SATURDAY
After opening the season on the road last week, the University of Mary football team makes their 2016 home debut when the Marauders host the 21st ranked Vikings of Augustana University. Game time between the two Northern Sun foes is 1 pm on Saturday, Sept. 10, at the MDU Resources Community Bowl.   

FIRST RESPONDERS APPRECIATION GAME
The Marauders home opener against the Vikings is scheduled on the eve of the 15th anniversary of 9/11 and dedicated to those who help protect the public. The First Responders Appreciation game recognizes their unselfish public service and complimentary game tickets have been distributed to members of the local law enforcement, fire and ambulance departments. Various first responder vehicles may also be on display during tailgating before the Marauders-Vikings game.

THE RECORDS
The Marauders are 0-1 overall and in the Northern Sun. Mary has not yet played a game against the NSIC North... The Vikings are 1-0 overall and in the NSIC and has yet to play an NSIC South opponent.

LAST YEAR
The Marauders finished the 2015 season 1-10 overall and in the Northern Sun and 1-6 in the NSIC North division... The Vikings were 9-3 overall and 9-2 in the NSIC to finish second in the league overall and in the South division. Augie qualified for the NCAA playoffs and lost 45-31 at Humboldt State in the opening round.  

BEK SPORTS TELEVISING MARAUDERS-VIKINGS LIVE
BEK Sports will televise Saturday's University of Mary football home opener against Augustana University. The game is available statewide on the BEK Broadcasting Network via local cable providers on BEK PRIME and on KNDB/KNDM in Western North Dakota and KRDK in Eastern North Dakota. Visit bektel.com/bbn for local channel assignments and current broadcast schedule.

MIDCO SPORTS TO AIR MARAUDERS-VIKINGS TUESDAY
The Marauders-Vikings contest is this week's Midco Sports Game of the Week selection. The contest will air on MidcoSN on Tuesday, Sept. 13, at 9 pm.  

LAST TIME OUT
The Marauders opened the 2016 season with a 17-0 loss on the road at Concordia-St. Paul... The Vikings opened with a 37-34 home win in overtime over Northern St.

PRIVATE PAIRING
There are five private colleges that compete in the Northern Sun: Mary, Augustana, Sioux Falls, Upper Iowa and Concordia-St. Paul. After facing CSP last week and hosting Augie on Saturday, the Marauders have faced fellow private schools in back-to-back-weeks. Mary plays public schools the rest of the season.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION YEAR VISIT
North and South Division teams in the Northern Sun face each other every other season (i.e. every two years), and visit the opponent's field every four years. The Marauders last hosted the Vikings in 2012, a 31-25 Mary win, during the last presidential election year.  

HOME STAND
The Marauders have won their last two home games against the Vikings, 10-0 in 2011 and 31-25 in 2012... The home team has won 4-of-5 games in the series. The only home loss was a 26-19 Augie win at Mary to open the 2007 season.   

HEAD COACHES
Josh Kotelnicki is in his third 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 29th season. Kotelnicki directed the Marauders to a 5-6 record in his first season in 2014 and is 6-17 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... Entering his fourth season as head coach at Augustana, Jerry Olszewski has seen the Vikings improve each year. After finishing 4-7 his first season, Augie went 6-5 and 9-3 the last two years. Augie qualified for the NCAA playoffs last year. He is 20-15 leading the Vikings and 52-33 in his ninth season as a collegiate head coach (32-18 at St. Olaf from 2008-12).

