×

MSU starts first spring under Aldrich

Minot State University football will begin its first spring under the guidance of head coach Mike Aldrich Wednesday as the Beavers will hold the first of 15 practices over the next 30 days.

Spring Football 2017 will consist of 15 dates that included two Saturday scrimmages and culminates in the 2017 Red vs. White Spring Football Game planned for April 27 under the lights at Herb Parker Stadium.

“I am really excited for the start of spring football,” Aldrich said. “Since the day I started I have been looking forward to getting on the football field with these guys. We had a good close to the off-season, and we had some time to really stress the importance of competition, so it will be good to see it carry over on the practice field.”

Aldrich was hired in January and has been busy getting his staff and personnel in place. MSU hired Derek Edholm as an assistant coach and restructured titles for multiple assistant coaches. Along with Edholm, who will serve as co-offensive coordinator and coach quarterbacks, MSU assistant coach Shane LaDage was named co-offensive coordinator and will work with wide receivers. Defensive assistant Joe Dale was named special teams coordinator and will continue to coach defensive backs and student assistant Coleton Ethier was named linebackers coach as he transitions to a graduate assistant next season.

The Beavers return a large number of rising seniors from last season’s team with a total of 22 on the roster. MSU also has six rising juniors and 29 returning lettermen from 2016.

“We have a number of expectations that we want to accomplish this spring, but most importantly is determining who our best 11 players are on defense and who is going to be touching the football on offense,” Aldrich said. “We need to solidify our quarterback position, and I have an idea of how that will play out, but we need to see them in action with the bullets flying around. Our running backs are in the same situation, we need to determine who our guy is going to be, the guy we are going to lean on. Our wide receiver group has some special athletes that looked great during workouts, but now we have to see them on the field.”

On defense, the Beavers return three of its top four tackling leaders from a year ago led by defensive back Donnell Vercher who finished with 95 tackles in 2016. Vercher also led the team with three interceptions. Bryce Broome finished third on the team in tackles with 78 and Titus Dixon was fourth at 62.

The offense will look to receivers Lavante Bushnell, Ryan Fila and Ray Watkins for stability in the passing game as the trio finished second, third and fifth in catches in 2017. Bushnell leads the returners with 32 catches for 363 yards.

“There is a high energy and excitement level around this program right now, and we need to feed off of that and build our confidence heading into the 2017 season,” said Aldrich.

MSU’s first scrimmage is set for April 8 and the second is slated for April 22.

Minot State will begin the 2017 season at Concordia-St. Paul Aug. 31 and Aldrich and the Beavers will make their home debut Sept. 9 against Augustana University.

— Minot State athletics

Beavers fire 303 in final round

BILLINGS, Mont. – Minot State University shot its best score of the spring, carding a 303 in the final round of the Montana State Billings Yellowjacket Spring Invite Tuesday at Lake Hills Golf Course.

The Beavers stayed in fifth place overall, holding off the University of Great Falls Monday.

“I think we are finding a little more consistency with our golf games,” said MSU head coach Randy Westby. “The scores were better than the first day, but we still have a couple guy’s struggling a little. (Karson) O’Keefe and (Matthew) Bean both played better today and (Matthew) Kreutz continued sold play.

“Now it’s on to Upper Iowa and hopefully the trend continues. We have conference in two weeks and hopefully the weather in Minot breaks for us. We need some quality practice time.”

Kreutz finished with a round-three team low of 73, tying Carson Harcourt’s second round for low score of the tournament for the Beavers. He finished tied for 15th overall with a 228. He cut three strokes off each round after shooting a 79 in the opening round.

O’Keefe and Bean both finished with 75s in the third round. O’Keefe placed 28th overall with a 235 overall, while Bean was 41st with a 249. Bean finished with an 11 stroke improvement from round two to three.

Leighton Bearchell had the Beavers best overall score, finishing with a 79 Tuesday for a 223 overall and a ninth-place finish. He played the tournament as an individual.

Bearchell finished 17 strokes behind Rocky Mountain College’s Michael Tait as Tait ran away with the tournament to finish 10-under-par (206). He finished with a 67 and a 68 in the final two rounds and was one of just two golfers under par for the tournament.

Harcourt finished second on the Beavers scoring team and tied for 20th overall with a 230. He finished with an 81 in the final round after back-to-back sub 80s. Cody Reynolds was tied for 33rd overall with a 242.

Minot State won’t waste much time getting back on the course as they travel to Upper Iowa Saturday and Sunday for the Upper Iowa Invite in Waterloo, Iowa.

— Minot State athletics

MSU third, Dumes ties for fourth at MSUB Invite

BILLINGS, Mont. – Minot State University freshman Mariam Dumes slipped to a tie for fourth place, but finished with a solid 11-over-par 155 to pace the Beavers at the Montana State Billings Yellowjacket Spring Invite Tuesday at Lake Hills Golf Course.

Dumes fired a 75 in the first round to lead the tournament, but finished with an 80 in round two. She tied with Montana State Billings’ Haley Shackelford as both golfers finished four strokes behind medalist Gina Kowolchuk of the University of Great Falls.

“Obviously Miriam would have liked to play better today, but it was a great experience for her to have to sleep on a lead like she did,” said MSU head coach Spencer Hilde. “She’ll learn from it and be much more ready the next time.”

Dumes’ fourth-place finish helped the Beavers to a third-place finish as a team. The Beavers held off Black Hills State by three strokes, finishing with a 664 overall. MSU started with a 331 in round 1 and finished with a 333 in round 2. MSU was 46 strokes behind host MSU Billings, who won its own event with a 618.

Fellow freshman Katherine McGlenen nearly duplicated her first-round 79 with an 80 on day 2 to finish in a tie for ninth with a 159 overall. It was her first top 10 finish in her career.

MSU’s top round on the second day belonged to Kayla Barke who fired a 79 in the second round. She moved up to 17th overall with a 167 in the tournament.

“Barke had a good bounce-back round today,” Hilde said. “She rattled off three birdies in a row at one point.”

Kira Dereniwsky finished 30th with a 185 and Kaitlyn Hill added a 187 for 31st overall to round out the Beavers scoring.

Minot State will have a short turnaround as they travel to Upper Iowa Saturday and Sunday for the Upper Iowa Invite in Waterloo, Iowa.

— Minot State athletics

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today