Minot State upsets U-Mary as rivalry renews

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MINOT — Freshman Zach Cunha had 228 yards passing and three touchdowns as Minot State shocked University of Mary on Saturday night in the restart of one of North Dakota’s best football rivalries.

The Beavers rallied from a deficit late in the fourth quarter, scoring 22 unanswered points on three touchdowns to win 32-21 at Herb Parker Stadium. It was their first victory of the season and as a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.

It was the first NCAA Division II game between the former NAIA rivals who played each other for several years in the North Dakota Collegiate Athletic Conference and Dakota Athletic Conference.

Redshirt freshman Zach Roberson got the start at quarterback for U-Mary in place of injured starter Craig Bagnell. He went 26 of 49 for 328 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Elby Pope led U-Mary with 154 yards receiving and a touchdown while Tyler Steffan, a Dickinson High School graduate, had seven catches for 61 yards.

The Marauders (3-2, 0-1 NSIC North Division) led 21-10 in the third quarter when Roberson hit Jeremy Mayfield from 29 yards out.

The Beavers (1-4, 1-0 NSIC North) took over from there.

Cuhna hit Wayne Peters on a 9-yard TD strike before connecting with Porter Sturm on a 20-yard TD in the back of the end zone for the go-ahead points with 1:52 remaining.

Just 23 seconds later, Randel Barber sealed the game with a 35-yard TD run. It was a score set up after Jeff Bechel intercepted Roberson for the second time.

Mary 0 14 7 0 — 21

MSU 10 0 0 22 — 32

First quarter

MSU–Glyn Borel 34 pass from Zac Cunha (Aaron LaDeaux kick), 13:14.

MSU–LaDeaux 41 FG, 6:20.

Second quarter

Mary–Zach Roberson 1 run (Tyler Ryan kick), 11:25.

Mary–Elby Pope 26 pass from Roberson (Ryan kick), 1:43.

Third quarter

Mary–Jeremy Mayfield 29 pass from Roberson (Ryan kick), 4:30.

Fourth quarter

MSU–Wayne Peters 9 pass from Cunha (Borel pass from Cunha), 9:39.

MSU–Porter Sturm 20 pass from Cunha (LaDeaux kick), 1:52.

MSU–Randel Barber 35 run (LaDeaux kick), 1:29.

TEAM STATISTICS MARY MSU

First downs 20 21

Rushes-yards 32-83 41-114

Passing yards 328 228

Comp.-Att.-Int. 26-49-2 16-33-2

Total yards 411 342

Fumbles-lost 0-0 3-1

Penalties-yards 14-114 5-44

Punts-Avg. 6-38 6-35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Mary, Evan Gross 7-35, D. Gravely 11-37, Zach Roberson 4-(-7). MSU, Blake Eggl 18-79, Randel Barber 9-48, Aaron LaDeaux 1-11, Wayne Peters 2-(-3), Zac Cunha 11-(-21).

PASSING: Mary, Zach Roberson 26-49-2 328. MSU, Zac Cunha 16-33-2 228.

RECEIVING: Mary, Elby Pope 7-154, Tyler Steffan 7-61, Jeremy Mayfield 3-61, M. Baldoz-McArn 3-25, Evan Gross 2-8, L. Guthmiller 1-11, DJ Young 1-6. MSU, Wayne Peters 6-77, Glyn Borel 5-90, Porter Sturm 4-49, Kyle Sandefur 1-12.

Tags: minot state beavers, university of mary marauders, college football, sports