THE MARAUDERS-VIKINGS SERIES HISTORY (Augie leads UM 3-2)
A relatively young rivalry, the Marauders and Vikings first met in 2007... 2007: The Vikings won the first meeting 26-19 in Bismarck, ND, on August 25, 2007, in the season opener in front of over 6,500 fans. U-Mary held a 19-7 lead halfway through the fourth quarter before Augie scored 19 straight points to claim the victory. Shawn Melland opened the scoring with a 65 yard interception return and Blair Sandy ran one yard for a score and U-Mary led 13-0 at intermission. Two Rett Thibodeaux field goals built the Marauders lead to 19-7 in the fourth. The Vikings rallied and took their first lead with 45 seconds left as J. Norquist scored from the one yard line. Augie sealed the win when Dustin Rice returned an interception 70 yards for the score as time expired. Jamal Lomax ran for 107 yards and Jesse Laber had two sacks to lead the Marauders. Justin Huber ran for 105 yards and two TDs for Augie... 2010: The Vikings won  52-21 in Sioux Falls, SD. Terry Newsome caught a TD pass as U-Mary scored first but Augie ran off 28 straight points. U-Mary pulled within 28-21 on scoring runs by Craig Bagnell and Bo Cole but Tyler Schulte caught his third of four touchdowns for the Vikings to enter intermission up 35-21. AC would tack on 17 more in the second half. Augie's Josh Hanson threw for five TDs and ran for one... 2011: Using their best defensive effort of the 2011 season, the Marauders earned their first win over Augustana in a 10-0 victory. U-Mary gave up just 253 yards, including 58 yards on the ground. The Marauders picked up all the points they needed in the game in the second quarter when Bagnell connected with Tyler Steffan on a 24-yard touchdown pass. Tyler Ryan sealed the win with a 24-yard field goal in the 4th quarter. Bagnell paced the offense with 283 passing yards. Defensively, John Oyloe posted 4.0 tackles for loss and DeShon Benton had 2.5... 2012: Behind 409 yards passing from NSIC Offensive Player of the Week Craig Bagnell, U-Mary opened its home schedule with a 31-25 win over Augustana. The Marauders went on a 21-3 tear to build a 28-17 lead over the Vikings that featured two touchdown receptions by Tyler Steffan and one by Elby Pope. The Vikings would close to within 28-25 before Tyler Ryan converted a 34-yard field goal with 2:35 left in the game to double the Marauders advantage. The Marauders defense finished the game in fine fashion, sacking Vikings QB Josh Hanson twice in three plays, including Augie's last play of the game. Steffan caught ten passes for 154 yards to pace the Marauders. The Vikings gained 454 yards of offense while running 99 plays. The Marauders posted 428 yards of offense on 79 plays... 2014: Augie scored on 8-of-11 drives with missed field goals ending two others. The Vikings opened the scoring with a one-play drive, a 61-yard touchdown pass from Trey Heid to Matt Gerry on their second possession of the game and led 24-0 at intermission. Grant Singer made 14 tackles to go over 300 in his career. Ben Jolliffe was 12-of-23 passing for 129 yards and one interception and ran for a team-high 49 yards. Elby Pope caught three balls for 31 yards. Heid completed 14-of-19 passes for 201 yards and two scores for Augie. Dajon Newell ran for 100 yards and one TD. CJ Ham scored twice and ran for 69 yards. Augie held a 31-13 edge in first downs and a 575 to 261 yardage advantage.

PAST MARAUDERS-VIKINGS MEETINGS (AC leads 3-2)
2007            Augustana     26         Mary                     19                                    Bismarck, ND
2010            Augustana     52         Mary                     21                                    Sioux Falls, SD
2011            Mary                     10         Augustana      0                                    Bismarck, ND
2012          Mary                    32            Augustana    25                                    Bismarck, ND
2014            Augustana     52            Mary                       0                                    Sioux Falls, SD

QUICK LOOK AT THE AUGUSTANA VIKINGS
Coming off an NCAA playoff appearance last year and just the second 9-win season in school history, Augustana opens its 50th season of college football as one of the top teams in the Northern Sun. Ranked 21st in the country, the Vikings are one of three league teams in the nation's Top 25, while three other NSIC teams are receiving votes. Headlining the Vikings squad is senior QB Trey Heid, an honorable mention All-American last season and the NSIC South Division Offensive Player of the Year. In his career, Heid has thrown for 8,147 yards and 67 touchdowns, ran for 1,102 yards and 13 scores, and has 9,249 yards of total offense. He should conclude his career as the Vikings career leader in yards passing, touchdown passes and total offense. Two returning wide receivers went over 1,000 yards last year. Honorable mention All-American Charlie Hayes caught 73 passes for 1,127 yards and 12 touchdowns. All-NSIC selection Matt Heller caught 53 balls for 1,089 yards and 10 TDs. In last week's overtime win against Northern State he caught eight passes for 27 yards and one TD. Defensively, sophomore LB Kirby Hora made a career-high 16 tackles against NSU, including 1.5 for loss. Hora has reached double digits in tackles in six of the 12 games he has played.    
LAST WEEK: Concordia-St. Paul 17 Mary 0
Down just 3-0 after three quarters, the Marauders allowed two fourth quarter touchdowns in a 17-0 loss against the Golden Bears in the season opener. Twice the Marauders reached the red zone but fell short of the end zone. Mary generated 208 yards of total offense in the game, including 145 yards on the ground. CSP ran for 222 yards and posted 338 yards of total offense... Down 3-0 after a 43-yard field goal by CSP on the opening drive of the game, Mary drove to the Golden Bears 19 yard line on its third possession of the game but a 36-yard field goal attempt fell short. In the third quarter, the Marauders came up short on a 4th-and-1 at the Golden Bears 20. CSP pulled away on 4th quarter touchdown runs by Darius Chapes of 1 yard and a 2 yards by Ron Johnson. Brody Peterson led the Marauders defensive efforts with 1.5 sacks. Austin Bolton had a team-high 10 tackles and also broke up a pass. Ben Jolliffe ran for 50 yards and completed 9-of-13 passes for 63 yards. Zack Graves added 40 yards rushing and added a 20 yard pass reception. Zach Podoll chipped in 38 yards rushing. Chapes led all players with 113 yards rushing for the Golden Bears. Kelly Pierce posted two sacks for CSP.

