MINOT, N.D. - On a pleasant, fall afternoon in northwestern North Dakota, Concordia-St. Paul (4-3 NSIC) couldn't keep up with host Minot State (3-4) in a 38-31 loss at Herb Parker Stadium.

CSP returns home next week to face the other Beavers squad from the NSIC North, Bemidji State (5-2 NSIC) with a noon kickoff at Sea Foam Stadium on October 26 to conclude four weeks of NSIC North-South competition.

It was a sunny afternoon with temperatures reaching the upper 50s, the wind approaching 20 miles per hour would play a factor, but not even close to what Minot State had to deal with just a week ago when it received approximately two feet of snow.

But neither team seemed to be slowed down by a moderate North Dakota wind, as Minot State piled up 502 yards of total offense including 308 on the ground compared to 459 yards by Concordia with a balanced 197 rushing and 262 through the air. Concordia put up a season-high 27 first downs while the Beavers had 26.

Just a week after tying the NCAA Division II single game sacks record, Concordia couldn't solve Minot State quarterback Ben Bolinske as he rushed for 141 yards on 10 carries including three touchdowns, and completed 14-of-18 for 194 yards and another score. He wasn't intercepted, sacked or even tackled for loss in the game.

The busy running game for Minot State allowed CSP sophomore linebacker Gabe Nkumu to total the second-most tackles in program history, finishing with 19 in the game, including one for loss. He surpassed sophomore Jake Portz who became the third player with 18 tackles in a game in week two at Upper Iowa, and fell one short of Mike Willett's school record of 20 in 2012 against Upper Iowa.

Concordia senior quarterback Maxon Hutton also had a strong performance, with career highs in completions (22), attempts (39) and yards (262). He added two touchdown passes and rushed 13 times for 41 yards to eclipse 300 yards of total offense (303).

Hutton connected for both touchdowns with senior wide receiver Jabril Clewis, his first two TDs as a Golden Bear. Clewis had six catches for 77 yards in the game. Fellow senior wideout MJ Williams had his best performance of the year with seven catches for 91 yards including a long of 45 that set up a field goal in the first quarter to put CSP on the scoreboard on its opening drive following a Minot State touchdown on the game's opening possession.

Concordia had a productive two-pronged attack in the backfield as sophomore Shaq Johnson had a team-high 16 carries, rushing for 69 yards with a long of 17 while freshman Darios Crawley-Reid led the team in rushing with 76 yards on just eight attempts, averaging 9.5 per carry. Johnson added four catches for 15 yards out of the backfield.

Crawley-Reid's first two carries went for 46 yards, the final being a 24-yard TD run which gave Concordia a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter (11:23).

But the Beavers answered with back-to-back touchdowns in the quarter, and appeared headed for a third to take a 28-10 lead into halftime.

But a botched pitch at the goal line was recovered in the end zone by junior defensive end Chris Garrett, who had teamed up with junior linebacker Dalton Smerchek on the previous play to stuff a 1st-and-goal from the one.

The fumble recovery stopped the Beavers from scoring in the red zone with 30 seconds to play before halftime.

Trailing 21-10, Concordia received to start the third quarter and produced a pair of masterpiece drives in a road situation, nearly identical. The first was a 14-play, 75-yard drive covering 5:49 and capped by an 11-yard keeper by wide receiver/backup quarterback Jared Olsgaard. The second was a 13-play, 75-yard march covering 5:48 and capped by Hutton's first of two TD strikes to Clewis.

After a snap miscue on the first TD, Hutton connected with Olsgaard for the two point try on the second. Unfortunately for CSP's comeback bid, Minot State had scored on its possession in between and CSP still trailed 28-24 nearing the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth, Concordia came up with a big stop in the red zone once again, forcing a Minot State 19-yard field goal to keep it a one score game, 31-24 with plenty of time (10:03) to play.

But a 3-and-out was followed by a 40-yard Bolinske rushing touchdown on the next play to put the Beavers ahead 38-24 with 7:43 remaining.

The defense responded with multiple stops despite Minot State picking up excellent field position throughout the fourth quarter. The Beavers started at the CSP 40 (via punt), their own 49 (via punt), the CSP 22 (via INT) and the CSP 43 (onside recovery) in the quarter. Concordia only allowed the one touchdown, and held strong on the second and third possessions to keep comeback hopes alive as the Beavers ran just 12 fourth quarter plays.

The Golden Bears were efficient in the two minute offense late and trailing 38-24 with under three and half minutes to play, quickly moving 78 yards on eight plays with Hutton finding Clewis in the back of the end zone from 19 yards out for their second TD connection with 1:51 to play.

Although CSP didn't recover a solid onside kick attempt with Minot making an aggressive play to recover as it slowly approached the 45 yard line, the defense held strong on three plays and used its final timeout with 15 seconds to play. But CSP had just 10 seconds to go 91 yards following the Jake Tanner fair catch on the short 31 yard punt, and the Beaver were able to tackle Williams on the 10 yard play before he could pitch to a teammate to keep the last second miracle hopes alive.

The loss to Minot State was just the second for Concordia in the eight meetings between the programs and the first loss since 2009, snapping a five game series winning streak by CSP.

The Golden Bears are now just 2-6 in eight games on the road against the NSIC North Division since head coach Shannon Currier returned to the program in 2016.