HOMECOMING SATURDAY

Homecoming 2018 at the University of Mary is punctuated when the Marauders host the Golden Bears of Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday, Oct. 12. Game time is 2 pm at the MDU Resources Community Bowl.   

THE RECORDS/LAST WEEK

The Marauders are 0-6 overall/NSIC and 0-4 in the NSIC North after a 54-13 loss at Winona State University... The Golden Bears are 2-4 overall and 2-2 in the NSIC South after a 35-28 home loss to Northern State. 

LAST YEAR

UMary finished last season 1-10 overall and in the NSIC and 1-7 in the NSIC North... WSU was 2-9 overall and in the NSIC and 0-7 in the NSIC South.   

MARAUDERS HALL OF FAME WEEKEND

Five individuals and one team will be inducted into the Marauders Hall of Fame on Friday, Oct. 12. UMary football fans will pay special attention to the 1999 Marauders national semifinal team and former head coach Myron Schulz. Levi Evans (men's soccer 1997-2000), Wayne Harvision (wrestling 1994-98), Danelle Murphy (softball 2000-03) and Kotchi Prosper (men's track & field 1994-98) are also being inducted.  

1999 Marauders Football team: NAIA Semifinalist (one of only two in program history)... Head coach Myron Schulz... Finished 11-2 overall and 5-0 in the NDCAC

NDCAC champion... Set season school records for fewest yards allowed per game (178), fewest rushing yards allowed per game (35.6), most touchdowns scored (65) and total points scored (460)... All-Americans that season included Eric Volk, David St. Claire, Seth Maier, Quintin Cradle, Kyle Sires and Jason Davis... Marauders Hall of Famer Chris Schwab was the senior quarterback...Tied program record for wins in single season (11). 

Myron Schulz (Football head coach 1999-2013): Most wins of any UMary football coach with a career record of 103-60... Next winningest coach only has 46 wins for UMary... Led Marauders to nine straight winning seasons, six straight NAIA national playoff appearances and four conference titles in a six-year stretch... Coached 23 All-Americans, 109 All-Conference players, 90 NSIC All-Academic team honorees and 23 NAIA All-Academic performers... Led Marauders through the transition from NAIA to NCAA... The Marauders had the nation's top defense in 2003, allowing just 225.2 yards/game... Member of the Marauders football coaching staff in 23 of the program's first 26 seasons.

HOMECOMING RUNDOWN

Homecoming Saturday is a busy day. Tailgating begins at 10:30 am in the MDU Resources Community Bowl north parking lot at 11:15 am the UMary football team will walk through Marauders Alley. Former head coach Myron Schulz will assist with the coin toss and he 199 football team will bring out the game ball. At intermission the UMary royal court, Alumni award recipients, Hall of Fame inductees will be introduced. For a full list of activities during homecoming visit www.umary.edu/homecoming 

CROSSOVER

In a changeup from recent years, the first of four straight crossover games between teams in the NSIC North and South Divisions started in week five. For the past six seasons (2012-2017) since the NSIC teams went to only playing conference opposition during the regular season, the first four games of the season had been set aside for the crossover contests with the last seven games reserved for divisional games. 

CROSSOVER V2

During the six seasons where all teams in the NSIC play four-game blocks against teams from the opposite division, the Marauders are 7-19, dropping their last 15 games against teams from the NSIC South. 

YOUNG BLOOD

At 28 years old, UMary head coach Craig Bagnell is the youngest head coach in the NCAA. The 2013 University of Mary graduate started his coaching career at Bemidji State in 2014 as a graduate assistant for one season before he moved to offensive coordinator in 2015. He directed a potent Beavers attack for three seasons (2015-2017) that featured creativity, balance and big plays. A four-year starter at quarterback for the Marauders, Bagnell was a two-time all-conference selection and UMary's all-time career leader in touchdown passes (75) and passing yardage (9,170). 

FIVE NUMBERS TO KNOW

2x3 The Marauders have forced three turnovers in each of the last two weeks. UMary recovered three fumbles against Southwest Minnesota State and forced two fumbles and intercepted a pass against Winona State. 

2x4 Over the past four weeks, a UMary football player has scored twice in each game. Fr. RB Bryan Lumsden reached the end zone twice against both Minot State and MSU Moorhead, So. WR DeShawn Gay caught two scoring passes against Southwest Minnesota State and Fr. WR Danny Kittner twice caught touchdown passes at Winona State. 

31 This is the 31st 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. 

6 With an interception against Winona State by Max Askew, the Marauders six interceptions through six games, which is already double last year's season total.   

