SATURDAY

After playing at home the last two weeks, the University of Mary football team returns to the road for a matchup with 2017 NCAA playoff participant Winona State University. The Warriors homecoming game with the Marauders is set for 2 pm at the Altra Federal Credit Union Stadium in Winona, MN, a site UMary hasn't visited since 2014.  

THE RECORDS/LAST WEEK

The Marauders are 0-5 overall/NSIC and 0-4 in the NSIC North after a 54-24 loss to Southwest Minnesota State... The Warriors are 3-2 overall and 2-2 in the NSIC South after rallying to defeat Northern State 22-15. 

LAST YEAR

UMary finished last season 1-10 overall and in the NSIC and 1-7 in the NSIC North... WSU was 10-2 overall, 10-1 in the NSIC and overall and 6-1 in the NSIC South, qualifying for the NCAA playoffs.   

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 7-18, dropping their last 14 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 PLUS ONE NUMBERS TO KNOW

263 Sophomore DeShawn Gay set a Marauders NCAA era program mark with 263 all-purpose yards against Southwest Minnesota State. He caught seven passes for 108 yards and two touchdowns and returned seven kicks for another 155 yards. The previous NCAA era high was by Bayland Rippenkroger at Winona State in 2007 with 262 yards.

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. 

5 With a pair of interceptions against the Dragons, the Marauders have five on the season, already exceeding last year's total of three. 

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. Former players, coaches and staff on the 1999 team can go to www.GoUMary.com/1999footballRSVP to register for the event. 

4 UMary sacked the SMSU quarterback four times. In the past four years the total of four sacks was exceeded just once when the Marauders knocked down the Minnesota Crookston signal caller eight times in Oct. 2017. 

3 The Marauders recovered three fumbles by Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday. It was one short of the NCAA era high of four against Chadron State in 2006 in UMary's first game playing a full NCAA schedule. 

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)... The dean of NSIC head coaches in his 23rd year at Winona State, Tom Sawyer has won 10 or more games in a single season six times. His mark of 174-78 is a school record for wins and winning percentage. The 21st WSU football head coach, Sawyer has been named the NSIC Coach of the Year five times. He ranks third among active NCAA DII head coaches in career wins entering the 2018 season.The Warriors have played in the NCAA Division II Playoffs six times under Sawyer as well as making three Mineral Water Bowl appearances. Sawyer has coached six Harlon Hill Award candidates, 49 All-Americans, 385 All-NSIC selections, five NSIC Offensive Player of the Year and six NSIC Defensive Player of the Year recipients. 

THE MARAUDERS-WARRIORS SERIES HISTORY (WSU leads series 5-1)

