Mandan's glimmer of playoff hope got a little brighter Friday night.

The Braves picked up only their second Class AAA West Region victory of the season, but stayed in the playoff hunt with a 28-0 win over the winless Dickinson Midgets in front of a Parents Night crowd at Faris Field.

Mandan is 2-3 in region play with two regular-season games left - at Jamestown and at Minot. Another win could earn the Braves the fourth or fifth playoff spot from the West.

"We talked about it all week. We want to go to the playoffs, but we had to win this game tonight," said Mandan coach Pat O'Brien, whose team snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 2-5 overall. "The kids stepped up - every one of them did. We got two games left, and one more win might do it. We'll take it one week at a time and see what happens."

Mandan's must-win was decided early. The Braves rolled to a 20-0 halftime lead behind a pair of touchdown runs by quarterback Sam Salveson and another by Shelby Skytland.

Salveson, who accounted for 190 yards from scrimmage (165 passing, 25 rushing) in his final regular-season home game, opened the scoring with a 7-yard keeper with 2:58 left in the first quarter. The TD capped a 12-play, 73-yard drive in which Salveson rushed for 19 yards and passed for 35.

Mandan punted on each of its next two possessions, but scored twice in a span of 3:09 in the second quarter to make it 20-0. Two turnovers opened the door.

First, Salveson scored from three yards out, two plays after Josh Schlag fell on a muffed punt on the Dickinson 8.

Dickinson lost another fumble two plays after the ensuing kickoff, this time on the Mandan 44. Skytland later capped the seven-play, 56-yard TD drive with a 1-yard dive. Taylor Volk added the two-pointer on a pass from Salveson.

Turnovers plagued Dickinson the entire night. The Midgets fumbled six times, losing four. The Braves, on the other hand, didn't commit a single turnover for the first time this season.

"The coaches have been preaching that all year. We need to take care of the ball, we need to force turnovers and we need to convert those turnovers," O'Brien said. "We did all of that. We were given good opportunities when they turned it over, and we made good on them. Those two scores in the second quarter put us in a very good position."

The Braves padded their lead with 40.8 seconds left in the third quarter on a 62-yard TD pass from Salveson to Austin Riopelle, and Skytland's two-point run. It was a career night for Riopelle, a junior wideout who hauled in three passes for 135 yards and the first TD of his varsity career. He also had a 48-yard catch in the fourth quarter, and a 25-yarder in the first.

"I had a lot of fun out there. I think I had maybe two catches before tonight," Riopelle said. "Sam put it right on the money for me."

Skytland, another junior, also posted career-high numbers, rushing 24 times for 109 yards.

"Shelby's only about 150 pounds, but he's a tough little runner," O'Brien said. "The offensive line did a nice job blocking for him."

Dickinson had a big night running the ball, totaling 276 yards - 134 from Cole Frenzel. However, the Midgets couldn't find their way into the end zone. They got close several times in the second half, but fumbled on the Mandan 8, and lost the ball on downs on the Braves' 27 and 24.

"The defense stepped up when it had to and kept them off the scoreboard," Riopelle said.

Dickinson 0 0 0 0 - 0

Mandan 6 14 8 0 - 28

First Quarter

M - Sam Salveson 7 run (run failed), 2:58

Second Quarter

M - Salveson 3 run (run failed), 6:47

M - Shelby Skytland 1 run (Taylor Volk pass from Salveson), 3:38

Third Quarter

M - Austin Riopelle 62 pass from Salveson (Skytland run)

Fourth Quarter

No scoring

Team statistics

D M

First downs 14 10

Rushes-yards 46-276 44-141

Passing yards 23 165

Comp-Att-Int 3-12-0 5-10-0

Punts-Avg. 4-30.0 5-39.8

Fumbles-lost 6-4 1-0

Penalties-yards 3-25 1-5

Individual statistics

Rushing: D - Cole Frenzel 18-134, Ethan Ladbury 9-63, Calen Beaudoin 9-52, Caleb Hutchins 4-30, Ross Kovacs 5-3, Lucas Lupo 1-(-)6. M - Shelby Skytland 24-109, Sam Salveson 12-25, Sam Arneson 2-6, Billy Binstock 4-6, Garrett Kirchmeier 1-(-)1, Kale Peterson 1-(-)4.

Passing: D - Kovacs 3-12-0, 23 yards. M - Salveson 5-10-0, 165 yards.

Receiving: D - Challis Williams 1-13, Joe Emmerich 1-6, Frenzel 1-4. M - Austin Riopelle 3-135, Arneson 1-20, Taylor Volk 1-10.

Interceptions: None.

Records: Mandan 2-3 West Region, 2-5 overall. Dickinson 0-5 region, 0-7 overall.