MINOT, N.D. – The Northern State football team turned in a big bounce-back victory on Saturday afternoon
Coming off their only home loss, the Wolves recorded a season high in points in 49-36 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference victory over Minot State.
“I cannot overstate how big this victory was for this team and for our program. We needed this win and we earned it,” said Northern coach Mike Schmidt. “It’s hard to bounce back from last week, but our guys found a way to fight for 60 minutes. There was a lot of momentum swings in the game, and we kept throwing punches every time we got knocked down.”
The Wolves found themselves in an early hole after Minot took the first play from scrimmage and turned it into a 70-yard touchdown run. However, the quarter would belong to Northern.
The Wolves exploded for 28 first-quarter points. Joey Dube-Garrett threw touchdown passes to Hank Kraft, Jacoby Boykins, and Cooper Eisenbeisz in the opening 15 minutes. NSU also scored a touchdown on a pass from receiver Cade Kaiser to quarterback Ty Engelhart.
That paved the way to a performance that featured 465 yards from scrimmage for the Wolves, 255 through the air, and another 226 on the ground.
“This is the best performance of the year by our offense. We had balance, rhythm, gadget plays, explosives, and we dominated third down,” Schmidt said. “I’m really happy with the way our offense performed today.”
After the Wolves built a 28-7 advantage, the Beavers fought back with 14 points in the second period, including a touchdown with three seconds left in the half to slice the deficit to 28-21 at the break.
Zach Kraft scored the game’s only touchdown of the third quarter on a pass from Dube-Garrett. Hank Kraft then added another TD reception, this time from Englehart, before tacking on a rushing touchdown later in the fourth quarter.
Dube-Garrrett finished the day with 242 yards passing and four touchdowns. Hank Kraft led the Wolves with 177 yards rushing. Eisenbeisz had five catches for 87 yards.
Jake Adams powered the Northern defense with 16 tackles. Minot was able to rack up 341 yards and four touchdowns on the ground.
“Defensively, playing this offense is miserable. It’s just not fun,” Schmidt said. “We gave up some explosive plays and that’s what this offense can do to you. But we made adjustments, forced two fumbles, and got key fourth-down stops when we really needed to.”
The victory leaves the Wolves in a position to win the North Division of the NSIC. Northern is currently tied with Bemidji State for the North lead.
NSU is 7-3 overall and 6-3 in conference play. The Wolves’ final home game is Saturday at 2 p.m. when they will host Jamestown University at Dacotah Bank Stadium.
“Obviously, one of our program goals is to win the NSIC North. We have an opportunity to do just that next weekend on senior day,” Schmidt said. “We need Wolves Country to show up and support this amazing group of seniors as they close out their careers in Dacotah Bank Stadium.”
To see a complete box score, click on the following link:
https://nsuwolves.com/sports/football/stats/2026/minot-state/boxscore/14648
