Football | 9/10/2015 2:06:00 PM

SATURDAY
The University of Mary opens its 2015 home schedule when the Marauders host the Upper Iowa University Peacocks. The first meeting between the Marauders and Peacocks in Bismarck, N.D., since 2009 is scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 12, at the MDU Resources Bowl.

THE RECORDS
The Marauders are 0-1 overall and in the Northern Sun and 0-0 in the NSIC North division... The Peacocks are 1-0 in the NSIC/overall and 0-0 in the NSIC South.

LAST TIME OUT
Facing the 10th ranked team in the country on the road in the season opener, a young Marauders team lost a 55-7 decision at University of Sioux Falls... The Peacocks opened the season with a 17-6 home win over Northern State University.
LAST YEAR
U-Mary finished 5-6 overall in the NSIC and 3-4 in the NSIC North… Upper Iowa was 6-5 overall and the NSIC (5th overall) and 2-5 in the NSIC South Division (6th).

KUPPER AUTOMOTIVE HOME OPENER GAME SPONSOR
Kupper Automotive is the Marauders football game sponsor for the home opener and is providing complimentary tickets to the Marauders-Peacocks contest at its Kupper Chevrolet/Subaru and Bismarck Motor Company locations in the area.

NBC ND SPORTS NETWORK TELEVISING MARAUDERS OPENER ON Me-TV
The Marauders home opener vs. Upper Iowa will be broadcast live throughout central and western North Dakota on the NBC North Dakota Sports Network Me-TV channels... Nine-time North Dakota Sportscaster of the Year and KFYR-TV sports director Lee Timmerman is the television play-by-play announcer for the Marauders. Joining Timmerman in the booth as color commentator is Mike McMahon, former Marauders football defensive coordinator and current U-Mary assistant vice president for Enrollment Services. Marissa DeCandido, the KFYR-TV weekend sports anchor and host of Marauders Weekly, is the sideline reporter... The broadcast begins at 1 p.m. Me-TV stations carrying the game are KFYR-TV in Bismarck (channel 5.3), KMOT-TV in Minot (10.3), KUMV-TV in Williston (8.3) and KQCD-TV in Dickinson (7.3). Me-TV can be seen on the following cable channels: Midcontinent Communications (Ch. 595), Beach Cable TV (7.3), Consolidated Cablevision (22), BEK Communications (7), ND Telephone Company (15), SRT Communications (109), United Telephone (33), Reservation Telephone (20), Northwest Communications Cooperative (7).

HEAD COACHES
Josh Kotelnicki enters his second season as the head coach of the University of Mary. He is just the fifth varsity head coach in school history as the team begins its 28th season. Kotelnicki directed the Marauders to a 5-6 record in his first season in 2014 and is 5-7 lifetime. Kotelnicki joined U-Mary after serving as the associate head coach at NCAA FCS University of North Dakota for two seasons (2012-13) and as UND's defensive coordinator in 2013. A native of Litchfield, Minn., Kotelnicki won an NCAA Division II title as a player at North Dakota and has been on winning teams as a coach at the NCAA FBS, FCS, and Division II levels. After starting his coaching career at UND, he has also worked at Murray State, Truman State, and NCAA FBS Kansas State before returning to UND...  In his seventh season leading Upper Iowa, head coach Tom Shea has produced a current record of just 23-44 but has delivered consecutive winning seasons in 2013-14, a first at UIU since 1963-64. In 20 years as a head coach Shea's teams are 129-120-3. A 1972 graduate of Dakota State University, Shea was the University of Mary head coach from 1991-96 and compiled a record of 46-15-1. He also led the Marauders to the school's first conference title and their first three NAIA national playoff appearances. Shea also has served as head coach at Dakota State, Peru State and William Penn.   

