ABERDEEN, SD -- Five different players reached the end zone, led by two scores from Carson Chrisman, as Minot State handily beat Northern State 49-28 on Saturday afternoon inside Dacotah Bank Stadium.

The Beavers improved to 3-7 on the year and 3-6 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play, while the Wolves fell to 6-4 and 5-4 in conference play.

Head coach Ian Shields expressed immense pride in his team following the statement road win.
 
"It's really hard to express how proud I am of the young men in our program and our staff," Shields said. "There has been some real adversity that has hit us this year and we've been challenged along the way. Today's win, vs. a quality Northern squad on the road, speaks volumes as to the toughness and resiliency inside our locker room."

Chrisman paced the Beavers rushing attack by accumulating 137 yards and one touchdown over the course of the game, averaging 4 yards per carry. Chrisman also tacked on 39 receiving yards and one touchdown. Devan Daniels also added 94 yards and one touchdown on the ground, averaging 4.9 yards per carry.

Shields noted that the offensive performance reflected the program's core identity.
 
"Offensively, it was an identity-defining day — that's who we are," Shields said. "We dominated the day with over 47 minutes of possession and went 7-for-7 on fourth down. Zero penalties and zero turnovers as well — that's a pretty good recipe for success."

The Beavers set two NCAA Division II records during the game. First, the Beavers set the record for time of possession with 47:43. The Beavers also set a new record for converting on fourth downs when they went 7 for 7 on fourth down conversions. 

Jace McDonald paced the Minot State defensive effort, collecting one recovered fumble. Julian Prime added one recovered fumble and Damarrius Hammonds had seven tackles, one interception, two pass breakups, and one forced fumble in the win.

The Beavers won the turnover battle in Saturday's game, forcing three turnovers while avoiding any giveaways, with Minot State turning those takeaways into 14 points.

"You win the turnover battle 3-0 — two on defense and one on our kickoff unit — and that almost assures victory," Shields said. "Some great individual efforts across the board, especially Carson Chrisman with a heroic effort, but this was a team win and a culture-defining moment for our entire program."

Minot State had a strong performance on the ground, racking up 301 rushing yards while averaging 4 yards per carry and out-rushing Northern State by 145 yards. The Minot State offense did a good job extending drives, converting on 55.6 percent of third-down attempts going 10-for-18 on the day. The Beavers also went 7-for-7 on fourth down.

Defensively, Minot State held up fairly well against the Northern State rushing attack, holding the Wolves to 156 yards on the ground.

Minot State took care of business in the red zone, scoring four times on four trips inside Northern State's 20-yard line, with all of those scores being touchdowns.

How It Happened

Minot State got on the scoreboard first and opened a 7-0 lead on the game's first drive.Northern State then tied the game at 7-7 before the Beavers responded with a 39-yard touchdown reception from to Chrisman to jump back in front 14-7.

Minot State kept Northern State off the scoreboard and extended its lead to 21-7 with 4:13 remaining in the second quarter.The Beavers continued to expand their lead after Northern State closed the gap to 21-14, scoring again to go on top 28-14.

Minot State continued to expand its advantage, scoring again with 12:09 remaining in the fourth quarter to go up 35-14.The Wolves then rallied, tallying seven points before the Beavers responded with a touchdown to extend their lead to 42-21.

Minot State scored once more and Northern State tacked on seven more points to bring the final score to 49-28.

Game Notes

» Minot State had two players reach the promised land multiple times, as Chrisman scored two touchdowns and Evan Lovett added another two.
» Northern State outgained Minot State 434-340 in the contest.
» Minot State won the turnover battle 3-0 after intercepting one pass and recovering two fumbles.
» The Beavers scored first with 3:25 left in the first quarter and never trailed the rest of the game on their way to victory.
» Minot State had their highest scoring quarter in the fourth period, when they put up 21 points.
» Minot State converted 10 of 18 third downs while Northern State was successful on 2 of 3.
» Minot State went 7-for-7 on fourth down, converting on 100 percent of attempts.
» Minot State forced one red zone turnover in the contest.
» The Beavers didn't commit a penalty.
» The Beavers didn't allow a sack in the contest.
» Minot State won the time of possession battle 47:43 to 12:17.
» Daniel Britt led the Wolves passing attack, completing 14 of his 16 attempts for 224 yards and two touchdowns.
» Wyatt Block led the Northern State rushing attack with 86 yards and one touchdown.

This story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.