THURSDAY
The featured Northern Sun Thursday Night Game of the Week, the University of Mary plays their final midweek game of the season when the Marauders visit Northern State University on November 2. Kickoff is set for 7 pm at Swisher Field in Aberdeen, SD.

THE RECORDS
The Marauders are 1-8 overall and in the Northern Sun and 1-4 in the NSIC North... The Wolves are 4-5 overall and in the Northern Sun and 3-2 in the NSIC North.  

LAST WEEK
The Marauders fell 51-19 in the Battle for the Paddle at MSU Moorhead... The Wolves picked up a 21-16 road win at St. Cloud State.
 
LAST YEAR
The Marauders finished the 2016 season 1-10 overall and in the Northern Sun and 1-6 in the NSIC North division, placing 15th overall in the conference and sixth in the North division... The Wolves finished 6-5 overall and in the Northern Sun and 4-3 in the NSIC North.

NSIC THURSDAY NIGHT GAME OF THE WEEK ON MIDCO SPORTSNET
The Marauders-Wolves game is UMary's second appearance on the "NSIC Thursday Night Game of the Week." Midco SportsNet will air the game live throughout the region beginning at 7 pm on Thursday, Nov. 2, from Aberdeen, SD. David Brown will handle the play-by-play duties for Midco SportsNet while Trevor Gebhart provides the color commentary... This is the first season the NSIC and MidcoSN have combined for a full slate of Thursday night games. In addition to one game each Thursday during the regular season, MidcoSN will also air another nine games on Saturdays... The Marauders played their first TNGOTW at Upper Iowa in week 4 and hosted a Saturday Midco game against Minot State.  
 
STAR LIGHT STAR BRIGHT
The Marauders play under the lights for the fourth time this season when UMary visits Northern State on Thursday. UMary has kicked off at 6 pm or later four times. Three of the games have been on Thursday night. Before the season opener the Marauders hadn't played on a Thursday since the 2011 season opener.

FIVE + 1 NUMBERS TO KNOW
233.4 The Marauders are second in the Northern Sun and 12th in NCAA Division II  in rushing offense with 233.4 yards per game.

30 This is the 30th season of Marauders football. After playing a junior varsity schedule in 1987, head coach Jim Driscoll led the 1988 squad to a 27-18 home win in the program's first varsity game. UMary honored the members of the 1988 team - known as The Originals - during the Minot State game.
18.9 UMary is fourth in the nation in yards per pass completion at 18.9. The Marauders have completed 31-of-83 passes for 585 yards and eight touchdowns.

7 Over the last five weeks, senior defensive tackle Brock Pittley has picked up seven sacks, including 2.5 at Bemidji State and 2.0 on Homecoming against Minnesota Crookston. The native of Killdeer, ND, added one more against both SCSU and at MSU Moorhead. He is third in the Northern Sun in sacks and 32nd in the country.

3-for-3 Freshman wide receiver Luke Little caught his third career pass against the Dragons, a 10 yard scoring strike from Colton Farmer. Since playing his first collegiate game in week seven against Minnesota Crookston, the Bismarck, ND, native has caught three passes and all three have gone for touchdowns.

2 The Marauders had two or more sacks for the fourth straight game against the Dragons as Brock Pittsley and Casey Uhler reached the quarterback. UMary had three sacks at BSU, eight against UMC and three against SCSU. For the year the Marauders have 21 sacks, fifth in the NSIC.

HEAD COACHES
Josh Kotelnicki is in his fourth 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 30th season. Kotelnicki directed the Marauders to a 5-6 record in his first season in 2014 and is 8-36 lifetime (four years). Kotelnicki joined 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... Tom Dosch is in his eighth season as head coach of Northern State University and is the school's 26th head football coach. He has a 41-45 record with the Wolves. Dosch was the 2014 NSIC Coach of the Year and has led Northern State to consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 2004-05. A 1992 Dickinson State University graduate, he began his coaching career at DSU and is a member of the Blue Hawks Hall of Fame. He coached ten seasons at the University of North Dakota before becoming a head coach at Jamestown College and posting a record of 25-17 with two NAIA playoff appearances. After two seasons as an assistant at Southern Illinois Dosch was named the NSU head coach prior to the 2010 season.

YEAR IN YEAR OUT
This is the 12th straight season the Marauders have played the Wolves. NSU is one of five teams Mary has faced every season since beginning NCAA play in 2006. Bemidji State, Minnesota Crookston, MSU Moorhead and St. Cloud State are the other four teams.