5 Five teams in Marauders history have won both a conference championship and qualified for the national playoffs. One of those five teams - the 1999 Marauders squad that advanced to the NAIA semifinals - will be inducted into the Marauders Hall of Fame during Homecoming 2018. 

HEAD COACHES

At 28 years old, UMary head coach Craig Bagnell is the youngest head coach in the NCAA. The 2013 University of Mary graduate started his coaching career at Bemidji State in 2014 as a graduate assistant working with receivers. The next season he moved to offensive coordinator where he led a potent Beavers attack the last three years that featured creativity, balance and big plays. A four-year starter at quarterback for the Marauders, Bagnell was a two-time all-conference selection and UMary's all-time career leader in touchdown passes (75) and passing yardage (9,170)... After seven years out of coaching, Shannon Currier returned to the sidelines for his second head coaching stint with Concordia in 2016. He's the only coach in the program's history (1969-present) to produce four consecutive winning campaigns, and captured the team's first NSIC Championship and postseason appearance (Mineral Water Bowl) in 2003 when he was named the NSIC Coach of the Year. A native of Cosmos, MN, Currier coached five seasons at Truman State and posted a mark of 20-35. In his 12th season as an NCAA Division II head coach he has a record of 58-68 overall and 38-33 in his 7th overall season at CSP. 

THE MARAUDERS-GOLDEN BEARS SERIES HISTORY

The Marauders hold a 4-3 edge in the series against the Golden Bears. In seven games the home team lost the first five before winning the last two games. 2006: In the first meeting between the two schools, J. Robinson scored his second touchdown of the game with two minutes remaining to lead the Golden Bears over the Marauders 22-19 in Bismarck, ND. Trailing 15-3, Blair Sandy threw touchdown passes to Stacy Robinson and Matt Wall to lead a 17-0 run for U-Mary to take a lead. U-Mary held CU to 245 yards in the loss... 2007: Erik Kruse and Bayland Rippenkroeger both scored two touchdowns and Shawn Melland returned a fumble for a score and the Marauders rolled to a 37-20 road win over the Golden Bears. Kruse caught nine passes for 104 yards. Brandon Lewis had 2.5 sacks... 2008: Despite limiting the Golden Bears just 205 yards of offense, the Marauders suffered a 17-7 homecoming loss. CU sealed the win when D. Outlaw returned an interception 25 yards for a score in the third quarter. Pierre Atkinson and Melland both had 2.5 sacks for U-Mary.. 2009: Henry Lau threw for three touchdowns and Jamal Lomax ran for 127 yards in a U-Mary 27-7 road win. Lomax rushed for a score and caught a touchdown pass in the second quarter and the Marauders scored the final 27 points in the game... 2012: The Marauders overcame a slow start when the offense exploded for 21 straight points in a span of 2:21 and the defense forced five turnovers as UMary opened the 2012 season with a 32-26 win at Concordia University, St. Paul. Trailing 14-3, Craig Bagnell threw TDs of 5 yards to Nick Jolliffe, 34 yards to Elby Pope and found Bryan Sandy to build a 24-14 lead. Bagnell later found Styler Steffan for 66 yards. Hit from behind, Steffan fumbled into the end zone, where Myron Baldoz-McArn recovered the ball for the touchdown and a 32-19 lead. DB Scott Maldonado was the NSIC defensive player of the week, making 19 tackles with an interception in his U-Mary debut. Tyler Ryan dropped six punts inside the 20 yard line to win NSIC special teams honors... 2014: A run of 18 uninterrupted points led UMary to a 20-13 home win over Concordia-St. Paul in game three. UMary ran for 167 of their 263 yards and limited CSP to 61 rushing and 241 total yards. Ben Jolliffe threw a 33 yard TD pass to Elby Pope and umbles and recorded a safety. Down 3-0, Ben Jolliffe hit Elby Pope for a 33 yard touchdown pass and ran for a 2-point conversion, Brody Riggs nailed a 33 yard field goal and Adam Woroniecki ran 2 yards to build an 18-10 lead. Woroniecki ran for 56 yards, one of three Marauders over 50 yards. Pope caught five passes for 55 yards and ran for 10 more. Troy Guptill had 1.5 tackles for loss... 2016 The Marauders were limited to 208 yards of offense - 145 rushing - and the homestanding Golden Bears scored 14 4th quarter points in the 17-0 week one loss for UMary. Ben Jolliffe led the Marauders with 50 yards rushing and 63 passing. Austin Bolton had 10 tackles. Darius Chapes ran for 113 yards for CSP.

