SATURDAY
North Dakota's only annual in-state gridiron meeting between NCAA foes, rivals University of Mary and Minot State University face off in the "Battle of the Big Lake" on Saturday, Oct. 10, in the Capital City. Kickoff for the Big Lake Trophy game is 1 p.m. at the MDU Resources Community Bowl in Bismarck, N.D.

BATTLE OF THE BIG LAKE
This is the 3rd annual "Battle of the Big Lake" travelling trophy between the University of Mary and Minot State University. Currently the Marauders-Beavers battle remains the only annual football game in North Dakota between two NCAA members. U-Mary has played Minot State 23 times, more than any other school. The series began in 1988 when U-Mary joined the North Dakota College Athletic Conference and ended in 2005 when the Marauders moved to NCAA Division II and the Northern Sun. After a seven year hiatus following the 2005 contest, the two schools resumed the series in 2012 when Minot State was admitted into the Northern Sun.

BIG LAKE TROPHY
The Marauders won the first two "Battle of the Big Lake" travelling trophy games 45-10 at home in 2013 and 31-29 on the road last year (2014).

TWO TRAVELING TROPHIES
The Marauders play two games annually for travelling trophies and the contests have brought out the best in U-Mary. Combined the Marauders are 10-1 in trophy games. The Marauders are 8-1 in the "Battle for the Paddle" with MSU Moorhead and 2-0 in the "Battle for the Big Lake" against Minot State.

MILITARY APPRECIATION GAME
Saturday is the Marauders annual Military Appreciation Day, honoring and recognizing the sacrifices made for our nation by our military members and their families. All members of the military plus a guest will be admitted free to Saturday's football game against Minot State. Additionally the Marauders will wear camouflage jerseys courtesy of the North Dakota National Guard.

THE RECORDS
The Marauders are 0-5 overall and in the Northern Sun and 0-1 in the NSIC North division... The Beavers are 0-5 in the NSIC/overall and 0-1 in the NSIC North.

LAST TIME OUT
The Marauders lost a 37-7 decision at Bemidji State... The Beavers suffered a 45-14 home loss to Northern State in the MSU Hall of Fame game.

LAST YEAR
U-Mary finished 5-6 overall in the NSIC and 3-4 in the NSIC North… Minot State finished 1-10 overall in the NSIC and 1-6 in the NSIC North.

MARAUDERS REWIND GAME U-Mary 7 Bemidji State 37
Bemidji State scored on its first three possessions and U-Mary could never catch up. The Beavers led 20-0 with 6:20 remaining in the first quarter before the Marauders could catch their breath. U-Mary scored next when Caleb Buck connected with Brennan Doan on a 51 yard scoring pass in the second quarter to pull within 20-7 at intermission. BSU sealed the game with a touchdown in the third and two more in the fourth. Buck tied the school record for pass attempts with 64, completing 32 for 299 yards. He also ran for a team-high 18 yards. Doan caught six passes for 98 yards and a score. The Marauders blocked four kicks in the game. Jacob Parker broke up four passes and made five solo tackles. Daniele Whitaker broke up two passes and blocked two kicks. Tahi Nomane ran for 95 yards and two scores to pace BSU. Jordan Hein ran for 79 yards and threw for 217 yards and two TDs.  

HEAD COACHES
Josh Kotelnicki is in 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 5-10 lifetime (2 years). 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... Minot State's 2nd year head coach TYLER HUGHES is 1-15 at Minot State and 21-19 overall as a head coach. Previously head coach at Snow College in Ephraim, Utah, for two seasons, Hughes posted a mark of 9-3 in 2011 and 11-1 in 2012. A Utah State graduate, Hughes spent 2013 coaching at Ohio State University as an assistant for Urban Meyer. Named head coach at Southern Virginia in the 2013-14 off-season, Hughes became the 20th Minot State head coach last spring before coaching a game at Southern Virginia. Hughes was named the MSU coach after Todd Hoffner, chosen as the Beavers head coach after the 2013, returned to lead the Minnesota State University football program without coaching at game for the Beavers.