THE MARAUDERS-PEACOCKS SERIES HISTORY
(Marauders lead series 4-1)
After the Marauders won the first four games in the series, the Peacocks captured the last meeting held in Fayette, Iowa, in 2013... The Marauders are 2-0 at home and 2-1 on the road. 2006: The Marauders won the opening meeting over the Peacocks 42-13 behind a stout defense and a strong running game. Led by Justin Fleck, who ran the ball 19 times for 106 yards and two touchdowns, the Marauders piled up 232 yards on the ground while limiting UIU to seven yards rushing. Bayland Rippenkroger caught a touchdown pass and also ran for a score. Jesse Laber had 3.0 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks to lead the defense. Dwayne Croker had eight catches for 98 yards to lead UIU... 2007: Erik Kruse caught the game-winning touchdown pass from Blair Sandy with 8:09 to play in a 19-14 Marauders road win. Rett Thibodeaux kicked two field goals and Jesus Gallegos also caught a scoring pass. Rippenkroger ran for 122 yards on 32 carries for U-Mary and TC Hicks had 105 for UIU. Shawn Melland led the Marauders defense with 13 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss. He also had an interception... 2008: The Marauders rallied from a 15 point deficit to defeat the Peacocks 34-31 on the road. Jamal Lomax ran for 106 yards and scored the winning touchdown with 2:35 left in the game. It was his third touchdown of the day. Jesse Kozak passed for 269 yards and two scores. Roman Penirian caught nine passes for 160 yards and a score. Chris Moody led the Marauders with nine tackles and James Patterson had 1.5 tackles for loss. Sam Epsteen led UIU with 152 yards rushing and three scores... 2009: Down ten points late in the first half, the Marauders ran off 28 straight points in a 48-31 home win over the Peacocks. Jamal Lomax sprinted 50 yards for one score and Brady Martin caught two touchdown passes as U-Mary rang up 570 yards of offense. Lomax ran for 199 yards and Terry Newsome caught five balls for 128 yards and a score. Henry Lau passed for 369 yards and four touchdowns. Ben Curran passed for 324 yards for UIU. Sean Ziehlke led U-Mary's defense with an interception and a forced fumble and Xavier Cleveland had 1.5 tackles for loss and an interception... 2013: The Marauders forced five Peacocks turnovers on a wet and windy day but couldn't capitalize in a 36-7 road loss. U-Mary scored first on a Craig Bagnell to Jeremy Mayfield 69 yard pass play to cap a 99 yard drive. The Peacocks then rattled off 36 straight points. UIU led 14-7 at intermission and scored 22 points in the 3rd quarter when U-Mary was forced to play into the driving wind. Bagnell completed 21-of-43 passes for 233 yards with one TD and two INTs. DJ Young caught four passes for 65 yards. Mayfield had three catches for 77 yards. He also had three kick returns for 118 yards, including a 90 yard return. Troy Guptill totaled 3.0 sacks, 12 tackles (9 solo), and forced a fumble. Grant Singer registered 15 tackles (9 solo), recovered a fumble and made an interception. Upper Iowa dominated the stat page. The Peacocks had advantages in first downs (31 to 15), yards rushing (256 to 67), yards passing (317 to 242) and total offense (573 to 309).

PAST MARAUDERS-PEACOCKS MEETINGS (Marauders lead series 4-1)
2006    U-Mary 42    UIU 13            Bismarck, ND
2007    U-Mary 19    UIU 14            Fayette, IA
2008    U-Mary 34    UIU 31            Fayette, IA
2009    U-Mary 48    UIU 31            Bismarck, ND
2013    UIU 36        U-Mary 7        Fayette, IA

QUICK LOOK AT UPPER IOWA UNIVERSITY
Coming off consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 1963-64, Upper Iowa University has to find a way to overcome the loss of eight all-Northern Sun South Division players from the 2014 season to stretch its streak to three straight winning campaigns. Among the graduates are all-time Peacocks receiving leader Derek Giesking, all-time rushing leader Chris Smith, and career passing leader Cole Jaeschke. The Peacocks are far from bereft of talent, though. SR LB Alex Wahl, the NSIC Defensive Player of the Week to open the 2015 season, is an all-region performer who had 18.5 tackles for loss, 5.0 sacks and forced four fumbles last year. SR DL Jevell Rollins earned all-NSIC honors after posting 13.5 TFL in 2014. Offensively, JR WR Trey MacTaggert is a player to watch, coming off a season with 32 catches for 377 yards and 3 TDs. He also averaged 21.1 yards per punt. The Peacocks opened the season with a 17-6 home win over Northern State. Wahl posted three tackles for loss and intercepted a pass as the UIU defense limited NSU to 235 yards of offense and 12 first downs. MacTaggert caught a touchdown pass from new starting QB Dmitri Morales. Morales completed 33-of-46 passes for 349 yards.  

BEEN A WHILE
This is the first meeting in Bismarck between the University of Mary and Upper Iowa University since 2009. Over the last handful of years the two schools have had limited meetings, playing just once in the last four years (2013 in Fayette, Iowa). The two schools played annually from 2006-2009 until the Northern Sun expanded to 14 teams.

SHARED EXPERIENCE
The University of Mary and Upper Iowa both joined the Northern Sun in 2006 as the 9th and 10th members of the league. Since that time, the NSIC has expanded to 16 teams.

