SATURDAY

The University of Mary football team wraps up the 2018 season with a second straight road game when the Marauders visit the University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles on Saturday, November 17. Game time is 1 pm from Ed Widseth Field (2,000) in Crookston, MN.  

THE RECORDS/LAST WEEK

The Marauders are 0-10 overall/NSIC and 0-6 in the NSIC North after a 55-0 loss at #5 Minnesota Duluth... The Golden Eagles are 1-8 overall and 1-5 in the NSIC North after falling to Northern State 27-0 on the road. 

LAST YEAR

UMary finished last season 1-10 overall and in the NSIC and 1-7 in the NSIC North... Minnesota Crookston was 0-11 overall and 0-7 in the NSIC North.

THE BACKSTORY

In the history of the Marauders football program, UMary has played Minnesota Crookston more times - 16 - than any other team on this year's schedule except Minot State University (27). In addition to playing the Golden Eagles for the 13th straight year on Saturday, Mary also faced UMC four times in the 1990s when the both schools were members of the North Dakota College Athletic Conference (UMC was the lone member not located in ND). This is the 13th straight season the Marauders have played the Golden Eagles, one of five teams Mary has faced every season since beginning NCAA play in 2006. 

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 + 2 NUMBERS TO KNOW

43.9 The Marauders average just 43.9 penalty yards per game, the 11th lowest total in the country

6 The Marauders have blocked six kicks this season to lead the Northern Sun and rank tenth in NCAA Division II. 

9x8 After the Marauders first eight interceptions this season were made by eight different players, freshman LB Maxwell Askew became the first UMary player with a pair of interceptions this season when he picked off a Wolves pass on the third quarter. The other Marauders with interceptions this season are Marquell Evans, Paul Guptill, Isaiah Hubbard, Jarad Zittleman, Kendall Grier, Grady Blewett and Johnny Tillman. 

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. 

19 The Marauders have forced 19 takeaways this season (10 fumbles, 9 interceptions) through ten games, exceeding last year's season-ending total of 11. It is UMary's best takeaway total since creating 21 in 2015. It is also the 4th highest total of turnovers forced in the NSIC this season. 

9 With Max Askew's interception against Northern State, the Marauders own nine interceptions through nine games, tripling 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 - was inducted this fall into the Marauders Hall of Fame. 

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)... A longtime member of the Minnesota Crookston coaching staff, Mark Dufner was named the Golden Eagles head coach before the 2016 season and is in his 16th year overall with the program, including five years as the defensive coordinator. A Maddock, ND, native, Dufner player college football for Valley City State, his alma mater, and was a high school coach in Valley City for 10 years before joining the Golden Eagles staff.

