Beaver football earns first win of the season
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The Minot State Beavers football team secured their first win of the 2026 season during their Homecoming weekend with a decisive 59-0 victory over the Southwest Minnesota State University Mustangs at Herb Parker Stadium on Saturday, September 19.
This season’s start has been one of the better ones for the Beavers in recent years, and though they had yet to win a game before last Saturday’s win, the team had proven that they were in a strong position heading into the rest of the season.
Saturday’s win over the Mustangs was the culmination of everything the Beavers had been working towards with their work on both sides of the ball.
The Beavers offense was the most successful it had been all season, taking the ball a total of 506 yards and scoring eight touchdowns, the most they’ve had in a game so far this season.
Sophomore quarterback and Bishop Ryan alum Jett Lundeen led the Beavers through the air with a total of 35 passing yards while junior quarterback Matt Shinn followed him up with 25 passing yards of his own.
While the Beavers have earned more passing yards than usual this season overall, the Beavers’ ground game on Saturday made up the bulk of their offensive efforts.
The Beavers rushed for a total of 445 yards against the Mustangs, with fifth year slotback Brandon Hines Jr. leading the way with three touchdowns and 186 yards ran.
All in all, six different players crossed into the end zone to give the Beavers their 59 points.
Along with the offense, the Beavers defense had by far their strongest game of the season so far, giving Minot State their first shut out win in 20 years when they beat South Dakota Tech 30-0 in 2006.
The Beavers defense kept the Mustangs to just 129 yards in the air through all four quarter, and allowed just 91 yards on the ground.
The Beavers forced six turnovers from the Mustangs, resulting in 35 points.
“The difference was defensively today,” Head coach Ian Shields said. “Today we stepped up defensively, it was the most complimentary football we’ve played in all three phases today.”
The Beavers improved their record to 1-3 on the season and 1-2 in NAIC play. The Beavers will head back on the road for their next game, as they take on Bemidji State University on Saturday, September 26.
“We’re going to enjoy this for 24 hours and then we’re going to turn the page,” Shields said. “We know it’s going to be a battle up there, it’s a battle every week in this conference.”