Box Score Moorhead, MN – Time ran out on the University of Mary in a wild 48-41 road loss to MSU Moorhead. Trailing by 27 points in the first half, the Marauders pulled even late in the game but U-Mary lost its grip on the Paddle Trophy.
 
After losing the first seven Battles for the Paddle, the Dragons luck changed in game eight as MSUM scored the winning touchdown on a 39-yard Ryan Toelle to Adam Jiskra scoring pass with 6:50 left in the game.
 
The Marauders (4-4 overall and NSIC, 2-2 NSIC North) had two more possessions but couldn't find the end zone as the Dragons (2-6, 2-2) held on for the win.
 
After a slow start, the Marauders found their offensive footing, compiling 31 first downs and 522 yards of offense, both season-highs.
 
Craig Bagnell tied a school record for completions, connecting on 34-of-57 passes for 399 yards and five touchdown passes. His lone interception of the day came on the Marauders final offensive play of the day with 12 seconds remaining.
 
Nick Jolliffe set career marks with 12 catches for 148 yards. The junior wideout also caught two touchdown passes, increasing his season total to 11. DJ Young added six receptions for 63 yards and Elby Pope caught four balls for 89 yards.
 
Vince Ferrante had his most productive day for U-Mary, carrying the ball eight times for 71 yards and catching four passes for 39 yards, including 24-yard touchdown.
 
The Dragons offense was even more impressive, totaling 582 yards of offense on 99 plays, including 416 yards passing.
 
Jiskra caught seven passes for 131 yards and two scores for the Dragons and Cory Ambrose had seven grabs for 136 yards and one touchdown.
 
MSUM quarterback Jake Hodge was 15-of-25 for 301 yards, passing for three scores and running for two. All his work was done in the opening half as he was hurt on the opening drive of the second half. Toelle then stepped in to complete 11-of-15 for 115 yards and two touchdowns, both to Jiskra.
 
The Dragons got on a roll early in the game. Unable to score on its first two possessions, MSUM then scored the next five times it had the ball.
 
Trailing 27-0, the Marauders finally scored with 4:22 left in the opening half when Allan Saint-Gelais caught an 11-yard scoring strike from Bagnell. After another MSUM score, U-Mary went into intermission down 34-14 following a 7-yard scoring pass from Bagnell to Jolliffe with 18 seconds remaining on the clock.
 
The Marauders and Dragons swapped touchdowns to open the second half, U-Mary scoring on Ferrante's 24-yard touchdown catch and MSUM moving ahead 41-20 when Toelle found Jiskra from 13 yards away.
 
U-Mary soon kicked their offense into hyper drive, scoring the next 21 points. Bagnell connected with Jeremy Mayfield on a 19-yard touchdown pass before Dariouse Gravely found the end zone from two yards out with seven seconds left in the third quarter.
 
Pope set up the next Marauders score with a 26-yard punt return to the MSUM 39. After Ferrante ran for 19 yards and caught a 4-yard pass, Bagnell tied the game at 41-41 when he found Jolliffe for a 16-yard touchdown pass with 9:29 left in the game.
 
The Dragons found a spark on their next drive, scoring the winning touchdown to defeat the Marauders for the first time after seven straight losses.
 
Grant Singer posted a game-high 15 tackles for U-Mary. The NSIC tackles leader also had a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss. Conference sack leader Troy Guptill trapped the quarterback once, had 1.5 tackles for loss and 12 total tackles. John Oyloe also had 1.5 sacks and is now .5 tackles for loss from tying the school career record of 38.5.
 Scott Maldonado, Gary Gellerman and Tylar Kist all had ten tackles for the Marauders and CJ Dreakford broke up three passes.
 
Chris Lee led the Dragons with 14 tackles and Ryan Dahleen had two sacks.
 
The Marauders next take their final road trip of the season when they meet Northern State University in Aberdeen, SD, on Nov. 2.
 
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