MINOT, N.D. – The Ian Shields era began with a strong performance, even though the outcome wasn't what the Beavers wanted.

Now Minot State hits the road looking to build off a strong season opener, playing Saturday at noon at Minnesota State Moorhead with both teams coming in after close setbacks.

The Beavers (0-1 overall, 0-1 NSIC) fell 28-23 to a late Southwest Minnesota State comeback, while the Dragons (0-1, 0-1) lost 31-23 at Wayne State.

"I thought our guys played exceptionally hard," Coach Shields said of the Beavers opener. "We need to play a little better, we need to coach a little better.

"I was proud of our effort," he added. "It hurts to come up on the short end of the scoreboard but obviously we're making progress."

Minot State came out strong, taking a 17-0 lead as Evan Lovett ran for an early 8-yard touchdown and Daniel Stokes caught a 16-yard scoring pass from Dawson Macleary for that 17-0 advantage before the Mustangs rallied to steal the win in the second half.

Lovett led the Beavers ground game rushing for 63 yards on 12 carries, while Macleary completed 12-of-23 passes for 146 yards on the day.

The difference proved to be the arm of Mustangs quarterback Marcus Martin who threw a pair of second-half touchdown passes, completing 13-of-28 passes for 225 yards in the game for Southwest Minnesota State.

Going into this week, shutting down the pass game will be a key for the Beavers against MSU Moorhead as Dragons' quarterback Jack Strand threw for an NSIC-best 351 yards and three touchdowns, completing 42-of-58 passes against Wayne State.

"It's certainly the focus," Shields said of the Dragons pass attack. "I don't think you can completely shut it down. …They're going to throw it around and have some fun, we have our challenge to hold up in coverage."

One way to slow down the Dragons pass attack will fall on the Minot State offense itself as Shields hopes his team can play a ball-control game with their ground attack, keeping Strand and his top targets, Brady Perryman (10 catches for 136 yards and 2 TDs) and Gage Florence (17 catches for 97 yards and 1 TD), off the field.

"I think there's really two different styles of play," Shields said. "Our best defense needs to be our offense, our offense needs to stay on the field. Against this squad it would behoove us to have some ball control and have some long, sustained drives."

The Dragons defense will test Minot State, though, but against the Wildcats MSU Moorhead did allow 389 total yards which included 125 on the ground and three rushing scores.

"I have a lot of respect for how they play and the way they play," Shields said. "I think they're active defensively, they're really strong up front, they run around, their second level of defense - their linebackers - are excellent, they're sound in their coverages, they're experienced; they pose some real problems for us."

Of course, tackling those kinds of challenges makes a program stronger and leads to victory, and Coach Shields feels his team is ready to tackle the challenge ahead.