Alex Eisen/MDN Minot State sophomore defensive lineman Jordan Will (52) makes a tackle against Minnesota-Duluth earlier in the season at Herb Parker Stadium.

The Minot State women’s soccer team and volleyball team held up its end of the deal on Tuesday with victories over the University of Mary. Now the pressure is on the MSU football team to complete the rivalry week sweep Saturday afternoon at Herb Parker Stadium.

The sixth edition of the Battle of the Big Lake features two winless teams entering Week 3 of the regular season. Minot State (0-2) has won the last three meetings in the series against U-Mary (0-2) and are currently in possession of the traveling trophy after a 27-19 win last season in Bismarck.

The first home victory in the Mike Aldrich era would keep the trophy in Minot and retain the bragging rights, while a loss would bring on the embarrassment of starting with a 0-3 record for a second straight year.

“A key for us to have a chance to win on Saturday is we need to be together on both sides (of the ball),” MSU head coach Aldrich said. “When one side is scratching and clawing and having a little success, the other side needs to counter that at the same time. So, if we get a defensive stop, offensively we need to take advantage of that. Then, when our offense is getting on a roll and starting to find a little momentum, then defensively we need to get some stops. Unfortunately, we haven’t pieced that together.”

The Beavers have been dismantled in their first two games, losing by an average of 36 points. And yet U-Mary is coming off a 66-0 blowout loss to Bemidji State after losing by a point, 14-13, to St. Cloud State in Week 1 — an average margin of defeat of 33.5 points.

Both teams desperately need a positive result to turn things around.

“We have to learn as we go and keep getting better,” Aldrich said. “I’d rather go with kids that want to just go and fight and we will see how it plays out in the end, as opposed to kids that just want to go along for the ride. I think we are sitting in a good situation with that.”

MSU continues to mix-and-match personnel with a plethora of rookies getting playing time.

Last week, recent Minot High graduate Peyton Lamoureux had his shining moment with a 87-yard pass completion and finished with 101 receiving yards. The freshman became the first MSU wide receiver to top 100 yards in a game since Akkil Walker had 104 yards against Northern State on Oct. 1, 2016.

Despite only having two catches, Lamoureux leads the team in receiving yards while Lavante Bushnell has been the go-to target with 10 catches and 89 yards in the first two games.

Who is slinging the ball out to the wide receivers this week is still up in the air. Sophomore Ben Bolinske took all the snaps in the second half last week against Northern State and scored the Beavers first touchdown of the season on a 6-yard run. Nonetheless, Aldrich doesn’t want to hand over the keys to the offense just yet without giving senior Andy Jones another look.

“We haven’t made a decision yet on our quarterback situation,” Aldrich said. “Ben (Bolinske) is definitely making it harder and harder for us, which is really good. He deserved to get those reps in the second half based on our quarterback play in the first half. So, we let him roll with it. Coming into this (game), we don’t want it to be a ‘make one mistake and you get yanked’ because then they are going to play with too much fear of failure.”

Offensively for U-Mary, the Marauders are last in the NSIC in rushing yards per game (22.5) and have relied on their passing attack with junior quarterback Jordan Velarde. He was pulled last week for backup Jason Hoekstra in the decisive defeat to Bemidji State. He has thrown for 326 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

For comparison, Bolinske and Jones have combined for 261 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions. The Beavers have the worst passing offense in the NSIC through the first two games, while also having the worst rushing defense (305.5 yards per game). At least they have outscored U-Mary to start the season, 19-13, so the Beavers have that stat in their favor.

The MSU defense has had its moments this season by creating seven turnovers. Senior cornerback Kiante Goudeau has nabbed two interceptions and two fumble recoveries. Fellow senior defensive back Chris Rivers leads the team in tackles with 15, followed by freshman Connor Huston (10) and Jackson Green (10), who has filled in for injured sophomore Matthew Ackerman.

Minot natives Alex Yanosko, Jordan Will and Logan Krueger each have a sack.

“Alex Yanosko was our Defensive Player of the Week,” Aldrich said. “He had eight tackles, a forced fumble and a sack. He was around the ball quite a bit and was very aggressive. He is starting to really come into his own. He is an older kid and an upperclassman, but this is his first year playing for us after he transferred here from Bemidji State. He didn’t play for them either, so this is his first true year of playing college football.”

The Marauders’ defense was torched last week, giving up 66 points and 627 total yards. The most eye-catching stat is probably that U-Mary was outrushed 422-0 in yardage and was gashed for five rushing touchdowns.

So, if there was ever a time for MSU to finally get its running game going, it’s this afternoon. The Beavers leading rusher is Bolinske (114 yards on 28 carries) followed by converted wide receiver Lane Torgerson (49 yards on 16 carries). Freshman running back Lee Webb, listed as the starter on the depth chart, has been held to 17 yards on nine carries.

An opportunity to get some positive momentum going has heightened the importance of this game. The fact it’s also a rivalry game with a trophy on the line is just added icing on the cake.

Alex Eisen covers Minot State athletics, the Minot Minotauros and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @AEisen13.