Sean Williams/MDN The Minot High defense was on the field a lot on Friday versus Fargo Davies, but they played tough and caused three turnovers in a 34-7 loss.

Following a gritty win over the Century Patriots at home last week, the Minot Magicians (3-2 overall, 3-1 West Region) were back in action on Friday, as they hit the road for an East-West matchup against the Fargo Davies Eagles (4-1 overall, 2-0 East Region).

The Magicians are playing great football as of late, with back-to-back wins over formerly No. 1 Mandan and Century, which is something they haven’t done since the 2017 season.

On the other side of the matchup, the Eagles have won three games in a row where they have scored 34 points or more in each victory. History has been on their side as of late, with the Eagles winning their last two matchups against the Magi.

With both teams sitting at the top of their regions, the continued strong play entering Friday was a goal of both teams. However, it was the Eagles that would achieve their goal, taking down the Magicians in a 34-7 final in Fargo.

Giving themselves great field position on the opening kick, the Eagles picked up a couple of first downs to keep the chains moving as they looked to break the scoreless tie right away.

The Minot defense would put the Eagles in a fourth down situation, but a penalty extended the drive and Luke Lorenz would make the Magi pay, punching in a touchdown with 7:49 left in the first quarter to give his team a 6-0 lead.

Having success in the run game over the last two weeks, the Magi would begin to establish that facet moving into the closing minutes of the opening quarter. As the first quarter ended, the Magi were sitting in a fourth down and six situation in the Eagles’ territory.

An incomplete pass would stall the Magi’s best drive of the evening. However, echoing a similar performance as last week, the Magi defense would then turn it up a notch and help the team squash any momentum the Eagles built up.

On three consecutive possessions, the Magi defense would force and recover a fumble courtesy of Zaccharius Brown and Kaydn Turnbow. The turnovers came at great times, as the Eagles were driving and getting close to the red zone before coughing it up.

Even though the Magi were establishing their ground game more, the team was still struggling to put up points and have lengthy drives. Making things tougher, starting quarterback Jayden Speraw went down with an injury with under a minute to go in the half, as backup quarterback Lucas Beeter took over. Not wanting to risk anything, the Magi would run a few quick plays and head into the half trailing the Eagles 6-0.

The defense was the story of the first half for Minot High, who did not break when the Eagles had a variety of long pass plays and run plays. Three turnovers later and they were still within striking distance moving into the second half.

Fortunately for the Magi, Speraw would take the field to open the second half and he would connect with Logan Conklin to move the chains on their first play of the half. With the two of them finally getting in rhythm tonight, they would move the chains again on first down later during the opening drive.

On third-and-19, the duo would connect for a third time, as the deep pass put the Magi inside the Eagles’ 10-yard line, as they looked to end their scoreless drought. Their hopes would not come to fruition, as an incomplete pass on fourth down made the Magi come up empty.

Just as the Magi’s passing attack started to develop, rain started coming down in Fargo, but with the team still trailing only 6-0 and the offense looking better to open the second half, this game seemed far from over.

The rain, however, wouldn’t slow down the Eagles offense as quarterback Mason Klabo and Raymond Brown connected on a deep pass before connecting for a TD, extending the Eagles lead to 13-0 with 3:28 to go in quarter three.

After a short punt by the Magi, the Eagles got the ball back on their next possession in the red zone, looking to extend their lead. They would do just that, when Elijah Hayes ran one in to make it a 20-0 Eagles lead with 1:40 left in the third quarter.

Putting together consecutive scoring drives, it began to feel as if time was running out for the Magi, who were looking for their first points of the evening still. A long pass to Conklin is all the Magi would be able to muster together on their next drive, as they had another turnover on downs.

Not wasting any time in continuing to pile it on, the Eagles would punch in another rushing TD courtesy of Hayes, making it a 27-0 lead with 11:10 left in the fourth quarter. On their next possession, the Magi would finally end the scoreless streak as Speraw and Conklin linked up for a deep touchdown, trimming the Eagles lead to 27-7 with 10:57 left.

With it being the first attempt for the Eagles to provide an answer in this one, they would take the ball down field and score after the Magi TD with Lorenz running one in from 4-yards out for his second TD of the night. This made it a 34-7 Eagles lead with 9:57 to go.

Moving towards the end of the game, the Magi offense would begin to put together more extended drives, but it was too late as the Eagles lead was insurmountable, with the game being a 34-7 final.

Following the loss, the Magi will head home next week as they host West Fargo Sheyenne and look to get back on track. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Duane Carlson Stadium.