Copy of Minot Daily News Article (link)

By MICHAEL LINNELL, Sports Editor mlinnell@minotdailynews.com

Photo by Michael Linnell/MDN

Minot State University defensive “Green” player Kevin Conway (17) jars the ball loose from offensive “White” player Davion Mauldin (27) during the Beavers' scrimmage Saturday at Herb Parker Stadium.

MSU enters final week

The attention now turns toward Rocky Mountain (Mont.) College.

Minot State University conducted its only fall scrimmage in preparation for the season opener in one week Saturday at Herb Parker Stadium. The scrimmage was a highly structured practice with no score or time kept. Still, the team, according to head coach Mike Sivertson, needed to get into a game-type atmosphere.

“It is all part of our evaluation process,” he said. “We play a lot of guys and don't scheme too much for different match ups like we will do next week. It is more about seeing who is responding and who is ready.”

The Beavers now enter their final week of practice before heading to Miles City, Mont. to play the Battling Bears of RMC this Saturday.

“The focus now is all Rocky Mountain,” Sivertson said. “We will begin to get a game plan for them. It is going to be tough. We haven't played and they haven't played this year and there is no history. I guess they have the same issues as we do.”

Sivertson doesn't think either his offense of defense has an overall advantage right now and much of the scrimmage showed that as both units had bright spots.

“I don't think that matters much now,” he said. “Both teams have to get ready for next week. That is the most important issue for both squads. We are going to have to be adaptable to what Rocky throws at us. That is the name of the game throughout the season.”

The Beavers didn't suffer any major injuries during the scrimmage as far as Sivertson knew after the game. And, the team saw the return of senior running back Neil Graham after a knee injury kept him on the sidelines all of last season. Graham's status was in doubt two weeks ago, but looked like he was moving well on a variety of runs.

“He is coming around,” Sivertson said. “We want him to get back to his form at the end of the 2004 season where he was pretty special. He has got to test it and that is what he did (Saturday).”

Sivertson said adding another quality running back to the mix is always a positive.

“One more horse,” he said. “We would like to spread it around.”

The Beavers' kicking game also looked to be better than it was a year ago as senior Marco Babic hammered multiple field goals, hitting a couple from beyond 40 yards during simulated field goal situations.

The Beavers won't be back to Herb Parker Stadium until Sept. 9 when they play host to Bemidji State at 1 p.m.