2007: Winona State won the first meeting between the two schools 32-27 at home. Two touchdowns by Bayland Rippenkroeger gave the Marauders a 14-12 lead but 10 straight Winona State points pushed the Warriors to an insurmountable lead. The Marauders held a 470-425 edge in yardage and a 20-16 advantage in first downs. Rippenkroeger ran for 102 yards and two scores and Mike Williams caught nine passes for 190 yards and two TDs. Blair Sandy threw for 344 yards. Peters caught five balls for 179 yards plus the two scores for WSU. Drew Aber threw for three TDs and 256 yards... 2010: Craig Bagnell passed for 251 yards and Jamal Lomax set the Mary career rushing record but it took a blocked 43 yard field goal attempt on the final play of the game by John Oyloe for the Marauders to secure a 21-19 win at Winona State University and knock the Warriors out of post-season contention. Down early, the Marauders scored 21 straight points on touchdowns by Tyler Steffan, Terry Newsome and Bo Cole for a 21-7 Mary lead. WSU would score two touchdowns but couldn't convert its extra point attempts. The Warriors held a 26-19 advantage in first downs and a 449-369 advantage in yards but the Marauders forced the only two turnovers of the day… 2011: In a shootout featuring 971 yards of offense, the Warriors scored the winning touchdown with 51 seconds left in the game on a Rayon Simmons 1-yard run. Simmons finished with 203 yards rushing and scored four times. Down 14-0 early, the Marauders had taken a 43-39 lead on a Craig Bagnell to Tyler Steffan 5-yard scoring pass, the third time in the game the duo had connected for a touchdown strike. Steffan finished with eight catches for 100 yards. Bagnell threw for 372 yards and four scores. Josh Murray ran for 132 yards and one TD. Mary turnovers contributed to 17 points for the Warriors... 2012: Three Marauders turnovers led to 17 points for the Warriors in a 32-23 Winona State win to dampen the Mary homecoming. Down 14-0 early, Mary pulled within 19-17 in the third quarter on Craig Bagnell touchdown passes to Tyler Steffan and Jeremy Mayfield. Rayon Simmons jumped the WSU lead to 32-17 with two fourth quarter scoring runs. Bagnell connected with Bryan Sandy for a touchdown to get Mary within 32-23 but the Warriors controlled the ball for the final 6:24 of the game. Bagnell finished the game 27-of-46 for 319 yards and three touchdowns. Elby Pope caught eight passed for 117 yards. Scott Maldonado led the UM defense with 16 tackles (1.5 TFL, 1 sack). John Oyloe had two sacks and Troy Guptill added two tackles for loss. Simmons ran for four scores and 176 yards for Winona State. WSU QB John Tiegland was an impressive 22-of-27 for 232 yards... 2014: Battling from behind all day, the University of Mary lost 42-34 at Winona State. Down 28-14 at half, Elby Pope returned a punt a school-record 89 yards and Austin Bolton returned a fumble 57 yards for the score in the third quarter to even the game. WSU responded with two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including an interception return for a score, to build an insurmountable 42-28 lead. Making his first collegiate start, R-Fr. QB Ben Jolliffe was 18-of-30 for 187 yards, three scores and two interceptions and ran for 37 yards. Nick Jolliffe cuaght nine passes for 98 yards and one TD. Pope caught three passes for 32 yards and a score. Grant Singer made a career-high 19 tackles and Troy Guptill posted 2.5 sacks. Jack Nelson of WSU was named NSIC Offensive Player of the Week after completing 30-of-45 passes for 422 yards and three scores. Josh Mikes caught seven passes for 121 yards and a score and Dylan Ulferts made nine catches for 118 yards... 2016: The Warrior scored touchdowns on their first four possessions of the first half and the first two possessions of the second to build a 45-0 lead midway through the third quarter. WSU built a 655-155 edge in yardage over UMary. Ben Jolliffe paced the Marauders offense with 58 yards rushing. Jacob Parker added an interception and Cyrano Rayfield added a tackle for loss. Paul Preston ran for 146 yards and three scores for the Warriors. Paul Nelson threw for 277 yards and two scores and Cameron Johnson had eight catches for 167 yards and a touchdown.

PAST MARAUDERS-WARRIORS MEETINGS (WSU leads 5-1)

2007 WSU 32 Mary 27 Winona, MN

2010 Mary 21 WSU 19 Winona, MN

2011 WSU 46 Mary 43 Bismarck, ND

2012 WSU 32 Mary 23 Bismarck, ND

2014 WSU 42 Mary 34 Winona, MN

2016 WSU 51 Mary 0 Bismarck, ND

QUICK LOOK AT THE WSU WARRIORS

Coming off a 10-2 mark last year with an NCAA playoff appearance, the Warriors opportunity to return to the postseason suffered a hit when Winona State suffered losses in two straight games, 34-33 at Upper Iowa and 31-21 against #2 Minnesota State. WSU returned to its winning ways with a 22-15 win at Northern State, leading 14-3 in the second half before trailing 15-14. Soph. QB Owen Burke has thrown for at least 200 yards and one touchdown in all five games this season. He ranks fourth in the NSIC in touchdown passes (10). The Denver, Colorado native has completed at least 50 percent of his pass attempts each week and ranks fifth in the league in passing yards/game (249.2). Senior Isaiah Frandsen has found a good rhythm with his new quarterback over the last three weeks, combining for 298 yards and three touchdowns. Frandsen has three 100-yard receiving and three multi-TD games in his Warrior career Leading the rushing group, Eric Birth ran for a season-best 77 yards and two scores last weekend, including a 62-yard touchdown scamper. Javian Roebuck leads the team with 267 rushing yards rushing. Junior safety Romario Gayle leads the team and ranks second in the NSIC with four interception this year, including one in three straight contests. Gayle ranks fourth on the team in tackles (25).The Warriors' two leading tacklers this season reside at the cornerback position in Isaiah Hall (30) and Cole Monkton (27). Hall has a team-best 5.5 tackles-for-loss while Monkton leads the way with seven pass-breakups. The duo has combined for seven career interceptions and three forced fumbles. 

