Mike kraft/MDN Minot High senior quarter Tegan Schindler gets hit while throwing a pass during the fourth quarter against Mandan on Thursday, Oct. 16, at Duane Carlson Stadium. The Magicians lost starting quarterback Ryder Sutton to an injury during the first half.

Minot High knew what was at stake in its home finale against Mandan on Thursday, Oct. 16.

A win against the Braves – their first of the season – would put the Magicians in the driver’s seat for the fourth and final playoff spot out of the West Region, needing to beat a winless Williston program the following week to ensure a bonus football game on Halloween night. A loss to Mandan would eliminate them from postseason contention and send the Braves to the playoffs for an eighth straight year.

The Magicians seemed destined to get that much-needed win, but then the injuries happened and in the blink of an eye, their postseason hopes ended. Minot lost starting running back Blake Anderson and starting quarterback Ryder Sutton in the span of just a few minutes of game time and the Braves closed the game with 28 unanswered points. As a result, the Magicians were eliminated from postseason contention in a 34-20 loss to Mandan at a rainy Duane Carlson Stadium on Senior Night.

“We talk about adversity revealing character,” Minot High coach Chauncy Hendershot said. “It was Senior Night tonight and we wanted to send these guys out the right way. It felt like the game was going our way. We had some injuries. We’ll find out about those. The momentum shifted. This one stings. A lot of lessons to take from this one, though. Things don’t always go as planned and with the injuries tonight, it shifted and we had guys battling. Proud of the fight. Proud of the senior class that stuck it out for four years.”

Anderson, who has been dealing with a lingering ankle injury throughout most of the season, was back in the starting lineup, but limped off the field at the end of the first quarter after his 12th carry of the contest. He had amassed 55 yards and a touchdown in the opening 12 minutes before being forced to the sidelines for the remainder of the game.

Sutton sustained a lower-body injury during an extra point attempt following a 17-yard touchdown run by Jalen Gunville with 9:15 left in the second quarter, putting the Magicians ahead 14-6. Sutton, serving as the backup kicker with Anderson injured, got run into on the extra point and couldn’t put any weight on his leg while being helped to the sidelines. Neither Sutton nor Anderson returned.

Without two of its offensive juggernauts, the Magicians relied on defense and special teams to try and keep them in the game. Sutton’s backup, Tegan Schindler, provided the biggest play of the night for the Magicians. The senior, playing in his final home game, fielded a punt at his own 33 and proceeded to make a number of Mandan players miss en route to a 67-yard touchdown to give the Magicians a 20-6 lead with 7:25 remaining in the half.

The Braves (2-6 overall, 2-2 WDA) threatened to cut Minot’s lead to one possession in the final minute of the first half, but James Pallotta jumped the route and picked off quarterback Cole Carlson inside the Minot 10 to keep his team’s 13-point heading into halftime.

“I thought we took control of the game and then from there, we’ll wait and see what the situation is on Ryder,” Hendershot said, “Tegan stepped in and did an admirable job. The conditions, it was just tough.”

The Magicians (0-8, 0-4) intercepted Carlson twice in the first half and once more in the second with Pallotta getting his second in the third quarter, again inside the red zone, this time at the 1-yard line. Anthony Alexander got the first late in the opening quarter in Mandan territory on a 4th-and-4, returning it to the Braves 20-yard line. Minot was unable to take advantage of the short field, turning the ball over on downs. Alexander also recorded a sack.

The Braves opted to keep the ball on the ground throughout most of the second half with the rain continuing to fall at a steady pace. Mandan gave the Minot defense a heavy dose of Kirkie, and the senior tailback eventually found the end zone on a 2-yard run with 3:58 left in the third to get Mandan within 20-13. His production was far from over, as he would find the end zone two more times.

A 25-yard touchdown burst by Kirkie pulled Mandan even at 20 with 9:23 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Braves didn’t throw the ball often in the second half, but when they did, it resulted in a big play. Carlson found his top target, Daniel Wentz, for a 22-yard touchdown connection, putting Mandan in front, 27-20, with 6:53 remaining.

Kirkie put the punctuation mark on the comeback and the postseason berth with a 2-yard touchdown run with 1:57 left.

The Magicians went the final 31:25 minutes without scoring a point.

“We were definitely limited a little bit,” Hendershot said. “We tried to open it up a bit, but they did a good job of playing the gaps and getting to their spots and making things difficult.”

Minot played a solid 23 minutes, 30 seconds, in the opening half, but the first 30 seconds were a nightmare. The Braves pulled some trickeration on the opening kickoff, electing to catch the Magicians off guard with an onside kick, which they recovered at midfield. Nunpa Kirkie needed less than 30 seconds to find the end zone after that, taking his first carry from scrimmage 45 yards and his second to pay dirt to put the Braves up 6-0 in the opening minute.

The momentum flipped with a little help from Mother Nature. After generating nothing on their first possession, the Magicians punted the ball away, but Mandan’s Hayden Brownotter muffed the catch and Minot’s Taylor Lundeen jumped on it at his own 35.

The Magicians took advantage of the turnover, driving 65 yards on 11 plays to take a 7-6 lead. Anderson capped off the drive with a 1-yard plunge.

Minot closes out its season at Williston on Friday, Oct. 24, at 7 p.m.