Four turnovers hurt the Spartans.  The first NDSCS TD came on a 35 yard punt return by Marselio Mendez with 1:40 left in the first quarter.  Punting into a wind gusting to 45 miles per hour, Carsen McKnight had his kick knocked down by the wind and the special teams coverage was already beyond the ball and couldn’t recover to make a play as Mendez scooped it up and took it to the end zone.

Following a Spartan fumble, NDSCS took a 13-0 lead when quarterback Graedyn Buell scored on a 6 yard run with 10:48 left in the first half.   Nik Hunchak booted the PAT.

With 1:36 remaining in the third quarter, Buell connected with Brady Borgen on a fourth-and-six pass that covered 31 yards, increasing the Wildcats lead to 19-0.

NDSCS had 181 total yards (144 rushing, 37 passing).  Buell completed 4-of-8 passes for 37 yards and ran the ball 5 times for 26 yards.  Aaron Grant had 27 rushing yards on 7 attempts and Chandler Ross, Jr, carried the ball 7 times for 25 yards.

M State had 182 total yards (128 rushing, 54 passing).  Rondarius Gregory ran the ball 16 times for 56 yards and completed 3-of-9 passes for 42 yards, after replacing starting QB Jesse Stills in the second half.  Stills was 2-for-6 throwing the ball for 12 yards and he ran for 56 yards on 6 carries.  Marquez Hurst had two receptions for 26 yards.  M State was penalized 12 times for 90 yards.

M State, ranked number one in the final NJCAA Division III National poll, suffered their first loss of the season in their tenth game, ending with a 9-1 record.