THE MARAUDERS-GOLDEN EAGLES SERIES HISTORY: In a series that started in 1995 when both schools were members of the North Dakota College Athletic Conference, the University of Mary holds a 14-2 advantage over the University of Minnesota Crookston. The Marauders took the first match-up 49-23 and the second 20-13 before the Golden Eagles claimed their first win of the series, 24-14 at home in 1997. UMC snapped Mary's seven game series winning streak in 2012... 2006: Blair Sandy threw for 2 TDs and ran for one in a 24-0 Marauders road win. Sandy ran for 111 yards and passed for 128. Mary's defense allowed just 159 yards and intercepted four passes... 2007: Shawn Melland returned an interception for a touchdown and James Patterson scooped and scored on a UMC fumble in a Marauders 38-0 win at home. UMC gained just 146 yards. Bayland Rippenkroeger ran for 104 yards and Sandy threw for 200 yards and two scores. Jesse Laber had 2.5 sacks... 2008: Jamal Lomax scored twice and ran for 129 yards, Mike Williams caught two of Henry Lau's three touchdown passes and Melland returned a fumble for a score in the Marauders 52-9 home win. UMC managed only 146 yards of offense... 2009: Terry Newsome opened the game with a 98 yard kickoff return for a touchdown and later caught one of Lau's four touchdown passes. Lomax ran for 158 yards and Lau completed 21-of-29 passes for 203 yards. The Marauders limited UMC to 200 yards... 2010: The Marauders returned three interceptions and a blocked punt for touchdowns in a 48-0 homecoming win. Lomax ran for 48 yards and a TD. Mary limited UMC to 149 total yards and nine first downs while forcing four turnovers... 2011: On an incredibly windy day, Josh Edwards threw 2 TD passes in his first career start in Mary's 31-0 road win. Dariouse Gravely ran for 108 yards and Josh Murray added 87 yards and a TD. Richard Haley ran for 179 yards for UMC... 2012: Played in the Alerus Center in Grand Forks, ND, UMC won 37-36 on the final play of the game. After a pass interference penalty on Mary on what would have been the final play of the game, Talo Pascal scored on a 1 yard TD on an un-timed play to pull UMC within 36-35. Going for two, UMC's pass failed but Mary was again called for pass interference. Making use of another second chance, Richard Haley scored the 2-point conversion to give UMC the win. The NSIC Defensive Player of the Week, Grant Singer had 3.0 TFL and 16 tackles. Craig Bagnell was 24-of-38 for 328 yards, five TDs and two interceptions. Elby Pope caught 5-143-1 and Tyler Steffan caught two TDs. Haley ran for 87 yards, AJ Barge was 26-of-36 for 318 and 2 TD, Keith McBride was 9-130-0 and Josh Ross was 9-109-0... 2013: Nick Jolliffe caught 3 TDs from Craig Bagnell and the Marauders gave Myron Schulz a 31-15 win over UMC in his final game as Mary head coach. In 15 years as head coach the Marauders were 103-66 under his direction. Bagnell was 29-of-43 for 262 yards and 3 TDs to end his career with a school-record 75 TD passes. Jolliffe caught six passes for 57 yards and three scores. The Mary defense allowed just 248 yards and 14 first downs. Scott Maldonado intercepted two passes. Nik Polski posted 11 tackles and Grant Singer ten. Troy Guptill has 2.0 sacks and 4.5 tackles for loss... 2014: Vince Ferrante ran for 136 yards and 1 TD as Mary ground out a 17-10 win at UMC. The Marauders ran for 229 yards and passed for 188 (417 total yards). UMC generated just 265. UMC scored first but a 50-yard Brody Riggs field goal kept UM within 7-3 at half. Two Marauders 3Q touchdowns - Ferrante from 5 yds out and a Ben Jolliffe to Jake East 13 yd scoring pass - game the Marauders a permanent lead. 2015: The Marauders blasted the Golden Eagles for 323 rushing yards and rallied past UMC 33-28. Trailing 28-21 entering the 4th quarter, Zack Graves scored his 3rd TD of the game on an 8 yard run to pull within a point. Adam Woroniecki scored the winning touchdown on a 26 yard run with 3:00 left in the game. Woroniecki ran for 162 yards on 26 carries. Graves rushed for 149 yards and two TDs on 21 carries and had two catches for 46 yards, including a 40- yard TD pass for the first score of the game. Austin Bolton had 14 tackles. Tra Hearns was 21-of-39 for 247 yards and three TDs for UMC... 2016: Colton Farmer led the Marauders to their first win of the season, passing for two TDs and running for one. He threw for 152 yards and ran for 44. The Marauders ran for 246 of their 400 yards of offense. Zack Graves had 96 yards rushing and Zach Podoll added 66. Defensively the Marauders allowed the Golden Eagles just 14 first downs, 61 yards rushing and 280 yards of total offense. Brady Zittleman led the defense with an interception and two pass breakups... 2017: UMary dominated both sides of the ball in a 30-6 win over visiting UMC as the Marauders set NCAA-era school marks for rushing yardage (417) and rushing defense (-35 yards leyed by eight sacks)... DeShawn Gay had a team-best 88 yards and scored the game's first TD in the 3rd quarter. Bock Pittsley and Jackson Grad both had two sacks. Overall the Marauders generated 443 yards of offense on 77 plays while limiting UMC to 227 on 51 plays... Gay and Luke Little scored 3rd quarter TDs to build a 17-0 lead before UMC scored. Little caught another TD pass from Garrett Weissinger and Devin Hope also found the end zone for UMary in the 4th.

