The University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) was unable to overcome 13 penalties and a few timely special teams gaffs in a 24-16 loss to Minot State in an NSIC game played at Ed Widseth Field in Crookston.
Both offenses started quickly with a shootout appearing likely just five minutes into the game. Minot State’s first drive started at their 28-yard line. Running back Isaiah Hall (Jr., Temecula, CA) ran the ball on the first play from scrimmage for 3 yards before Hall was stood up for no gain on second down. Facing third-and-7, quarterback Ben Bolinske (Jr., Minot, ND) completed a pass to wide receiver Lavante Bushnell (Sr., Stockton, CA) for 31 yards to the UMC 40-yard line. Two plays later, Hall rushed for 15 yards to the Minnesota Crookston 20-yard line. A Ben Bolinski screen pass to running back Ali Mohamed (Fr., Glendale, AZ) gained 11-yards down the UMC 9-yard line. Two plays, later QB Ben Bolinske capped off the drive with a lob pass to his tight end Devon Owens (Sr., Oakland, CA) for a 6-yard touchdown reception giving Minot State a 7-0 lead 4:04 into the game following the successful extra-point by kicker JoseLuis Moreno (Sr., San Lorenzo, CA).
Minnesota Crookston kick returner Wyatt Shedrick III (R-Fr., Scottsdale, AZ) returned the ensuing kickoff 35 yards to the UMC 39-yard line setting up the Golden Eagles first drive. Quarterback Jalin Scott (Sr., Houston, TX) ran the ball for 15 yards on first down into Minot State territory to the 46-yard line. Following a Boyce Harr (R-Soph., Spearfish, SD) run for no gain, Scott connected with wide receiver Jonattan Mudd (Sr., Gardena, CA) on the far hash marks. Mudd made the catch and sprinted the rest of the way untouched into the end zone for a 46-yard touchdown tying the game at 7-7 following kicker Jared McLemore’s (Soph., Lucas, TX) extra-point with 9:33 to play in the first quarter. “Jonattan is a good player,” said Minnesota Crookston head coach Mark Dufner. “He makes plays, and he’s competitive. He did a nice job here today.”
Minot State started the subsequent series with two runs for a total of 19 yards moving the Beavers near midfield at their 40-yard line. On third-and-nine, Minnesota Crookston linebacker Austin Steele (R-Soph., La Crosse, WI) delivered a hit to the blindside of Minot State QB Ben Bolinske forcing a fumble that was recovered by UMC’s Joe Warner (Sr., St. Louis Park) at the Minot State 39-yard line. “(The defense) came up with some big stops,” noted Dufner. “That was what we needed to give our offense a chance to get some more points on the board.”
RB Wyatt Shedrick III carried a lateral for 9 yards on Minnesota Crookston’s first play following the turnover to the Minot 36-yard line. Following an incompletion on second-and-1, UMC committed back-to-back penalties marching the Golden Eagles back to the Minot State 45-yard line. Scott completed a pass to wide receiver Andy Groebner (Soph., Andover) to gain 7 yards back, but Minnesota Crookston was forced to punt after starting the drive across midfield.
With 13:58 to play in the first half, the Golden Eagles offense appeared poised to take the lead for the first time. Quarterback Tristan Robbins (Soph., Muskegon, MI) ran the ball for 1 yard on first-and-10 from the Minot State 47-yard line. UMC ran the ball five straight plays before a sack of Tristan Robbins lost 3 yards at the Minot State 25-yard line. On third-and-14, Robbins ran up the middle, lunging forward for a first down to the Minot State 11-yard line. Minnesota Crookston’s drive stalled in the red zone following an incompletion on third down forcing UMC to settle for a field goal try. A low snap to holder Jeremy Neuman (R-Jr., Andover) forced the wide receiver to pick up the ball and absorb a blindside hit, preventing the field goal try and keeping the score tied at 7-7. “We knew we were going to face some adversity, but it’s about being able to overcome it,” explained Dufner. “It comes down to possessions so when we don’t get that field goal we’re now in a possession game.”
Minot State answered the failed field goal try by UMC with their own field goal following a nine-play, 60-yard drive ending in a JoseLuis Moreno 42-yard field goal giving the Beavers a 10-7 lead with 4:36 to play in the first half.
Minnesota Crookston’s next drive ended with a muffed punt when punter Nathan McRoberts (R-Fr., Kabetogama) dropped the snap and was forced to run for a loss of 5 yards setting Minot State’s offense up at their 49-yard line with 2:09 to play in the first half. The Beavers took all the momentum into halftime after marching down the field in eight plays, capped off by a 1-yard run from Isaiah Hall into the end zone with the extra-point giving Minot State a 17-7 halftime lead. “We just had too many mistakes,” explained Dufner. “Too many mental errors. In a game like this, we knew we’d be pretty evenly matched with Minot State. Penalties and critical errors really came back to bite us.”