THE MARAUDERS-BEAVERS SERIES HISTORY (Marauders lead series 12-11)
An annual foe for the first 18 years of Marauders football (1987-2005), the Minot State series is tied 12-11...The Beavers have an 11-10 edge during the regular season but the Marauders have won the two playoff meetings (1993 and 2002)... Minot State won the first four match-ups with U-Mary but the Marauders captured nine of the last 12... The Marauders have won the last three home games against the Beavers.  2004: The last Marauders-Beavers game in Bismarck until the 2013 season, U-Mary hosted Minot State on Oct. 2, 2004. Minot State scored first when Gabe Ellis returned the opening kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown but the Marauders dominated the remainder of the game in a 13-7 win. Tom Kirchoffner scored on a one yard run to even the score late in the first quarter and Justin Lang kicked two field goals for the Marauders. U-Mary would generate just 277 yards of offense but Minot State struggled more, compiling just 205 yards of offense. Kirchoffner completed 16-of-27 passes for 187 yards. Jake Pfau caught seven passes for 96 yards. Bobby Usher led the Marauders with eight tackles... 2012: Elby Pope exploded for 154 receiving yards and a touchdown and Zach Roberson threw for 328 yards in his first collegiate start, but the University of Mary was stunned in the fourth quarter of a 32-21 loss at Minot State University. The Beavers scored three touchdowns in the final stanza to pull out a victory... 2013: In its most dominating performance of the year, U-Mary scored 38 unanswered first-half points in a 45-10 homecoming win over Minot State University. The win was the 100th for head coach Myron Schulz in his tenure at U-Mary and gave the Marauders a win in the first "Battle of the Big Lake" travelling trophy game. U-Mary forced four turnovers and several other miscues by Minot State. Dariouse Gravely opened the scoring on a 42-yard run one play after Preston Tescher blocked a Beavers punt, A 10-yard punt led to a 2-yard Gravely TD. A fumbled MSU punt recovered by Tescher was followed by an 18-yard Craig Bagnell to Elby Pope TD pass. Bagnell followed with two more scoring strikes in the second, both to Nick Jolliffe, surrounding a Tyler Ryan field goal. CJ Drakeford returned an interception in the final quarter to close the scoring. Gravely ran for 84 yards and two scores on 12 carries. Bagnell finished 11-of-21 for 148 yards, three TDs and no interceptions. Jolliffe caught five balls for 97 yards and two scores. Overall the Marauders generated 293 yards of offense and 15 first downs. Defensively Grant Singer posted 2.0 tackles for loss and intercepted a pass. Troy Guptill added 1.5 tackles for loss. The Beavers had 11 1st downs and 243 offensive yards, 92 in the 4th quarter... 2014: With Minot State facing 3rd-and-goal at the Marauders 5 with time running out, Seth Walton sacked Beavers QB Zac Cuhna and forced a fumble recovered by Grant Singer with 14 seconds left in the game to preserve a 31-29 U-Mary road win. The Marauders led 14-0 at intermission on two scoring runs by Ben Jolliffe. Two Leon La Deaux TD catches from Cuhna and a pickoff of a score game Minot State a 22-14 lead. A Dariouse Gravely scoring run, a touchdown pass by Ben Jolliffe to older brother Nick Jolliffe, and a Brody Riggs field goal midway through the fourth put the Marauders up 31-22. Ben Jolliffe ran for 75 yards and two scores and passed for 171 yards and a score. Nick Jolliffe caught 6-105-1. Singer had 13 tackles, 2.5 tackles and the fumble recovery. Guptill added 2.5 TFL. Cuhna threw for 370 yards and two scores and La Deaux was 6-124-2. Levi Freidt had 16 tackles.  

PAST MARAUDERS-BEAVERS MEETINGS (Marauders lead 12-11)
1988        Minot State 42         U-Mary 22                            Bismarck, N.D.
1989    Minot State 28        U-Mary 24                    Minot, N.D.
1990    Minot State 26        U-Mary 7                    Bismarck, N.D.
1991    Minot State 21        U-Mary 7                    Minot, N.D.
1992    U-Mary 26                Minot State 23             Bismarck, N.D.
1993    Minot State 27        U-Mary 24                    Minot, N.D.
1993    U-Mary 31                Minot State 20            Minot, N.D. (NAIA Playoff game)
1994     Minot State 31        U-Mary 24                    Bismarck, N.D.
1995    U-Mary 14                Minot State 7                Minot, N.D.
1996    Minot State 23        U-Mary 7                    Bismarck, N.D.
1997    Minot State 21        U-Mary 7                    Minot, N.D.
1998    U-Mary 36                Minot State 12            Bismarck, N.D.
1999    U-Mary 41                Minot State 10            Minot, N.D.
2000    U-Mary 45                Minot State 6                Bismarck, N.D.
2001    U-Mary 43                Minot State 38            Minot, N.D.
2002    Minot State 35        U-Mary 21                    Bismarck, N.D.
2002     U-Mary 21                Minot State 18            Bismarck, N.D. (NAIA Playoff game)
2003    U-Mary 27                Minot State 6                Minot, N.D.
2004    U-Mary 13                Minot State 7                Bismarck N.D.
2005    Minot State 14        U-Mary 10                    Minot, N.D.
2012    Minot State 32        U-Mary 21                    Minot, N.D.
2013    U-Mary 45                Minot State 10            Bismarck, N.D.
2014    U-Mary 31                Minot State 29            Minot, N.D.

