SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota -- Minot State put together a 355-yard performance on the ground, including 149 yards from Brandon Hines Jr. and four rushing touchdowns, but fell 49-29 to Sioux Falls Saturday afternoon on the road at the University of Sioux Falls at Bob Young Field.
The Cougars improved to 5-3 on the year and 5-2 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play, while the Beavers fell to 2-6 overall and 2-5 in conference matchups.
"That's a tough game to digest, but it's not complicated to figure out," head coach Ian Shields said. "Credit to Sioux Falls, that's a good team and they are really clicking on offense, we just couldn't get them stopped."
Hines Jr. totaled 149 yards to lead the Beavers' ground attack, including a 75 yard touchdown in the game, picking up 12.4 yards per carry along the way. Jaden Fox also tacked on 89 yards on the ground, picking up 6.8 yards per carry.
"There were some bright spots in the game, but not enough to make anyone feel too good about anything," Shields added. "I'm disappointed we didn't have a better showing coming off the bye week, we were relatively healthy and fresh going into this game, but certainly didn't play our best brand of football today."
Matt Shinn reeled in two catches for 21 yards, as well as Dylan Huber who had one catch for 19 yards. Shinn added two rushing touchdowns to the scoreboard, along with Jett Lundeen who had a rushing touchdown.
Minot State recorded a strong performance on the ground, racking up 355 rushing yards while averaging 7.4 yards per carry and out-rushing Sioux Falls by 43 yards. Minot State converted on 58.3 percent of third-down attempts on the day, but it wasn't enough to finish the job against the Cougars.
"We need to get back home, regroup, and circle the wagons - we have a big opportunity in front of us next week," said Shields.
The Beavers return home to host the University of Mary for a Halloween rivalry matchup next Saturday at 2 p.m. at First Western Bank Field at Herb Parker Stadium.
How It Happened
Minot State took a 7-0 lead over Sioux Falls after scoring the game's first points with 6:17 remaining in the first quarter. Sioux Falls scored to go ahead 14-7 before the Beavers got on the scoreboard again to tie it up at 14-14.
Sioux Falls fought back to take a 35-14 lead before Minot State put a touchdown on the board to narrow the gap with 11:16 left in the fourth quarter and make it a 35-21 game. Sioux Falls scored to expand its lead to 49-21 before the Beavers scored again to close the gap and make it a 49-29 game. Neither team scored again in the game.
Game Notes
» Sioux Falls out-gained Minot State 579-402 in the contest.
» Minot State had their highest scoring quarter in the fourth period, when they put up 15 points.
» Minot State converted 7 of 12 third downs while Sioux Falls was successful on 6 of 8.
» Speed led the Beavers with 11 tackles.
» Minot State went 1-for-2 on fourth down, converting on 50 percent of attempts.
» The Beavers did not have any negative plays from scrimmage in the contest.