Minnesota Crookston was forced to punt after just three plays in their opening drive of the second half setting Minot State up at their own 48-yard line with a 10-point lead. Running back Ali Mohamed carried the ball for three straight plays down to the UMC 42-yard line before quarterback Ben Bolinske kept the ball for a 16-yard run to the UMC 26-yard line. Isaiah Hall burst free for the Beaver’s third straight carry for more than 10 yards with an 11-yard run to the UMC 15-yard line. Two plays later, Ali Mohamed sprinted with the ball over the goal line putting Minot State ahead 24-7 with the extra-point with 9:19 remaining in the third quarter.
The Golden Eagles looked to answer on their next possession marching 50-yards down the field over twelve plays before facing a fourth-and-three at the Minot State 25-yard line. Minnesota Crookston used an option run to the right side with slot receiver Kyler Banks (R-Jr., Cannon Falls) carrying the football towards the sideline and getting tackled short of the first down giving the Beavers the football back on downs. “We’ve just got to execute,” added Dufner on the offense’s struggles. “Between the penalties and the mental errors, we just shot ourselves in the foot too many times.”
Minot State drove down the field on their next drive, but the Golden Eagles defense made a stop on fourth-and-1 at the UMC 13-yard line giving Minnesota Crookston’s offense the football back with 13:09 to play trailing by 17 points. UMC started the drive with a deep completion that was negated by a penalty for ineligible man downfield. On first-and-15 at the UMC 9-yard line, QB Tristan Robbins ran for 6 yards before picking up 10 yards with a run on the following play moving the ball to the UMC 25-yard line. Robbins threw an interception on the next play, but a penalty for roughing the passer kept possession with the Golden Eagles and moved the football up to the UMC 40-yard line. Robbins completed a quick pass to the sideline for Nathan Coy (R-Soph., Sun Prarie, WI) to midfield before heaving a deep pass that Coy tracked down on the next play marching the Golden Eagles offense down to the Minot State 7-yard line. The drive stalled in the red zone following a sack forcing Minnesota Crookston to settle for a 31-yard field goal kicked by Jared McLemore trimming UMC’s deficit down to 24-10.
Minnesota Crookston’s defense did its job to get off the field on Minot State next drive forcing a three-and-out allowing UMC to take over with the ball at their 18-yard line following a 52-yard punt by JoseLuis Moreno. With 7:13 remaining in the game, UMC had a chance to trim their deficit down to one score. Tristan Robbins delivered his best throw of the day on first-and-10 with an over the shoulder pass to Andy Groebner who ran for 19 yards up to the UMC 37-yard line. A late hit on Groebner added 15-yards to the end of the run moving the ball down to the Minot State 48-yard line. On the next play, Robbins avoided pressure a lobbed a pass up for grabs on the far sideline which WR Nathan Coy caught at the Minot State 15-yard line. Two plays later, Robbins gained seven yards with a run down to the Minot State 1. On the edge of the goal line, an illegal shift negated a Robbins’ rushing touchdown. Backed up the Minot State 6, Robbins lobbed a pass toward the far corner of the end zone where Knylen Miller (R-Fr., Las Vegas, NV) intercepted it for the Beavers ending the Golden Eagles’ hopes for a comeback.
Minnesota Crookston forced a turnover ending Minot State’s ensuing drive at the UMC 9-yard line with 3:02 remaining. Jalin Scott led the Golden Eagles offense down the field with three passes and three runs before a pass interference penalty moved Minnesota Crookston down to the Minot State 47. One play after drawing the pass interference flag, Jonattan Mudd hauled in a 44-yard reception from Jalin Scott to the Minot State 3-yard line. On first-and-goal, Scott faked a spike before lobbing a pass into the corner of the end zone where Jonattan Mudd hauled it in with one-hand for the touchdown trimming the UMC deficit down to 24-16 after the extra-point was kicked off the right upright.
The Golden Eagles’ late rally ended after their onside kick attempt with 47-seconds left landed out of bounds giving Minot State possession back allowing the Beavers to run out the clock and secure a 24-16 win. “It was nice to see the guys battle until the end, we just fell a little short,” summarized Dufner. “It’s certainly disappointing right now, but we’ll get it looked at and see what we did well and see what we’ve got to clean up.”
Minnesota Crookston falls to 0-4. The Golden Eagles return to the field next Saturday when UMC travels to Wayne, Nebraska to take on Wayne State kicking off at 1:00 P.M. with the Riverview Health Pregame show beginning at 12:20 P.M. on KROX. Minot State improves to 2-2.
| Box Score | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| Minot State | 7 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 24 |
| UMC | 7 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 16 |
1st Quarter-
10:56 – MSU – Ben Bolinski 6 yard pass to Devin Owens (Jose Luis Moreno kick)
9:33 – UMC – Jalin Scott 46 yard pass to Jonattan Mudd (Jared McLemore kick)
2nd Quarter–
4:36 – MSU – Jose Luis Moreno 42 yard field goal
0:15 – MSU – Isaiah Hill 1 yard run (Jose Luis Moreno kick)
3rd Quarter –
9:19 – MSU – Ali Mohamed 10 yard run (Jose Luis Moreno)
4th Quarter –
10:15 – UMC – Jared McLemore 31 yard field goal
0:47 – UMC – Jalin Scott 3 yard pass to Jonattan Mudd (PAT missed)