WELCOME BACK
Peacocks head coach Tom Shea was U-Mary's second varsity head coach. He compiled a record of 46-15-1 in six seasons with the Marauders (1991-96). In his tenure the Marauders won their first conference title (1992) and made their first three trips to the NAIA national playoffs (1993, 1995-96).
HOME OPENERS
The Marauders are 19-8 in all home openers. Included in that list is a 48-31 win over Upper Iowa in the 2009 home opener.

HOME OPENERS 2
The Marauders are 6-2 in Northern Sun home openers after defeating Southwest Minnesota State 19-18 in the first conference home game last season.

STEPPING FORWARD
The Marauders wide receiver corps entered opening week without a receiver who had caught a pass in a U-Mary contest. Brennan Doan  quickly changed that, catching a pass on the Marauders first offensive play of the game. The sophomore wide out ended the game with a team-high five catches for 60 yards in the game.

DISRUPTION
Senior LB Seth Walton was a disruptive force for the Marauders defense in the opening game of the season. The Helena, Mont., native recovered a fumble, intercepted a pass and retuned it 39 yards to set up the Marauders touchdown, broke up a pass and had 1.5 tackles for loss. Walton was second on the team in tackles with seven (five solo).

TACKLES FOR TESCHER
Senior all-conference safety Preston Tescher led the Marauders in solo tackles last year and is off and running again this season. The Bismarck, N.D., native led U-Mary in total tackles with eight and tied for the team high with six solo stops in the USF game.

LOCAL TIES
Seven of the Marauders projected starters have ties to Bismarck high schools. Ben Jolliffe, Nick Kottre, Nick Nelson and Deon Paulson all graduated from Bismarck High School. Preston Tescher and Peter Bopp represent St. Mary's. Brennan Doan is from Century.

NORTH DAKOTA STRONG
The Marauders currently start eleven North Dakotans and feature 14 in-state student-athletes on the two deep. In addition to the seven Bismarck players listed above, the other North Dakotans in the starting lineup are Adam Woroniecki (Hebron), Brock Pittsley (Killdeer), Landon Smith (Stanley) and Shawn Fullwider (Watford City).

POSITION CHANGE
After playing quarterback last season, Ben Jolliffe has moved to wide receiver this season. The Bismarck, N.D., native started six games at quarterback last season when Zach Roberson was injured. This year he is following in the footsteps of his older brother Nick Jolliffe, who graduated last season and was an All-NSIC receiver in 2013. Ben caught the first two passes of his career in the Sioux Falls game.

BROTHERS
Newcomers Zach and Connor Graves are the lone pair of brothers on the current Marauders squad. Natives of Rocklin, Calif., both are juniors and transferred to U-Mary this season. Older brother Zach transferred from Sierra College and Connor joins the Marauders from Hawaii Hilo, where he competed on the golf team.

MARAUDERS TIES
Three Marauders have older brothers who played at U-Mary. Preston Tescher's older brother Adam was an offensive lineman who started for two seasons (2010-11) and was an all-conference performer and a member of the NSIC all-academic team. Ben Jolliffe's older brother Nick was a three-year starter (2012-14), earned all-conference honors and was a member of the NSIC all-academic team. Freshman Paul Guptill's older brother Troy was a three-year starter (2012-14), an all-conference and all-American selection who also claimed NSIC all-academic honors.

DEBUTS
Several players playes their first game for the Marauders at USF, including OL Jared Taylor, DB Brandon Payne, WR Sam Saucedo, K Cody Goetz, RB Zach Graves, P Coleman Olivas, P David Johnson, DL Brody Peterson, Colton Farmer, DL Jackson Grad, OL Rory Olson, QB Nick McCann, K Josh Weiler, WR Sam Mackedanz and WR Connor Graves.

TRUE FRESHMEN
Among the players making their Marauders debuts were several true freshmen: K Cody Goetz, P Coleman Olivas, DL Jackson Grad, OL Rory Olson, QB Nick McCann, K Josh Weiler and WR Sam Mackedanz.

TV TIME
The first two Marauders home football games of the season will air on live television throughout the central and western portions of North Dakota. The North Dakota NBC Sports Network will televise the U-Mary vs. Upper Iowa home opener on Sept. 12 on the Me-TV stations in Bismarck, Minot, Williston and Dickinson. The Marauders homecoming contest against Wayne State College on Sept. 26 airs on KFYR-TV in Bismarck, KMOT-TV in Minot, KUMV-TV in Williston and KQCD-TV in Dickinson.

SCHEDULING THE BEST
The Marauders face three nationally ranked teams this season: #1 Minnesota State, #9 Sioux Falls and #10 Minnesota Duluth (rankings are from this week's D2football.com poll).