PAST MARAUDERS-GOLDEN EAGLES MEETINGS (Mary leads 14-2)

1995 Mary 49 UMC 23 Crookston, MN

1996 Mary 20 UMC 13 Bismarck, ND

1997 UMC 24 Mary 14 Crookston, MN

1998 Mary 26 UMC 20 Bismarck, ND

2006 Mary 24 UMC 0 Crookston, MN

2007 Mary 38 UMC 0 Bismarck, ND

2008 Mary 52 UMC 9 Bismarck, ND

2009 Mary 37 UMC 14 Crookston, MN

2010 Mary 48 UMC 0 Bismarck, ND

2011 Mary 31  UMC 0 Crookston, MN

2012 UMC 37 Mary 36 Grand Forks, ND 

2013 Mary 31 UMC 15 Bismarck, ND

2014 Mary 17 UMC 10 Crookston, Minn.

2015 Mary 33 UMC 28 Bismarck, ND

2016 Mary 26 UMC 13 Crookston, MN

2017 Mary 30 UMC 6 Bismarck, ND

QUICK LOOK AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA CROOKSTON GOLDEN EAGLES Unable to find a win the previous two seasons, Minnesota Crookston is 1-9 in 2018 after defeating Minot State 29-21 in week four. The Golden Eagles have had only one other games within 24 points, a 21-13 loss at Concordia-St. Paul. The Golden Eagles are led by JR QB Jalin Scott, who is second on the team in rushing (206 yards, team-high four TDs rushing) and has passed for 1,138 yards and three scores. Kevin Evans has rushed for 121 yards this season. FR WR Andy Groebner has 30 catches for 537 yards and two touchdowns.  Rod Stewart has a line of 20-315-2. SR S Will Cole has 77 tackles with five tackles for loss and two interceptions. Ali Alkhatib has 67 tackles, including 7.5 for loss. Austin Steele owns a team-high 3.0 sacks and 5.0 tackles for loss. Jared McLemore is 4-of-7 with a long of 47 yards on the 2018 season.

LAST WEEK

Visiting UMary played a scoreless first quarter with #5 Minnesota Duluth before the Bulldogs found their offensive footing during a big second quarter on the way to a 55-0 win over the Marauders. UMD scored 27 points in the second quarter and 14 points in each of the third and fourth quarters...  Luke Little paced the Marauders with two catches for 47 yards. Ryan Nielsen led the Marauders with 10 tackles (five solo) and a fumble recovery. Noah Krebs had a sack and seven tackles. Ryan Naki and Cyrano Rayfield both added tackles for loss. Askew finished with five tackles and broke up three passes... Seven different Bulldogs scored touchdowns with Johnny McCormick catching three passes for 60 yards and a team-best two scores. Zach Ojile ran for 120 yards and a score. Alex Helmer had three of UMD's seven sacks. The Bulldogs out-gained the Marauders 625-59. With the sacks, the Marauders had -14 yards rushing in the game.

FUMBLE! 

The Marauders have recovered 10 fumbles this season to rank 27th in the country. Ryan Nielsen and Jarad Zittleman both have a pair of recoveries each to rank 21st nationally each. 

LITTLE LOOMS LARGE

Soph. WR Luke Little has 38 catches for 618 yards and two touchdowns in nine games. He is 11th in the NSIC in receiving yardage per game (68.7). His two touchdowns against the Wolves is the second time in his career Little has caught a pair of scores in one game. 

