Magnuson having 'phenomenal season' for Dragons heading into game at Minot State

MOORHEAD — Minnesota State Moorhead defensive tackle Jordan Magnuson is coming off a performance that garnered him national attention.

The 6-foot-3, 275-pound junior from Valley City, N.D., had a career-high 14 tackles and three sacks in a 23-14 victory against Southwest Minnesota State last Saturday in Marshall, Minn. Magnuson had six tackles for a loss in that game and was named the D2Football.com national defensive player of the week.

“Jordan has had a phenomenal season, doing what we thought he was capable of doing,” Dragons head coach Steve Laqua said.

Magnuson has 5.5 sacks this season, including four in the past two games. The Dragons (4-4) snapped a three-game losing streak with the win against Southwest Minnesota State. MSUM next plays at Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference foe Minot State at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2. The Dragons have won the previous six meetings with the Beavers.

“I think road games are always difficult and we haven’t played well there in particular,” Laqua said.

The Dragons have a chance to improve to 4-1 in the NSIC North with a victory against Minot State. MSUM junior running back Ty Jochim, from Fargo Davies, has rushed for nearly 200 yards in the past two games. Jochim rushed for 98 yards on 19 attempts last weekend and also had two catches for 15 yards.

“We think Ty has run extremely hard in the last couple weeks,” Laqua said. “That is a much-needed element in the run game.”

Freshman quarterback Matt Plasterer is slated to start against Minot State. He completed 16 of 24 passes for 171 yards and a touchdown at Southwest Minnesota State. Laqua said true freshman quarterback Max Carter could also see playing time against the Beavers. Carter rushed for 55 yards and a touchdown on 10 attempts last weekend.

“Two different styles quarterbacks allowed us to be two different offenses at times,” Laqua said. “I think Max gives us some things that are outside our normal offense where you definitely have to defend all 11 on the field.”