PAST MARAUDERS-GOLDEN BEARS MEETINGS (UM leads 4-3)

2006 CSP 22 UMary 19 Bismarck, ND

2007 UMary 37 CSP 20 St. Paul, MN

2008 CSP 17 UMary 7 Bismarck, ND

2009 UMary 27 CSP 7 St. Paul, MN

2012 UMary 32 CSP 26 St. Paul, MN 

2014 UMary 20 CSP 13 Bismarck, ND

2016 CSP 17 UMary 0 St. Paul, MN

QUICK LOOK AT THE CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL GOLDEN BEARS

The Golden Bears are winless in three road games this season but that figure may be a bit deceiving as Concordia-St. Paul has played a nationally-ranked team in each of those road games. The Golden Bears opened the season with a 27-24 loss at #20 SIoux Falls, a 46-13 loss at Minnesota State and a 32-3 loss at #1 Minnesota State. After winning their first two home games the Golden Bears fell 35-28 to Northern State at home. A big play threat, RB Lajuan Preston leads CSP with 388 yards rushing, averaging over 7 yards/carry that includes a 73 yard yard scoring jaunt. Shaq Johnson adds 367 yards rushing, averaging 5.6 yards//carry and two TDs, Dom McKinzy is completing 53 percent of his passes for 1,063 yards with nine TDs and eight interceptions. MJ Williams leads the team with 28 receptions and 406 yards, scoring three times. Marcus Haskins is a ball hawk on defense with five interceptions. He also has 27 tackles and 13 pass breakups. Jake Portz is the team tackles leader (36) and Chris Garrett has a team-high 5.0 sacks. 

LAST WEEK

Fr. WR Danny Kittner scored his first two collegiate touchdowns, connecting twice with fellow freshman Jason Hoekstra for a pair of scoring strikes in the second half of a 54-13 road loss to Winona State University... The pair of first year players opened the Marauders scoring with a 19 yard connection in the back of the end zone on UMary's first possession of the season half, a 7-play 75 yard drive. A key play during the Marauders longest drive of the day was a 21 yard pass to Tyson Carney and a 22 yard completion to Kittner... After the Marauders next possession stalled, UMary caught a break when Kittner recovered a fumbled punt by the Warriors at the Winona State 5 yard line. On the Marauders first play, Hoeskstra found Kittner for a 5 yard touchdown pass... UMary forced three turnovers in the game but couldn't take advantage of the first two, an interception by freshman Maxwell Askew to end the Warriors second possession of the game and a fumble recovery by Jarad Zittleman in the second quarter... The Warriors proved more effective turning Marauders turnovers into points, scoring on two of three UMary miscues, all in the first 30 minutes of play. The first, an interception, allowed Winona State to build a 21-0 lead. The third UMary turnover came in the closing minute of the first half. Winona State immediately scored on a 30 yard pass play and entered intermission leading 34-0... Hoekstra completed 22-of-40 passes for two scores and 184 yards. Carney caught ten balls for 67 yards. Kittner finished with five catches for 55 yards and two scores. He also ran the ball once for eight yards, returned a kick for 18 yards and recovered a fumble... Grady Blewett led the Marauders defense with nine tackles. He forces a fumble and made 1.5 tackles for loss. Cyrano Rayfield added two tackles behind the line... On special teams Casey Uhler was credited with a blocked field goal attempt and Ryan Naki blocked a point after touchdown kick attempt... Owen Burke completed 13-of-16 passes for 227 yards and two touchdowns for the Warriors with an interception. Javian Roebuck ran for 96 yards and a score and caught a 29 yard touchdown pass... The Warriors held a 530-234 lead in yardage for the game.

PLACE AND TIME

So. S Jarad Zittleman is getting to the right place at the right time for the Marauders defense. He has recovered a pair of fumbles this season - one in each of the last two games - and has an interception. Zittleman is tied for the NSIC lead in fumble recoveries. 

BUSY

Soph. WR DeShawn Gay is a busy man, catching passes and returning kicks. He is 6th in the NSIC in all-purpose yardage at 110.3 yards/game. He is fifth in kick return average at 22.6 yards/return. Gay has 453 kick return yards, two punt return yards, 31 rushing yards and 176 receiving yards. Her produced 263 all-purpose yards against SMSU, a Marauders NCAA game-high. 