LITTLE LOOMS LARGE V2

Luke Little's 162 yards receiving on eight catches against Northern State ties him for the 9th best single game total in the Marauders NCAA era (since 2006). He also has another game earlier this season that places him in the top ten at #3 - 199 yards vs. Bemidji State. Little is in good company. All-American WR Tyler Steffan has the two top receiving yardage games, including a 222 yard effort. All-American WR Elby Pope has three top 10 games and All-Conference WR Mike Williams has two. Jake East has the 10th. UMary Hall of Fame WR Neil MacDannald owns the school's single game record with 254 yards against Mayville State in 1996.

DOUBLE DOWN

Fr. LB Maxwell Askew has grown comfortable in a staring role for the Marauders. He posted his team-leading second interception of the year against Northern State. He followed with three pass break-ups at Minnesota Duluth. On the year he has 47 stops, including 6.0 for loss and 2.5 sacks. 

PLACE AND TIME

So. S Jarad Zittleman is getting to the right place at the right time for the Marauders defense. Owner of 18 tackles against  Concordia-St. Paul, Zittleman is second on the team in solo tackles (37) and total tackles (61). He is tied for the team lead with two fumble recoveries and has one interception. 

ONE MORE YEAR

After receiving a medical hardship due to an injury in the first game of the 2016 season, defensive lineman Cyrano Rayfield will have another season of eligibility. A team captain, he is now considered a junior. 

FORCING THE ISSUE

Over the past five weeks Jr. DL Cyrano Rayfield has created some big plays for the defense. In that stretch Rayfield has 6.5 of his team-high 8.0 tackles for loss and all of his 2.5 sacks. He also forced and recovered a fumble and has 25 tackles. For the year he has 45 tackles. 

BUSY

Soph. WR DeShawn Gay is a busy man, catching passes and returning kicks. He is 14th in the NSIC in all-purpose yardage at 87.1 yards/game. He is 4th in kick return average at 21.1 yards/return. Gay has 506 kick return yards, two punt return yards, 30 rushing yards and 246 receiving yards. Her produced 263 all-purpose yards against SMSU, a Marauders NCAA game-high. 

TURNOVER TIME

The Marauders 6-game string of forcing multiple turnovers ended when UMary tuned Minnesota Duluth over just once. Seven times this season UMary has forced two or more turnovers in ten games played. After turning the Dragons over twice, UMary forced three turnovers against Southwest Minnesota State, Winona State and Concordia-St. Paul before forcing Augie and Northern State to cough up the ball twice. In the season opener UMary forced St. Cloud State into a pair of turnovers. 

PRECISION

Jr. All-NSIC punter Bailey Meyer is 2nd in the NSIC with an average of 41.8 yards/punt. He has 15 punts of 50 yards or longer, dropped 19 inside the 20 yard line and has forced nine fair catches in his 77 attempts. 

FRESHMAN

Several true freshmen have found their way to the field this season. Bryan Lumsden leads the Marauders in TDs (4) and rushing yards (292)... RB Reggie Scott has 157 yards rushing... WR Danny Kittner has three touchdowns, 232 yards receiving, 32 yards rushing, 126 kick return yards, and 104 yards on punt returns... QB Jason Hoekstra has thrown for 1,431 yards and nine touchdowns... Tyree Shepherd has been a key reserve on the offensive line and started the last four weeks... 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, 2.5 sacks, 47 tackles and two interceptions... Devin Beck has 19 tackles, including a sack... DB Johnny Tillman intercepted a pass against Augie, recovered a fumble against Northern State and has four tackles... Jack Barry has four tackles and a sack... Dallas Pena has seen action on the offensive line. 

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.  

BROTHERS BLEWETT

The Marauders started a pair of brothers from Bozeman, MT, at linebacker early in the season. Jr. Grady Blewett leads the team with 66 tackles. R-Fr. Will Blewett redshirted last season and has 18 solo tackles and 29 stops total in his first season of play... This is the second straight year the Marauders had a brother combo on defense as Brady and Jarad Zittleman started in the backfield in 2017. 

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.