THE MARAUDERS-WOLVES SERIES HISTORY:  In a series that began in 2006, the Marauders claimed the first five meetings before the Wolves won two straight in 2011-12. Despite the fact NSU was virtually Mary's closest rival prior to Minot State University joining the Northern Sun, the first two meetings took place at the Metrodome... 2006: Mary captured the first contest between the two schools 20-7 as Justin Fleck scored two touchdowns while the Wolves were limited to 27 yards rushing... 2007: The Marauders cruised past the Wolves 37-13 behind two Mike Williams scores and 418 yards passing by Blair Sandy... 2008: The first meeting on a home field, with NSU getting first crack to host the game. A last-second touchdown pass from Jesse Kozak to Allen Merrill set up a walk-off overtime TD by Jamal Lomax in a 34-31 Marauders win. Erik Kruse caught a school-record 13 passes for 110 yards, Lomax ran for 114 yards and Kozak passed for 298 yards... 2009: In the first game played in Bismarck, ND, Lomax scored the winning touchdown with 11 minutes left in the game and set a Mary single game school rushing record with 248 yards, including 146 in the 4th quarter. The game featured four lead changes and two ties. Mary dominated the 4th quarter in a 20-16 win... 2010: Lomax ran for 105 yards and three TDs and Tyler Steffan caught 10 passes for 222 yards and one TD to earn NSIC Offensive Player of the Week honors in a 48-3 Marauders win. Craig Bagnell passed for 281 yards and three TDs. The UM defense intercepted four passes and limited the Wolves to 66 yards passing... 2011: Josh Murray ran for 163 yards and scored three TDs and Craig Bagnell threw for 232 yards and a score but Northern State scored the final 10 points in  39-36 Wolves win. Felipe Alfaia converted a game-winning 35-yard field goal as time expired. Jared Jacobson ran for 180 yards and three TDs and passed for 136 yards to lead NSU and Kristin James added another 139 yards for the Wolves... 2012: Mary jumped out to a 14-3 lead but Northern State scored the next 55 points in a 65-17 Wolves win, the most points ever allowed by the Marauders. Elby Pope caught seven passes for 109 yards and a TD to lead Mary, Bagnell passed for 201 yards and two TDs, and Mikey Ingemansen had two sacks. Jared Jacobson threw for 422 yards and three TDs and Chris Morton caught six passes for 148 yards and three TDs for NSU... 2013: Vince Ferrante and Elby Pope scored in Mary's first two possessions and a Craig Bagnell-to-Nick Jolliffe TD pass gave the Marauders a 21-7 halftime lead on the way to a 28-14 win. Ferrante ran for 124 yards and two TDs.Bagnell was 25-of-36 for 282 yards with 2 TDs and 2 INTs. The Marauders out-gained the Wolves 427-309. 2014: The Wolves stopped the Marauders on the one yard line to open the game, then drove 99 to open the scoring in a 42-33 Wolves road win. Three times Mary pulled within one point. Jake East led UM with 9 catches for 174 yards and one TD. Elby Pope caught 11-129. QB Zach Roberson was 29-of-46 passes for 409 yards and two TDs plus one rushing. Preston Tescher had 14 tackles, an interception and knocked down two passes for UM. NSU QB Jacobson was the NSIC Player of the Week after running for 84 yards and 2 TDs and completing 36-of-53 passes for 418 yards and 3 TDs. NSU outgained Mary 574-484... 2015: The Marauders turned the ball over five times in a 37-0 road loss to the Wolves. Caleb Buck was 30-of-50 passing for 203 yards with Zack Graves catching 11 passes for 89 yards. Preston Tescher had 13 tackles and Seth Walton had two tackles for loss. Nicholas Truen ran for 64 yards and a TD, Kayle Lavand passed for 233 yards and a score and Zachery Barber had five catches for 108 yards for the Wolves... 2016: The Wolves exploded for 28 points in the second quarter and 17 in the third on the way to a 52-7 road win over the Marauders. The Wolves held the edge in first downs (29-8) and yardage (574-250). Christian McAlvain ran for two scores and passed for two more to lead the Wolves. Nick McCann passed for 147 yards and connected with Harley Mollman on a 56 yard TD for UMary. Zack Graves ran for 63 yards, caught two passes for 18 yards and had 106 yards in kick returns. Danielle Whitaker broke up three passes and recovered a fumble.

PAST MARAUDERS-WOLVES MEETINGS (Mary leads 6-5)
2006    Mary 20                         Northern State   6                Metrodome
2007    Mary 37                         Northern State 13                Metrodome
2008    Mary 34                         Northern State 31 OT        Aberdeen, SD
2009    Mary 20                         Northern State 16                Bismarck, ND
2010    Mary 48                         Northern State   3                Bismarck, ND
2011    Northern State 39         Mary 36                                Aberdeen, SD
2012    Northern State 65         Mary 17                                Bismarck, ND  
2013    Mary 28                        Northern State 14                Aberdeen, SD
2014    Northern State 42        Mary 33                                Bismarck, ND
2015    Northern State 37        Mary 0                                Aberdeen, SD
2016     Northern State 52        Mary 7                                Bismarck, ND

