SATURDAY

The 13th Battle for the Paddle features the University of Mary Marauders football team hosting the MSU Moorhead Dragons on Saturday, Sept. 22. The lone UMary night game of the season, kickoff between the Marauders and the Dragons is set for 6 pm at the MDU Resources Community Bowl in Bismarck, ND. 

THE RECORDS/LAST WEEK

The Marauders are 0-3 overall/NSIC and 0-3 in the NSIC North after a 41-28 loss at Minot State University in the Battle for the Big Lake... The Dragons are 2-1 / 2-1 following a 42-28 home win over Northern State. 

LAST YEAR

UMary finished last season 1-10 overall and in the NSIC and 1-7 in the NSIC North... MSUM was 5-6 in the NSIC and overall and 3-4 in the NSIC North.  

PADDLE TROPHY

The first-ever gridiron match-up between the University of Mary and Minnesota State University Moorhead took on a little extra edge in 2006 as both schools battled for The Paddle Trophy in this "River Rivalry" game. UMary is located on the Missouri River and MSU Moorhead is on the Red River. Both are Northern Sun North Division rivals... The Paddle Trophy was developed by the student governments of the two colleges. The team that wins each year is responsible for the safekeeping and delivery of the Paddle Trophy and its case to each game between the Marauders and Dragons. The home team's student body representative will award the Paddle Trophy, which has each school's logo on opposite sides of the blade, with the score of each game being added to the winning team's side after the game... UMary won the first seven paddle games, grabbing initial possession with a 21-20 win in Bismarck in 2006. Marauders linebacker Brian Finnegan preserved the initial UMary win when he deflected a Dragons pass on a two-point conversion attempt with 1:08 remaining in the game. MSUM captured the paddle in 2013 for the first time with a 48-41 win. 

TWO TRAVELING TROPHIES

The Marauders play two games annually for travelling trophies. Combined the Marauders are 10-8 in trophy games. The Marauders are 8-4 in the "Battle for the Paddle" with MSU Moorhead and 2-4 in the "Battle for the Big Lake" against Minot 

State. 

BEK SPORTS TO AIR MARAUDERS-DRAGONS GAME LIVE STATEWIDE

The Battle for the Paddle between the Marauders and the Dragons will be seen by a statewide audience across North Dakota on BEK Sports. Coverage starts at 6 pm from the MDU Resources Community Bowl in Bismarck, ND, on Saturday, Sept. 22. Corey Brooks and Brandon Kinnard will call the game for BEK Sports. View the Northern Sun tilt on BEK via local cable providers on BEK Sports and on KNDB/KNDM in Western North Dakota and KRDK in Eastern North Dakota. Visit www.beksports.com for local channel assignments and current broadcast schedule. BEK Sports is also available nationally on BEK Now via your ROKU streaming device. Go to www.beknow.tv for more information.

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). 

SIX PLUS ONE NUMBERS TO KNOW

423 The 423 yards of offense piled up by the Marauders Saturday at Minot State is the second-most by UMary in the previous 35 games. Since gaining 524 yards against St. Cloud State in the final game of the 2014 season, the Marauders yardage high is 443 last season against Minnesota Crookston. 

44.7 Jr. P Bailey Meyer is averaging 44.7 yards per punt, 12th in the nation and tops in the NSIC.

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. 

25 The Marauders 25 first downs is a program-high since posting 25 against Northern State in week nine of 2014.

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. 

3 The Marauders offensive line has allowed UMary quarterbacks to be sacked just three times this season. The average of 1.0 sacks allowed/game is the 28th best mark in the nation and third fewest in the NSIC. 

1+1 Isaiah Hubbard was credited with both an interception and a sack against Minot State. He is the first UMary player to have both a sack and an interception in the same game since All-American Grant Singer had two sacks and an interception against Minnesota Duluth on Nov. 9, 2013. 

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)... Steve Laqua became the 17th head coach in the 94-year history of Dragons football prior to the 2011 season. A native of Cavalier, N.D., and a 2000 graduate of North Dakota State University, Laqua is in his 8th season directing the MSUM program and had posted a 31-49 record. After graduating from NDSU, he was a graduate assistant coach for the Bison before working at St. Olaf and the University of Minnesota Crookston. Laqua returned to NDSU for two seasons before winning two state titles as head coach at Fargo Shanley High School. He led the Dragons to a 6-5 record in 2015, the school's first winning mark in nine seasons, and followed with a 7-4 record in 2016. 

YEAR IN YEAR OUT

This is the 13th straight season the Marauders have played the Dragons. MSUM is one of five teams UMary has faced every season since beginning NCAA play in 2006. Bemidji State, Minnesota Crookston, Northern State and St. Cloud State are the other four teams. 