KEEPING THE FIELD CLEAN
The Marauders committed just four penalties for 25 yards against the Golden Bears. Concordia-St. Paul, though, was flagged 11 times for 106 yards.

T.O.P.
The Marauders posted one of the best time of possession figures in the NSIC last weekend, holding the ball for 35:31 (3rd in the league). One of the goals in the switch to the triple option offense was to hold on to the ball longer while decreasing the amount of plays their opponents can run.Mary was successful on both fronts as CSP had 338 yards on 55 plays.

DEEEE-FENCE
The Marauders defense posted a strong showing against the Golden Bears, allowing just 338 yards of offense and 17 points. Only three other teams allowed fewer yards and only four gave up fewer points last week.

WELCOME BACK
After playing wide receiver last season and missing the final six games due to injury, junior Ben Jolliffe is back, but this time playing quarterback. The Bismarck native started six games at quarterback as a redshirt freshman in 2014 and is back under center to lead the Marauders triple option offense. He ran for 50 yards and completed 9-of-13 passes for 63 yards against the Golden Bears in the season opener.

DEBUTS
13 Marauders made their career debut in the season opener against the Golden Bears. WR Adam Geiger, SB Paul Guptill, OL Hunter Hanson, LB Eric Knutson, LB Chris Kraft, DB Noah Krebs, DL Devon Macias, P Bailey Meyer, DL Luther Missoh, WR Harley Mollman, OL Rory Olson, DE Brayden Thomas and OL Tyson Lytle all saw their first action in teh Blue & Orange. Starting for the first time were Hanson, Kraft, Macias, Meyer, Mollman and Lytle. True freshmen playing for the Marauders were Geiger, Meyer, Thomas and Lytle.

PUNTING PROWESS
True freshman punter Bailey Meyer had a solid debut for the Marauders. The native of Sheboygan, WI, punted the ball five times and averaged 39.4 yards/attempt. He had a long of 47 yards and dropped two inside the 20 yard line. More importantly he held CSP's All-American kick returner Alquawn Vickers to just six punt return yards on two attempts.  

BEHIND THE LINE
Seeing the most extensive time in his career, sophomore defensive tackle Brody Peterson had a team-high 1.5 sacks in his first career start. Peterson made five total tackles in the game. He shared one sack with redshirt freshman Devon Macias, also making his first career start.
SNAPPED
Landon Smith had his tackles for loss streak snapped at 10 games at Concordia-St. Paul. A disruptive force to opposing backfields, the SR DE from Stanley, N.D. posted tackles for losses in the final ten games of last season and finished 2015 with  12 TFL to finish among the NSIC leaders. He also had 4.5 sacks and 64 total tackles, all career highs.

VERSATILITY
SR SB Zack Graves (Rocklin, Calif.) is a triple threat for the Marauders. In the season opener he ran for 40 yards, caught a pass for 20 yards and returned one kickoff for 18 yards. His all-around effort isn't surprising. Graves finished  second on the team last year in both rushing and receiving and was a threat on kick returns. In his first year at Mary he ran for 341 yards and 3 TDs, caught 39 passes for 348 yards and 1 TD, and returned 15 kicks for 340 yards, an average of 22.7 yards/return.

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