QUICK LOOK AT THE NORTHERN STATE UNIVERSITY WOLVES
Coming off three straight winning seasons and four in the last five years, the Wolves need wins against both UMary and at Minnesota Crookston in the final two games of the year. Northern State has struggled offensively, standing 14th in the NSIC in points per game (15.8) and 15th in total offense (273.1 yards/game). Turnovers have been an issue. The Wolves have committed an NSIC-high 25 turnovers and are last in the league in turnover margin at -10. Sr. RB Nicholas Truen has run for 605 yards and seven TDs... Hunter Trautman has passed for 905 yards and four scores. Jake Comeaux has thrown for 563 yards and three scores. They have both thrown seven interceptions... Brian Sumption has intercepted three passes... Noah MacPherson has 72 tackles, 5.0 tackles/loss, recovered two fumbles and forced three... Preston Droessler has 8.0 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks, both team highs.

WEEK 9 REWIND
After UMary closed within a missed extra point of knotting the score following Garrett Weissinger's 5 yard touchdown run, MSU Moorhead ran off 44 straight points to win the Battle for the Paddle 51-19. The Marauders tallied the last two touchdowns of the game when Colton Farmer connected with Luke Little for a 10 yard scoring pass and Nick McCann and Anthony Shepherd combined on a 21 yard touchdown pass. The Marauders ran for 270 yards and posted 346 yards of offense. Weissinger led UM with 91 yards rushing. Noah Krebs had a team-high eight tackles. Jakup Sinani ran for 94 yards and two scores and passed for 205 yards and two TDs to lead MSUM. The Dragons had 528 yards of offense with 268 on the ground.

10 for 10
Ten different Marauders made plays of 10 yards or longer against the Dragons. Garrett Weissinger had a long run of 25 yards, Jordan Beaty 20 yards, DeShawn Gay 28 yards, Paul Guptill 14 yards, Jaxon Ford 14 yards, Colton Farmer 17 yards and Chris Davis 11 yards. Also Anthony Shepherd caught a long pass of 21 yards, Davis 15 yards, Devin Hope 11 yards and Luke Little 10.  

FIRST
True freshman wide receiver Anthony Shepherd caught his two collegiate passes against the Dragons with a pair of grabs for 30 yards, including a 21 yard touchdown pass.

PINPOINT PRECISION
Soph. P Bailey Meyer is second in the NSIC in punting at 40.7 yards/attempt. Thirteen of his 44 attempts have been downed inside the 20 with just three rolling into the end zone for touchbacks. There have been eight fair catches called and seven punts over 50 yards. He also completed his first pass, a 15 yard completion against the Dragons.

BIG HITTER - OFFENSE
Freshman DeShawn Gay leads the Marauders in rushing with 436 yards and three touchdowns in 68 carries, a stellar average of 6.4 yards/carry. He had a season-high 144 at Wayne State College, including a 59 yard scoring burst. Gay has three receptions for 148 yards, including two for scores (72 yards v BSU, 61 yards v SCSU).  

BIG HITTER - DEFENSE
Noah Krebs is 6th in the NSIC in tackles with 81 (44 solo). He had a career-high 15 tackles and forced a fumble against SCSU.

YOUNG
Eight of the top eleven tacklers this season are underclassmen for UMary, led by sophomore Noah Krebs (81), freshman Jarad Zittleman (57) sophomore Chris Kraft (45), freshmen linebackers Dylan Anthony (36), Casey Uhler (37) and Pat O'Connell (25) and sophomore linemen Daniel Hudrlik (27) and Luther Missoh (24). Senior defensive backs Jacob Parker and Brady Zittleman are sixth in tackles (34) and Brock Pittsley (10th).

BROTHERS
Senior defensive back Brady Zittleman and his younger brother, redshirt freshman Jarad Zittleman, have played along side each other all season. This is the first time the two Mandan, ND, natives have played together.

BROTHERS PART TWO 
In addition to the Zittleman brothers, the Marauders have three other brother combinations on the team. Sophomore LB Coleton Ford and R-Fr. SB Jaxon Ford are brothers from Bismarck, ND, sophomore LB Grady Blewett and freshman Will Blewett are brothers from Belgrade, MT, and junior PK Cody Goetz and FR WR Cameron Goetz are brothers from Eden Prairie, MN.

FAMILY
Here are a handful of other family ties for the Marauders football team. So. SB Paul Guptil is the younger brother of Marauders All-American Troy Guptill. Also his sister Josie Guptill was an All-American for the Marauders track & Field program... Sophomores Tyson Lytle and Jamison Lytle are cousins... Jamison Lytle's father was an all-conference player for UMary in 1991... R-FR Gage Gellner's father played for UMary... Josh Weiler's dad was a thrower on the Marauders track & field team... So. DE Jaren Olson is the son of Rhonda Olson, the Marauders longtime head athletic trainer.

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