THE MARAUDERS-DRAGONS SERIES HISTORY: 2006: The Marauders and Dragons first met in the inaugural Paddle Trophy game with Mary pulling out a 21-20 win despite throwing five interceptions, including a string of four in four pass attempts. Justin Fleck ran for 96 yards and two touchdowns and Matt Wall had seven catches for 140 yards and a score. MSUM scored with 1:08 left in the game but went for a two point conversion and the win. Brian Finnegan tipped the pass in the end zone to preserve the lead and the Mary victory... 2007: Bayland Rippenkroger and Erik Kruse both scored two touchdowns in a 45-31 Mary road win... 2008: Another close home game went the Marauders way when Jamal Lomax scored in overtime, his second touchdown of the day. Phil Thomas secured the win when he knocked down a Dragons fourth down pass attempt on the final play of the game... 2009: Cameron Gatling ran for 184 yards and caught two scoring passes as the Marauders rolled to a 39-13 road win. Mary outgained MSUM 379-250, including a 258-46 edge in rushing. The Marauders forced six turnovers and committed one... 2010: Craig Bagnell passed for two TDs and Jamal Lomax ran for 169 yards and two TDs in a 43-17 Marauders win. John Oyloe has two of UM's four sacks. The Marauders had a 194-40 edge in rushing... 2011: Tyler Steffan tied his school record with four TD receptions and the Marauders set a school record with 683 yards of offense in a 52-13 win. Steffan caught nine passes for 123 yards. Josh Murray ran for 216 yards on 16 carries and scored three TDs, all in the 3rd quarter, and Evan Gross ran for 107. Bagnell was 24-of-35 for 319 and four TDs... 2012: Bagnell threw for 189 yards and a TD and the Marauders defense limited the Dragons to 225 yards in a 23-7 Mary home win. Dariouse Gravely ran for 42 yards and two TDs and Tyler Steffan had four catches for 80 yards. Grant Singer posted 3.5 tackles for loss and John Oyloe had 3.0, including two sacks. MSUM's Jake Hodge was 19-of-38 for 202 yards and one TD but was sacked four times... 2013: Mary lost the Paddle Trophy for the first time in a 48-41 road loss. Down 27 points in the 1st half, the Marauders rallied for a 41-41 tie in the 4th quarter. MSUM won the game on the next possession when backup QB Ryan Toelle hit Adam Jiskra for a 39 yard TD catch. MSUM outgained Mary 582-522. Bagnell was 34-of-57 for 399 yards, 5 TDs and one INT. Nick Jolliffe caught 12 passes for 148 yards and two TDs. Jiskra posted a line of 7-131-2 and Cory Ambrose was at 7-136-1. Jake Hodge was 15-of-25 for 301 and three TDs. He also ran for two TDs. Grant Singer posted 15 tackles for Mary... 2014 Zach Roberson completed 27-of-45 passes for 460 yards and a school record-tying six touchdowns plus ran for a TD in a 52-45 Mary home win. Roberson earned NSIC Offensive Player of the Week honors for his efforts. Dragons QB Demetrius Carr ran for 208 yards and passed for 188 and rallied MSUM from a 44-17 deficit to a 45-44 lead. Roberson hit Elby Pope for a 45-yard TD to win the game with 4:26 remaining. Pope caught 11-169-2. Jake East went 7-93-2 and Myron Baldoz-McArn was 4-87-1. Troy Guptill had 2.0 sacks - both on MSUM's final drive of the game - and 4.0 TFL. Preston Tescher added 12 tackles. The squads combined for 1,095 yards of offense... 2015 MSUM's Kayne Griffith bolted 72 yards for a TD on the third play of the game and Preston Prince dashed 62 yards for the score on the first ply of the next Dragons possession in a 37-0 MSUM home win. Caleb Buck passed for 128 yards for the Marauders, Preston Tescher made a career-high 17 tackles and Seth Walton added 13 stops. Herman Grey ran for 108 yards and a TD to lead MSUM and Griffith added 97... 2016: The Dragons scored a pair of touchdowns in each of the second, third and fourth quarters on the way to a 47-16 road won over the Marauders. Brothers Zack and Connor Graves each scored a touchdown for the Marauders. Nick McCann completed 11-of-15 passes for 128 yards and a TD. Sam Saucedo caught five passes for 73 yards. Austin Bolton had 11 tackles and forced a fumble. Dragons QB Demetrius Car ran for 143 yards and two TDs and passed for 166 yards and a TD. Gibson caught 10 passses for 131 yards and a TD... 2017: FR WR Luke Little and Anthony Shepherd both caught touchdowns and UMary ran for 270 yards in a 51-19 loss at MSU Moorhead. QB Garrett Weissinger ran for 92 yards and scored the Marauders first score. Nick McCann threw the scoring pass to Shepherd and Colton Farmer connected with Little for a touchdown. After UM pulled within 7-6, the Dragons scored 44 straight points. Jakup Siani ran for 94 yds and 2 TDs and passed for 205 yards and a score for MSUM. 

