Minot, N.D. --- The Minnesota State football team was anything but cordial Thursday evening as it spoiled the first-ever football game for Minot State as members of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference by earning a 44-10 victory over the Beavers.

MSU dominated the line of scrimmage rushing for 241 yards on 50 carries.  Redshirt freshman #Connor Thomas# rushed 12 times for 81 yards and a score while junior quarterback #Jon Wolf# added 80 yards on 15 carries to pace the Mavericks. 

On the other side of the ball, the Maverick defense limited the Beavers to -43 yards rushing on 26 carries.  The –43 yards rushing marked the first time that the Maverick defensive unit has not allowed a team positive yards in the rushing ledger since Oct. 17, 2009 when it held Minnesota State Moorhead to -2 yards rushing.

As a unit the Mavericks limited Minot State to 33 yards of total offense on 49 plays.

“I am extremely proud of our defense,” said acting head coach Aaron Keen.  “All night long they gave the offense outstanding field position. We accomplished our goal, starting 1-0, and now it is time to prepare for Bemidji State.”

The Mavericks opened the game with a 53-yard return by Thomas giving the Mavericks excellent field possession.  After a 20-yard pass from Wolf to redshirt freshman #Kyle Riggott# moved the ball to the 12 the Mavericks the Mavericks settled for a 24-yard field goal by junior kicker #Sam Brockshus#.

Minot State answered with a nice return of its own, carrying the ball down to the 10-yard line before eventually taking a 7-3 lead as quarterback Bryce Jorgensen found Glynn Borel for a six-yard strike.

The Mavericks answered on the ensuing drive as senior running back #Taylor Brookins# punched in a three-yard run.  Brockshus kick was true as MSU took a lead of 10-3 and never looked back.

The second quarter saw Brockshus sandwich 35 and 36-yard field goalsaround a fumbled snap on a punt in the endzone – which was recovered by redshirt freshman #Bryce Dominick# - pushing the Maverick lead to 23-7 with 4:45 left in the opening half.

The Beavers kicker – Aaron LaDeaux – connected on a 49-yard field goal with 32 seconds remaining in the first half to trim the halftime deficit to 23-10.

The Mavericks used a pair of fourth-down conversions during a 15-play,65-yard drive in the third quarter which was capped by an 11-yard touchdown run by Wolf to extend the Maverick lead to 29-10 with 2:46 remaining in the third quarter.

Thomas punched in a five-yard run early in the fourth quarter and junior tight end #Matt Murphy# caught a 19-yard pass from redshirt freshman quarterback #Trent Cummings# to conclude the scoring.

Defensively, junior linebacker #Issac Kolstad# finished with eight tackles while senior linebacker Marcus Hall-Oliver added five stops.  Senior defensive back #Earl Brooks# also had five tackles in the victory.

Wolf also completed 12-of-23 passes for 116 yards. 

The Mavericks return to action Sept. 8 when they host Bemidji State in their 2012 home opener.  Kick-off is set for 6 p.m., in historic Blakeslee Stadium.

Listen to highlights and post game interviews HERE