QUICK LOOK AT MINOT STATE UNIVERSITY BEAVERS
Minot State has a similar story to U-Mary this season. Both teams saw their starting quarterbacks go down early in the season opener, both have started three different players behind center and both are looking for their first win of the season. Senior captain Zac Cuhna, a starter since his freshman season at quarterback for the Beavers, was injured in game one and is out for the year. Lucas Romanski is the successor and has completed 56.5% of his pass attempts for 799 yards, four TDs and six INTs. Porter Sturm is the main target, catching 25 passes for 398 yards and all four of the team's touchdown passes. He is also a solid kick returner at 21.1 yards/return. Jarvis Mustipher leads the ground attack, running for 271 yards and one TD. Four times he has cracked the century mark at MSU but not yet this season. Defensively JR LB Trevin Swensen leads the Beavers with 49 tackles - 4th in the NSIC - and 5.0 tackles/loss. SR LB Aaron James also has 5.0 TFL. Three different players have two sacks. After a narrow 21-20 loss to Southwest Minnesota State in the 2015 opener, the Beavers closet game was a 28-13 homecoming loss to Concordia - St. Paul in Week 3 when the Golden Bears scored the final 21 points in the game.

BLOCK PARTY
Marauders special teams created all sorts of issues for Bemidji State, blocking four kicks. In all, the Beavers attempted five point after kick attempts; one was missed and three were blocked. The Beavers also failed on its two field goal attempts; one was missed, the other was blocked. After BSU missed its first point after touchdown kick attempt, Deon Pauson blocked the second. The Beavers went for two after their next touchdown. Late in the opening half, BSU tried two field goals; the first was missed and the second blocked by Seth Walton. BSU converted its only PAT kick attempt in the third quarter before Danielle Whitaker blocked both Beavers kick attempts in the fourth... U-Mary now ranks 8th nationally in blocks with four.

RECORD DAY
Caleb Buck tied the school record for passing attempts in a single game, equaling Zach Roberson's 64 throws in the final game of the 2014 season at St. Cloud State. Buck completed 32 for 299 yards, one score and two interceptions.

FOUR SCORE
Jacob Parker had another career day against Bemidji State. The sophomore cornerback knocked down four Beavers passes. He also made five solo tackles. The four knockdowns exceeds his previous best of three at Minnesota State earlier this season. The four also ties the best mark by a Marauders player in the NCAA era, previously accomplished by Tim Brown (2008) and Devon Jones (2007).

LUCKY 7
Entering week five with just two collegiate catches, freshman WR Sam Mackedanz caught a game-high seven passes for 44 yards against Bemidji State. Previously the Cold Springs, Minn., native caught one ball for six yards at Sioux Falls and had a 44 yard reception against Wayne State.  

DOAN DOES IT
After catching six passes for a career-high 98 yards and his first carer touchdown (51 yards) at Bemidji State, sophomore WR Brennan Doan is 23rd in the nation and second in the NSIC in receptions/game (6.6). Through five games the Bismarck N.D., native has 33 catches for 287 yards and a score.

KNOCK IT DOWN
Sophomore cornerback Jacob Parker is 12th nationally in passes defended and junior cornerback Danielle Whitaker is 25th. After knocking down four passes last week at Bemidji State, Parker had defended nine passes this season... Whitaker, tied for second in the NSIC with two interceptions, also has knocked down six passes for a total of eighth passes defensed. He is tied for third in the league in solo stops (27) and has registered 33 tackles plus 2 kick blocks.  

DISCIPLINE
Continuing a trend from last season, the Marauders are one of the least penalized teams in the nation. Through four games, U-Mary has been flagged just 29 times for 204 yards. The Marauders are 13th in fewest penalty yards and 12th in penalty yards/game.  

TESCHER PRESSURE
Senior two-time all-conference safety Preston Tescher leads the Northern Sun in solo tackles (30) and is 11th overall (42).