DOUBLE DOWN

If someone reaches the end zone once in a game for the Marauders, there's a pretty good chance they will cross the goal line again. In each of the Marauders last four games, a player has scored a pair of touchdowns for UMary. Fr. RB Bryan Lumsden reached the end zone twice against both Minot State and MSU Moorhead. DeShawn Gay scored twice against Southwest Minnesota State. And last week Fr. WR Danny Kittner caught scoring passes of 19 and 5 yards against Winona State. 

TURNOVER TIME

The Marauders have forced multiple turnovers in the last three games and four times in six outings. After making turning over the Dragons twice, UMary forced three turnovers against both Southwest Minnesota State and Winona State. 

LITTLE LOOMS LARGE

Soph. WR Luke Little has 23 catches for 362 yards through five games. He is 7th tenth in the NSIC in receiving yardage per game (72.4) and receptions/game (4.6). 

PRECISION

For the second straight week, Jr. All-NSIC punter Bailey Meyer dropped a trio of punts inside the opponents 20 yard line. He also forced a fair catch at Winona State. Meyer is 4th in the NSIC with an average of 41.6 yards/punt. He has seven punts of 50 yards or longer, dropped 13 inside the 20 yard line and has forced two fair catches in his 42 attempts.

SIX

After making just three interceptions last season, UMary has six this season through six games. Both Jarad Zittleman and Kendall Grier intercepted passes to thwart potential scoring drives in the MSU Moorhead game. Marquell Evans and Paul Guptill made interceptions in the opener at SCSU. Isaiah Hubbard had both an interception and a sack in the Minot State game. Fr. LB Maxwell Askew picked off his first career pass against Winona State. 

TAG TEAM

Brothers Grady and Will Blewett are among the team leaders on the Marauders in tackles this season. Grady leads the team with 44 tackles. Will has 13 solo tackles and 20 stops total.

FRESHMAN

Several true freshmen have found their way to the field this season. Bryan Lumsden leads the Marauders in TDs (4) and rushing yards (191)... RB Reggie Scott has 100 yards rushing... WR Danny Kittner has two touchdowns, 167 yards receiving, six yards rushing, 98 kick return yards, and 78 yards on punt returns... QB Jason Hoekstra has thrown for 789 yards and five touchdowns... Tyree Shepherd has been a key reserve on the offensive line... TE Chase Kopp has five catches for 101 yards, including a 59 yard TD... WR Kade Lynch has three catches for 48 yards... LB Max Askew owns a team-high 6.0 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks, 25 tackles and an interception... Devin Beck has 11 tackles, including a sack. 

NSIC FAMILIARITY

Of the ten coaches on Craig Bagnell's staff, nine have either coached at or graduated from a Northern Sun school. Bagnell, Jordan Noskowiak, Matthew Splon and Rufus Saylee all have played and coached in the NSIC. Brett Holinka, Mark Martin and Tristian Johnson all coached in the NSIC at other schools before joining UMary in the off season. Randy Bandelow is in his third season with the Marauders and Nick Voorhees his second.  

FAMILIARITY

The Marauders return five starting offensive linemen from last year. Senior Nick Benshetler enters his fourth season as a starter. Fellow senior and team captain Jared Taylor and junior Tyson Lytle are three-year starters. Junior Hunter Hanson started all 11 games last season. Junior Rory Olson started several games as a redshirt freshman and last year as a junior. 

BROTHERS BLEWETT

The Marauders will have a pair of brothers from Bozeman, MT, starting at linebacker. Jr. Grady Blewett appeared in 11 games last season and had 20 tackles. R-Fr. Will Blewett redshirted last season... This is the second straight year the Marauders will start a brother combo on defense as Brady and Jarad Zittleman started in the backfield. 

BROTHERS

The Marauders other sibling duos are Jr. Noah Krebs and Fr. Jonah Krebs, both linebackers from St. Mary's in Bismarck, ND, and R-Fr. OL Dylan Thomsen and Fr. TE Dylan Thomas, both from Thompson, ND. 

COUSINS

LB Jamison Lytle and OL Tyson Lytle are cousins. Their fathers both played on the Marauders Originals team, which was the first varsity squad in 1988. 

MOTHER AND SON

Head athletic trainer Rhonda Olson, who has treated the Marauders football players like her own sons since joining UMary in 2000, has her own son on the squad. Jaren Olson is a junior defensive lineman.

USS ANCHORAGE

Two Marauders are veterans of the United States Navy and served together on the USS Anchorage, one of the country's newest vessels. Jordan Beaty and Daquavian Ross are redshirt sophomores who joined the Marauders in 2016. Ross appeared in four games last season and moved up the depth chart to 2nd team this season. Beaty, who ran for 181 yards last year and caught a TD pass, is the Marauders starting RB.