Submitted Photo Minot High sophomore quarterback Ryder Sutton throws a pass during the Magicians’ season opener against Fargo Davies on Friday, Aug. 29. Photo courtesy of Chris Flynn / The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead.

Minot High knew if it was going to have a chance at upsetting second-ranked Fargo Davies, it would need to win the battle up front, as well as have the edge in both the turnover margin and time of possession.

The Magicians didn’t come close to winning any of those areas and the game was out of reach well before halftime as a result, as the Eagles ran all over Minot High in a 42-14 rout on Friday, Aug. 29, in the season opener for both teams.

Davies scored touchdowns on its first six possessions and accumulated nearly 300 yards on the ground in the opening 24 minutes, handing the Magicians their most lopsided loss since 2011, when they suffered a 37-0 defeat at the hands of West Fargo Sheyenne.

“We have a number of new guys getting into this varsity experience and we needed to get this game and feel what it’s like and what it’s going to take to compete with a great team like Fargo Davies,” Minot High coach Chauncy Hendershot said.

The Eagles’ run-first style of offense was in midseason form right from the opening snap. Davies quarterback Xavier Muse broke off a 31-yard touchdown run on 3rd-and-3 on his team’s first drive of the game, cutting inside before bouncing it outside to the end zone. It was the first of three rushing touchdowns for the Eagles (1-0) in the opening quarter.

Henry Hart and Ryland Fischer added touchdown runs of 16 and 1 as the Eagles built a 21-0 lead after the first quarter. Both touchdown runs came off Minot turnovers. The first was set up by Davies cornerback Alex Christopherson, who intercepted Minot starting quarterback Ryder Sutton and returned it to the Minot 24 to set up a short field for the Eagles. Fischer’s touchdown came off a botched handoff on the ensuing drive. James Pallotta couldn’t handle the exchange from Sutton and Davies’ Alex Meece fell on the ball at the Minot 28, leading to seven more points.

It was more of the same from the opening snap of the second quarter. Kane Mathiason ripped off a 42-yard touchdown burst on the first play of the second quarter to give the Eagles a 28-0 advantage.

The Magicians’ struggled to stay on the field, going 3-and-out on multiple drives in the opening half. Their best drive of the half came late in the second quarter, when Minot drove down to the Davies’ 25-yard line on a 12-play drive. However, that’s where the drive stalled and Muse needed just one play to record his second rushing touchdown of the contest, this one going for 75 yards as Davies took a 42-0 lead into halftime.

Muse carried the ball four times for 120 yards and two touchdowns.

The Magicians had just 86 yards of total offense in the first half on 32 plays.

With the second half being played with a running clock, the Magicians avoided Davies’ shutout bid with a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Sutton found the end zone for his first varsity touchdown on a 6-yard rush with 9:10 remaining in the game.

“Our guys kept battling,” Hendershot said. “We kept fighting. On the sideline there was a good focus forward energy in the second half. I think we all have to accept what happened and then we own it and then we move forward. At the end of the game, I think we have a crew committed to coming back on Monday and getting better.”

Kayson Mello added an 8-yard touchdown with just over a minute left.

Despite the loss, the Magicians aren’t discouraged as they know the season is still young.

“We’re excited to get back to work,” Hendershot said. “We have to stay together and commit to the work and we’re going to learn a lot from watching the film. Going against a great team like Davies, we expect them to be one of the cream of the crop teams in the state. For us, it’s got to be about us – how we execute, everything down from pad level, getting off the ball and knowing our assignments and building confidence as a team, and I think we’ll do that.”

The Magicians host West Fargo Sheyenne on Friday, Sept. 5, at Duane Carlson Stadium at 8 p.m.