The Minot High football team has no time to feel bad for itself following a difficult start to its season, finding itself on the wrong side of a lopsided loss to then-No. 2 and now the top-ranked team in the state – Fargo Davies.

The schedule doesn’t get any easier for the Magicians, who now welcome defending state champion West Fargo Sheyenne to Duane Carlson Stadium on Friday, Sept. 5. The Mustangs will also be looking to get back on track after dropping their season opener at home to Bismarck Legacy.

“With the crew that we have, it’s really about us,” Minot coach Chauncy Hendershot said. “If you look at our schedule, AAA is really good. If you look at the scores from last week, I think there’s going to be a lot of parity. For us, we just have to get better, have to play better and we’re really excited to get out and take the next step.”

The Mustangs have had the upper hand on the Magicians since becoming a varsity program in 2014, winning seven of their 10 matchups. Sheyenne has never lost to Minot in the regular season, going a perfect 5-0. Minot’s only victories against the Mustangs have come in the postseason, the most recent being the 2023 Class AAA state semifinal. The last two regular season matchups have been close, with Sheynne winning one possession games in 2024 and 2023.

Both teams find themselves in similar positions, graduating several key contributors and are now looking for younger players to step up and fill crucial holes. Minot sophomore Ryder Sutton got his first varsity start at quarterback and completed 10 of 25 passes for 66 yards, throwing a pair of interceptions. He also carried the ball five times for a team-high 81 yards and a touchdown.

Junior wideout Tariq Bell emerged as a primary target for Sutton, snagging five passes for 33 yards and showcasing his elusiveness when getting into open space.

“Our team, we have to catch up with the varsity experience and go out on Friday night and catch up with our varsity reps, but there is no lack of work here,” Hendershot said. “These guys have been working. Tariq and Ryder and all our other receivers and skill positions. As a staff we want them to start to see the fruits of that labor, but there’s no reservations about it. We expect to do hard work and expect to do hard things and I think with Tariq, what you saw on Friday is a taste of all the work he’s put in. He’s just explosive and he looks to be a good weapon for us.”

The Magicians finished with 238 total yards on 36 plays. But they struggled to stay on the field, converting just 10 percent on third down and going three-and-out six times, most coming in the first half. They also turned the ball over three times.

The Mustangs have 18 seniors listed on their roster, but only five have a bulk of playing experience on the varsity team. Running back Kye Schlichting is the lone skill position player among that group with three of the remaining four playing on the line. Against Legacy, the Mustangs completed 10 of 21 passes for 126 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, and rushed for 118 yards on 23 attempts.

“They are athletic,” Hendershot said. “Kind of like us, they are filling in some spots from previous years where there was a lot of experience. They have some new guys in some positions, but the guys they’re returning played at a high level of football last year and we expect them to get better every week and make jumps from Week 1 to Week 2. It’s a very physical, athletic program that is very explosive offensively and, defensively, they fly around and make plays.”

While Minot’s game against Fargo Davies got away from the team early, surrendering 42 points in the opening half, the Magicians felt better about the way they performed in the second half, where they were able to keep the Eagles out of the end zone and force a turnover.

“It started in the second half of last week,” Hendershot said. “We have good data. In the moment at halftime you can take a quick pulse to see how this is going. We are not in it for moral victories or anything. From the coaches to some of our seniors that I talked with, we just have to be better. We have to get better. I thought we had a really good Monday and finished up a good practice (Wednesday) and we’re getting better at some of the basic fundamental things. I think if you put the film on from Friday, some of our fundamentals were off and when it got going, they fell apart and that leads to what you saw Friday night. Back to the basics. We want to keep it simple. We want to play fast. We want to play physical and let our guys go do that. But we have quality opponents all year. It’s going to be a great opportunity to improve week in and week out.”

The Mustangs will be the second straight opponent ranked in the top five that the Magicians will play this season. Sheyenne opened the season as the preseason No. 1 following its second state title in program history, but dropped down to No. 5 with its loss to Legacy. Since joining Class AAA as a varsity program in 2014, the Mustangs have already cemented themselves as one of the elite teams in the state year after year.

The Mustangs finished their inaugural campaign 3-6 and haven’t had a losing season since. They’ve advanced to the playoffs every year since 2015, winning six region titles and appearing in the state title game four times, winning twice (2021, 2024). They’ve won at least eight games in eight seasons and sport a .750 winning percentage as a program.