LAST WEEK

DeShawn Gay twice found the end zone for UMary in a 54-24 home loss to Southwest Minnesota State. Gay caught seven passed for 107 yards and two scores, catching touchdown passes of 64 and 8 yards. He also returned seven kicks for 157 yards. UMary took an early 7-0 lead on a Colton Farmer 8 yard scoring run. After 20 straight points by SMSU, Gay caught a 64 yard scoring pass from Jason Hoekstra to pull the Marauders within 20-14. The momentum continued to go the Marauders way. Max Askew forced a fumble recovered by Noah Krebs at the Mustangs 27 yard line put UMary in position to score but the Marauders were stopped on fourth down at the visitor's 2 yard line. Following another defensive stop, the Marauders took over at their own 42 yard line but immediately fumbled the ball away. The Mustangs then took control of the game, scoring on their next two possessions to lead 33-14 at intermission. The Mustangs virtually clinched the game on the first offensive play of the second half when Max Simmons sprinted 75 yards for a touchdown. The Marauders finished strong, scoring the last ten points of the game. Brody Riggs connected on a 40 yard field goal and Gay caught an 8 yard scoring pass from Hoekstra. Farmer led the Marauders ground game with 47 yards. Bryan Lumsden added 31 yards.

Bailey Meyer averaged 43.2 yards/punt and downed three attempts inside the 20 yard line. The Marauders had a season-high four sacks. Grady Blewett led the way with 1.5 sacks. Askew had two tackles for loss, including a sack. Shae Ratkovich had 11 tackles – including 2.5 for loss, to lead the Mustangs defense. Simons had 119 yards rushing. Gimbel completed 21-of-31 passes for 356 yards and five scores. He also ran for a touchdown. Davis caught three passes for 148 yards and two scores.

BUSY

Soph. WR DeShawn Gay is a busy man, catching passes and returning kicks. He is third in the NSIC in all-purpose yardage at 121.4 yards/game. Gay has 411 kick return yards, two punt return yards, 32 rushing yards and 162 receiving yards. Against SMSU he caught seven passes for 108 yards and two scores, covering 64 and 8 yards. He also returned seven kicks for 155 yards to total 263 all-purpose yards, a Marauders NCAA game-high. The previous game against MSU Moorhead Gay returned seven kicks for 177 yards, second most in the NCAA era for UMary. His 18 kick returns for 411 yards are both NSIC highs. 

PAIR OF ACES

In each of the Marauders last three games, a player has scored a pair of touchdowns for the Marauders. Fr. RB Bryan Lumsden reached the end zone twice against both Minot State and MSU Moorhead. DeShawn Gay scored twice against Southwest Minnesota State. 

PERFECT

Brody Riggs is perfect on the year in field goals and extra points. The Marauders kicker converted his first field goal attempt of the season against SMSU, a 40-yarder in the final quarter. He is also perfect in all ten point after touchdown attempts.

LITTLE LOOMS LARGE

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

BOOMER

Jr. All-NSIC punter Bailey Meyer leads the NSIC with an average of 43.1 yards/punt. He has seven punts of 50 yards or longer, dropped ten inside the 20 yard line and has forced one fair catch in his 34 attempts. Last weekend he set down three punts inside the WInona State 20 yard line.                         

SACK TIME

The Marauders posted four sacks against Southwest Minnesota State, the second-most by UMary in four years behind the eight times the defense reached the Minnesota Crookston quarterback last year. Grady Blewett led the way with 1.5 sacks. Freshmen Maxwell Askew and Devin Beck both had sacks and Devon Macias posted half a sack.      

TAKE 5

After making just three interceptions last season, UMary has five this season through four 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. 

TAG TEAM

Brothers Grady and WIll Blewett are among the team leaders on the Marauders in tackles this season. Grady leads the team with 35 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 (169). RB Reggie Scott has 69 yards rushing. WR Danny Kittner has 112 yards receiving, 13 yards rushing, and 78 yards on punt returns. QB Jason Hoekstra has thrown for 605 yards. 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. Kade Lynch has two catches for 32 yards. LB Max Askew owns a team-high 6.0 tackles for loss. Devin Beck has ten tackles, including a sack. 

HOMECOMING 2018 NEXT UP

The Marauders face the Golden Bears of Concordia-St. Paul for Homecoming 2018 on Oct. 13 at 2 pm. Honorees during homecoming include former Marauders head coach Myron Schulz and his 1999 squad that reached the NAIA semifinals. 

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.