PAST MARAUDERS-DRAGONS MEETINGS (Mary leads 8-4)

2006 Mary 21 MSUM 20 Bismarck, ND

2007 Mary 42 MSUM 31 Moorhead, MN

2008 Mary 24 MSUM 17 OT Bismarck, ND

2009 Mary 39 MSUM 13 Moorhead, MN

2010 Mary 43 MSUM 17 Bismarck, ND

2011 Mary 52 MSUM 13 Moorhead, MN

2012 Mary 23 MSUM 7 Bismarck, ND

2013 MSUM 48 Mary 41 Moorhead, MN 

2014 Mary 52 MSUM 45 Bismarck, ND

2015 MSUM 37 Mary 0 Moorhead, MN 

2016 MSUM 47 Mary 16 Bismarck, ND

2017 MSUM 51 Mary 19 Moorhead, MN

QUICK LOOK AT THE MSU MOORHEAD DRAGONS

The Dragons are perfect at home this season, outscoring opponents 76-38 in two games. However MSUM lost its only road game 60-7 at national power Minnesota Duluth. Throurgh three games Zach Simons leads MSUM with 175 rushing yards and three TDs. Herman Gray has rushed for 117 yards and a touchdown. Jakup Sinani has thrown for 341 yard and four TDs. WR Jake Richter has 13 catches for 284 yards and four scores MSUM is scoring 27.7 points per game and recording 361.3 yards per game of total offense. Aaron Doan, whose brother Brennan played for the Marauders and graduated last year, and LB Casey Paskey lead the defense with 26 tackles while Deiondra Taylor has 25 tackles and a team-best two interceptions. MSUM is allowing 32.7 points and 435.7 yards per game.

LAST WEEK

FR RB Bryan Lumsden scored two touchdowns and UMary generated over 400 yards of offense but the Marauders were unable to overcome five turnovers in a 41-28 loss at Minot State University in the Battle for the Big Lake. The Marauders ran for 236 yards in the game on 44 carries and added 191 passing yards for 417 total. The Beavers gained 344 yards, with just 88 yards coming through the air. UMary was hampered by four interceptions and a fumble. The Beavers lone turnover was an interception by Isaiah Hubbard. MSU scored the opening 21 points before Lumsden scored his first collegiate touchdown on a 1 yard plunge with 1:10 left in the opening half. MSU tacked on a school-record 58 yard field goal as the clock hit 0:00. The Marauders tagged on the final two touchdowns of the game as Jordan Beaty burst into the end zone on an 8 yard run and DeShawn Gay caught a 16 yard scoring pass from Jason Hoekstra. It was the first touchdown pass for Hoekstra, a freshman. Hoekstra threw for 186 yards and a touchdown in his first collegiate start. Luke Little caught four balls for 81 yards. Colton Farmer led the Marauders with 52 yards rushing. Beaty added 51 and Garrett Weissinger 42. Will Blewett had a team-high six tackles and one of the team's three sacks. Maxwell Askew and Hubbard also dropped the Beavers quarterback for a loss. Ben Bolinske ran for 97 yards and passed for 88 to lead the Beavers offense, running and passing for one touchdown each way.

LITTLE LOOMS LARGE

Soph. WR Luke Little is second in the NSIC and 16th in NCAA D2 in yards receiving per game (111.3) and third in the NSIC and 23rd in NCAA D2 in receptions/game (6.7). He has 20 catches for 334 yards after three games. 

BOOMER

Jr. All-NSIC punter Bailey Meyer is second in the league with an average of 44.7 yards/punt. He has five punts of 50 yards or longer, dropped five inside the 20 yard line and has forced one fair catch in his 18 attempts. 

PASS-TENSE

Allowing 182.7 yards per game through the air, the Marauders are second in the NSIC in fewest passing yards allowed per game. Opposing QBs complete just 51.8 percent of their pass attempts and average 6.4 yards per game, both-4th best in the conference. 
 

TAG TEAM

Brothers Grady and WIll Blewett are 1-2 on the Marauders in tackles this season. Grady leads the team with 22 tackles. Will has a team-high 13 solo tackles and 19 stops total .  

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.