Mike Kraft/MDN Minot High’s offensive line has shown signs of improvement over the course of the season despite navigating through injuries.

A full four quarters.

That’s what Minot High coach Chauncy Hendershot wants to see out of his team as the season enters its final few weeks.

The Magicians have been close to capturing that elusive first victory many times this season, but every game has had its moment where the game slips out of their hands. They’ve held second-half leads in half of their games this season and entered the fourth quarter tied or in front twice.

“I think there’s been moments where some kids step up and see new players at new positions get experience there, so that’s been fun,” Hendershot said. “We’re still looking for our best football, so that’s been frustrating. We want to progress and put four quarters together. We want to get this group healthy and get the opportunity to finish the season right.”

Minot’s West Region opener against Bismarck High was not one of those games, and outside of a strong start to the third quarter, the Magicians never really put together a full quarter let alone the four they were looking for. Even though the score might not have been indicative of it against Bismarck Legacy last week, the Magicians played a solid opening half before fading in the second half of their 41-12 defeat.

A bright spot against the Sabers was the play of Minot’s offensive line as well as running back Jalen Gunville, who filled in for Blake Anderson as he continues to recover from a lingering ankle injury that has limited his snap counts throughout the season. Gunville carried the ball 20 times for a career-high 135 yards and two touchdowns. Gunville accounted for roughly half of Minot’s offensive production.

“Jalen ran the ball really hard last week,” Hendershot said. “Also, offensively, I thought our O-line executed our run scheme pretty well against the three front that Legacy played, but Jalen ran downhill, finished his runs and had a good game.”

Injuries along the offensive line have caused the Magicians to use a number of combinations throughout the season. With so many rotating bodies, consistency can be an issue at times.

“We’ve had to mix and match guys on the O-line,” Hendershot said. “Different starters for Week 3 compared to Week 4, 5 and in Week 6 we had different guys for various reasons. Just looking for consistency there. Last week, there was a step forward for our offensive line. That would be the one spot of improvement and that’s where we’re going to need improvement, is in the trenches to finish this thing right.”

The Bismarck portion of the schedule concludes this week with a trip to No. 5 Century, a team riding high after losing its first two games of the season. The Patriots come in winners of four straight and have won their last three games by a combined score of 129-7. While those three contests have come against teams with a combined record of 1-16, they still have momentum on their side.

“Century’s big and they definitely have it rolling right now,” Hendershot said. “They are going to line up offensively. They play a physical, downhill style of football. A lot of iso and power and they have a really big offensive line. They are big upfront on both sides of the ball, but they are going to pound the rock with good athletes and complementary athletes on the edge.”

Tristan Pope leads the rushing attack for the Patriots. He wasn’t called on to do much last week against Williston, but compiled 277 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries in his two previous contests.

Under center is all-region quarterback Noah Herr. In his last three outings, Herr has thrown for 384 yards on 30 completions for five touchdowns. Last season, Herr threw for 1,228 yards and seven touchdowns.

Defensively, the Patriots are allowing a Class AAA-best 12.3 points per game.

Winless through six games, Hendershot understands the underlying frustration among the team and their desire to win, but is also using this time as a learning experience.

“That’s something we’re always taking into consideration as coaches,” Hendershot said. “We’re challenging them and pushing them and recognizing the challenge is great with the numbers and playing AAA and then letting a couple games in which we had opportunities early, dealing with injuries. We’re trying to use these lessons – and these are life lessons – where we deal with adversity. It’s not just caught up in what happens on Fridays. Just being consistent with that. I like the focus and the vibe. I just want to get the guys healthy and get them confident and get them to finish this.”

The Magicians season is far from over despite the winless start. Their playoff fate will come down to the final two games of the season against Mandan and Williston. Wins against both would result in a playoff spot as the No. 4 seed in the West. However, the focus is on the here and now and not the future.

“We’ve talked about the path forward and what it would take to play bonus football and to get into the playoffs,” Hendershot said. “It doesn’t really matter if we don’t get better every day at practice. If we aren’t consistent, it’s all going to be a moot point. It’s out there and might provide motivation, but it’s not the real work that we have to do, but these last three weeks will be big for us.”

Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m.