MINOT, N.D.  – Minot State University seemed poised to put together a game-winning drive in the final minutes Thursday night.

But a late interception thwarted a Beavers drive and a chance to win its 2015 season opener.

The Mustangs' Caleb Leichtnam stepped in front of a pass at his own 29-yard-line to end the Beavers drive and preserve a 21-20 SMSU win over Minot State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football Friday in front of 2,027 fans at newly renovated Herb Parker Stadium.

"I thought we played hard," said MSU head coach Tyler Hughes. "The team played for four quarters and that's obviously one of the first things you want your players to do. They have a great effort and played hard throughout. We just had too many mistakes when we could have gotten off the field defensively."

The Beavers (0-1 overall, 0-1 NSIC) took the lead three times in the game, first going up 7-6 on a 38-yard pass from Lucas Romanski (Jr., QB, San Ramon, Calif.) to Porter Sturm (Sr., WR, Roy, Mont.) early in the second quarter. MSU took a 13-9 lead on an 8-yard scamper by Romanski and then finally went up 20-15 as Sturm hauled in another TD from Romanski, this time from 33-yards out, with 45 seconds to play in the third quarter.

"We kept fighting," said Romanski, who was thrust into the role after starting quarterback Zac Cunha (Sr., Rocklin, Calif.) went down in the first quarter. "Any quarterback, if you give him great protection, you're going to let the ball go and feel comfortable putting it in the air. The offensive line did really well. I think I only got hit three times, which is awesome."

"For Lucas' part coming in the way he did, he did a great job," Hughes said. "We have a lot of confidence in Lucas and he had a great spring, so it didn't surprise me that he did that well. We'll rally and we'll move forward."

But SMSU had an answer each time.

Austin Wells hit a 24-yard field goal to cap a 14-play drive in the second quarter to put the Mustangs (1-0, 1-0) up 9-7 and Ty Styeffensen caught a pass in the back of the end zone from Blake Gimbel as time expired just before the half to give SMSU a 15-13 lead at the break. The final answer offensively came as Davonta Stevens plunged in from 1-yard out with 11:45 to play in the fourth quarter to give the game its eventual final score.

But SMSU still needed a big defensive stand and it came on Leichtnam's diving interception – the only turnover of the game. He jumped in front of Sturm to pick off the only mistake Romanski made all game and the Mustangs were able to earn three first downs to run out the clock.

"I came off one read and then my read jumped into the second, so I just kind of hesitated and it came out soft," Romanski said of the interceptions. "It was just a small mental mistake."

Both teams were marred by penalties as they combined to be flagged 21 times for 205 yards.

"We need to be more disciplined up front," said MSU linebacker Trevin Swensen (Jr., Shelley, Idaho). "We need to watch the ball better. I mean me as well, I went offside a couple times. It's just discipline – the little things, stuff like that we need to clean up.
"We have a bunch of guys right now working their butts off. We're upset we lost, but we're pushing."

Romanski finished the night 14 for 20 for 197 yards and three TDs – two passing and one rushing. Cunha was 2 for 2 for 38 yards as the Beavers passing game was efficient overall. Sturm and Akkil Walker (Jr., WR, Miami, Fla.) had the bulk of the work as Sturm finished with 100 yards on five receptions and the two scores and Walker finished with a team-high six catches for 95 yards.

"I have all the trust in the world in my teammates," said Sturm. "I think this week in practice, Lucas getting some reps with the ones helped. We all have to come prepared. It's a long season and its bad we lost by one, but we have improved a lot. I think that showed a lot tonight. We have to come ready for the next one."

Gimbel was 23 for 42 with 192 yards and two scores. Davonta Stevens was the workhorse for SMSU with 164 yards on 27 carries as SMSU out-rushed the Beavers 237-133.

Jarvis Mustipher (Jr., RB, Melbourne, Fla.) paced the Beavers with 75 yards on 20 carries, while Swensen and Isaiah Steinwand (Sr., DB, Minot, N.D.) each finished with 13 tackles. Marcel Brinson (Sr., DB, Gilroy, Calif.) added nine tackles in the loss.

The Beavers will have some extra time as they don't play again until Saturday, Sept. 12 as they make the long track to Winona State to take on the Warriors at 1 p.m.



About Minot State
Minot State University is a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) and NCAA Division II offering 14 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletics programs. The NSIC is a premier NCAA DII, 16-member conference featuring teams in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa. The Beavers are the only public NCAA Division II institution in the state of North Dakota.