BISMARCK, N.D. – After playing a tight game through three quarters, it was a lopsided final stanza that left the University of Mary on the short side of a 42-7 mark in the Marauders football season finale against St. Cloud State University.
 
With 13 seniors playing their final game in the Blue & Orange, the Marauders stayed within one score throughout the first 45 minutes against the Huskies, a team U-Mary has yet to beat. Taking a 14-7 lead into the final quarter, SCSU rattled off 28 unanswered points to seal its 10^th straight win over U-Mary.  
 
Senior safety Preston Tescher was a key component in the Marauders defensive efforts early on. The Bismarck, N.D., native led U-Mary with 11 tackles, recorded an interception and recovered a fumble. In the second half he became just the third Marauders player with at least 300 career tackles, joining All-Americans Toby Schweitzer (410 tackles) and Grant Singer (351). The leading tackler in the Northern Sun and already a two-time all-conference player, Tescher finishes his career with 304 tackles.
 
Three plays into the game, the Huskies shocked the home crowd with a 62 yard scoring play when Nate Meyer connected with Jameson Parsons for a 7-0 SCSU lead just 54 seconds into the game.
 
The Marauders subsequently tied the game on their opening drive of the game, just not in the same fashion as the Huskies. Instead of a quick strike, U-Mary quarterback Caleb Buck directed a 14-play 93-yard drive that consumed 7:44 and featured just two plays longer than eight yards. The final play was a 30-yard scoring strike to Connor Graves to knot the contest 7-7 at 6:26 of the first. Graves also caught a 12-yard pass during the drive.
 
U-Mary's defense then took control. Tescher's interception ended the next Huskies drive, a combined sack on third down by Landon Smith and Austin Bolton then forced a Huskies punt, and a hurry by defensive lineman Brock Pittsley made the Huskies punt again. At the same time the defense was holding, the Marauders offense was unable to move the ball.
 
A Dante Starlin-Merriam 6-yard run at 3:12 of the 2^nd quarter for a 14-7 Huskies lead capped an 80-yard drive that featured a 69-yard pass from Meyer to Vance Barnes.
 
With a final opportunity to add points before intermission, the Marauders drove to the Huskies 29 but couldn't convert a 46 yard field goal as time expired.
 
The Marauders looked to score again on the opening possession of the second half. Using a 46-yard swing pass from Buck to Zach Graves, U-Mary marched to the SCSU 20. Forced to line up for a field goal, the Marauders ran a fake and the Huskies were waiting. Justin Montanez intercepted the Buck pass at the 2-yard line to thwart the Marauders scoring opportunity.
 
Neither team managed to find points in the third, but the Huskies found points by the bunches in the fourth. On the first play of the final quarter, Meter ran 49 yards for a touchdown. After a Marauders turnover, Meyer connected with Parsons for a 46 yard touchdown pass and a 28-7 lead. An interception of a U-Mary pass later in the quarter set up a 1 yard scoring run by Jaden Huff before Meyer scored again on the ground from 5 yards out with 2:31 left in the game.
 
Buck completed 38-of-55 passes for 260 yards and one score. Running backs Zach Graves and Adam Woroniecki combined for 20 catches out of the backfield. Zach Graves had 10 catches for 85 yards and Woroniecki had 10 catches for 37. Zach Podoll pulled down a career-high nine passes for 69 yards. Connor Graves finished with two grabs for 42 yards and a score.
 
In his final game, senior Woroniecki added 41 yards rushing on 13 carries.
 
Defensively Tescher led U-Mary with 11 tackles. Seth Walton and Bolton both added seven. Danielle Whitaker also had an interception for the Marauders.
 
Meyer accounted for four scores for the Huskies. The quarterback passed for 234 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 71 yards and two scores. Huff added 92 yards rushing. Parsons caught three passes for 120 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Defensively Jordan Sefon recorded a game-high 15 tackles for SCSU.
 
The Marauders finish the season 1-10 overall and in the Northern Sun and 1-6 in the NSIC North. SCSU is 6-5 and 4-3.
 
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