses. A lot of things went down that hurt the Beavers when it came to crunch time, many events that were unlike them according to head coach Ian Shields. Despite the impressive offensive output, the finish was not there.

"It's a tough loss. That game was there for the taking. There's a lot of things in all three phases that could have been better, but bottom line was we had the ball in our hands late, and we were uncharacteristically turning the ball over," Shields said.

"We've been pretty airtight all season long. But we couldn't close it out today because we weren't good enough when it was time to finish the game out. So that's disappointing. It was the most turnovers we had this season."

Carson Chrisman totaled 145 yards to lead the Beavers' ground attack and added three touchdowns in the game, picking up 5.8 yards per carry along the way. That puts him at a total of 12 on the year. His first rushing score of the game also surpassed Ali Mohamed's single-season record (9) set back in 2021. Devan Daniels also tacked on 90 yards and one touchdown on the ground, picking up 6.4 yards per carry. Evan Lovett chipped in with 85 yards as well, picking up 4.3 yards per carry.

Nalu Cordeiro paced the Minot State defensive effort, collecting one interception. Cody Raetzman added 3 tackles and 1 interception, while Connor Raetzman had 1.0 TFL, 1 sack, and 1 forced fumble in the loss.

Both Minot State and Minnesota State-Moorhead forced two turnovers in Saturday's contest, with Minot State turning those takeaways into seven points. Minot State recorded a stellar showing on the ground, racking up 354 rushing yards while averaging 5.4 yards per carry. Minot State converted on 41.7 percent of third-down attempts on the day.

"Offensively there's some big plays out there as well…I thought physically we played really well today," Shields said.

Despite giving up 344 yards through the air, the Beavers defense disrupted the Minnesota State-Moorhead passing game on the way to grabbing two interceptions and breaking up five Dragons passes.

"We had some big takeaways…that's as good as you're going to face a prolific offense throwing the ball. I thought we did some really good things defensively," Shields commented.

Minot State's offense took advantage of its visits to the red zone, scoring on four out of four trips, with all of those scores being touchdowns.

A rough finish on yet another close battle will give the Beavers some time to reflect and maybe even relax and rest with an oddly timed bye week coming up before their Senior Day game in two weeks.

"We got to coach a little better, we got to practice a little better. We got this awkward bye week here, which in some ways might be a blessing with where we're at physically and then we got one more opportunity to play the game with these Seniors here. Team 99, last time we'll break huddles against Winona," Shields remarked.

How It Happened
Minot State scored on the game's first drive to take a 7-0 lead. Minnesota State-Moorhead then tied the game at 7-7 before the Beavers responded with a three-yard touchdown rush from Chrisman to jump back ahead 14-7.

After Minnesota State-Moorhead scored to tie the game at 14-14, Minot State scored again with 1:01 remaining in the second quarter with a 43-yard field goal from to jump back in front 17-14. Minnesota State-Moorhead then took control of the lead, building a 21-17 advantage before the Beavers got on the scoreboard again with a 37-yard touchdown run from Daniels to jump back ahead 24-21.

After Minnesota State-Moorhead took a 28-24 lead, Minot State responded with a seven-yard touchdown run from Chrisman to retake the lead at 31-28 with 14:13 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Beavers kept scoring, tacking on a touchdown to extend their advantage to 38-28. Minot State didn't score again, and Minnesota State-Moorhead added 14 more points to finish off the scoring.

Game Notes
» Minot State outgained Minnesota State-Moorhead 386-370, including a 346-26 advantage on the ground.
» Minot State had their highest scoring quarter in the fourth period, when they put up 14 points.
» Minot State converted 5 of 12 third downs while Minnesota State-Moorhead was successful on 2 of 6.
» Minot State went 1-for-2 on fourth down, converting on 50 percent of attempts.
» The Beavers didn't allow a sack in the contest.
» Minot State won the time of possession battle 39:39 to 18:18.
» Jack Strand led the Dragons passing attack, completing 31 of his 46 attempts for 344 yards and five touchdowns with two interceptions.
» Carson Elbert was Minnesota State-Moorhead's leading receiver with 116 yards and one touchdown.

This story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.