SATURDAY
For the first time this season the University of Mary football team will play in front of their home fans. After kicking off the season last week on the road, the Marauders host the Bemidji State University Beavers on Saturday, Sept. 8. Game time in this Northern Sun North Division matchup is 2 pm at the MDU Resources Community Bowl in Bismarck, ND. 
 
THE RECORDS/LAST WEEK
The Marauders are 0-1 overall/NSIC and 0-1 in the NSIC North after a heart-wrenching 14-13 loss at St. Cloud State University... The Beavers are 1-0 / 1-0 following a 38-17 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... BSU was 8-3 in the NSIC (5th place) and overall and 6-1 in the NSIC North (2nd).  
 
TAILGATE TIME
Marauders football game days begins with tailgating at 10:30 am in the MDU Resources Community Bowl  north parking lot. At approximately 11:15 am the Marauders football team will arrive at the stadium and walk through Marauders Alley. Kickoff is set for 2 pm.
 
MARAUDERS LUNCHEON SET FOR FRIDAY, SEPT. 8
The first Marauders Luncheon of the year is set for 11:45 am on Friday, Sept. 7, at Chicks's Place, located in the Lumen Vitae Campus Center on the UMary campus. Open to all Marauders fans, head football coach Craig Bagnell is among the featured speakers. The Sept. 8 luncheon will be complimentary to all attending. 
 
BEK SPORTS TO AIR MARAUDERS HOME OPENER VS. BEMIDJI STATE
The UMary home opener against Bemidji State will be broadcast statewide throughout North Dakota by the BEK Broadcasting Network. Game time between the Marauders and the Beavers is set for 2 pm on Saturday, Sept. 8, from the MDU Resources Community Bowl in Bismarck, ND. Corey Brooks and Brandon Kinnard will call the game for BEK Sports. View the Northern Sun tilt on the BEK Broadcasting Network via local cable providers on BEK PRIME and on KNDB/KNDM in Western North Dakota and KRDK in Eastern North Dakota. Visit www.bektel.com/bbn for local channel assignments and current broadcast schedule. The BEK Broadcasting Network is also available nationally on BEK Now via your ROKU streaming device. Go to www.beknow.tv for more information. BEK will also broadcast the Marauders game against the University of Minnesota Crookston on Oct. 14.
 
FAMILIARITY / FAMILY
A four-year starter at quarterback for the University of Mary, Craig Bagnell started his collegiate coaching career at Bemidji State University in 2014 as a graduate assistant. One year later he became the offensive coordinator for the Beavers and helped develop one of the nation's best attacks before rejoining the Marauders as head coach in December 2017. The youngest head coach in the NCAA at age 28, Bagnell's two worlds collide this weekend when BSU visits UMary on Saturday in the Marauders home opener and Bagnell's home coaching debut. 
 
OLD FRIENDS PART 1
UMary head coach Craig Bagnell and Bemidji State head coach Brent Bolte worked side-by-side the previous four seasons. Bagnell served as the offensive coordinator the last three years. Bolte was the BSU defensive coordinator before taking over as head coach the last two seasons. Over their last three years together BSU won 24 games, a Mineral Water Bowl game and a an NSIC North title. 
 
OLD FRIENDS PART 2 
UMary head coach Craig Bagnell isn't the only Marauders coach facing off against old friends this weekend when Bemidji State visits. Marauders special teams and wide receivers coach Jordan Noskowiak is a 2015 BSU graduate who coached the Beavers wideouts last season. Rufus Saylee just graduated from BSU and was a student coach for his alma mater in 2017. This season he is a graduate assistant at UMary coaching defensive backs. 
 
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 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). 
 
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. 
 
SIX PLUS ONE NUMBERS TO KNOW
75 Jr. P Bailey Meyer blasted a 75 yard punt at SCSU to completely change the field position. Not his career long, the all-conference punter boomed an 82-yarder last season. In the SCSU game he averaged 48.1 yards per punt on seven attempts with two inside the 20 and two longer than 50 yards, 
 
67 The Marauders never trailed in the opener until the Huskies scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:07 left in the game.
 
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.  
 
14 The 14 points allowed to SCSU in the opener is the third fewest points allowed by the Marauders over the past 37 games. 
 
8+3 The Marauders have a total of 11 freshmen on their 2-deep depth chart, including eight true freshmen and three redshirt freshmen who did not play last year. 
 
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. 
 
2 The Marauders intercepted two passes against the Huskies (Marquell Evans and Paul Guptill) after picking off three passes the entire 2017 season. 
 
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)... In his third season as a coach at Bemidji State University, head coach Brent Bolte took the reigns just days before the opening game of the 2016 season on an interim basis and led the Beavers to a 9-3 mark and a win in the Mineral Water Bowl. He was named the full-time head coach before the 2017 season and now has a career mark of 18-6. A 1998 graduate of Cornell College, Bolte had been the Beavers defensive coordinator.
 
YEAR IN YEAR OUT
This is the 13th straight season the Marauders have played the Beavers. Bemidji State is one of five teams Mary has faced every season since beginning NCAA play in 2006. St. Cloud State, Minnesota Crookston, Northern State and MSU Moorhead are the other four teams. 
 
THE MARAUDERS-BEAVERS SERIES HISTORY 
(BSU leads series 8-4)
2006: Playing an NCAA D2 schedule for the first time, Mary defeated eventual Northern Sun champion Bemidji State 27-21 to ruin the Beavers homecoming. The Marauders grabbed a 21-7 lead on Blair Sandy TD passes to Matt Wall and Stacy Martin and an 85-yard Shawn Melland fumble recovery. BSU would rally to take a lead but Justin Fleck scored the winning points on a 4 yd run with 41 seconds left in the game. Mary managed just 167 yards of offense. Jesse Laber had three tackles for loss... 2007: Roman Penirian caught a 25-yd TD pass from Sandy in the 2nd quarter and Rett Thibodeaux booted a 26-yd field goal in the 3rd in a 10-0 Marauders home win. Brandon Lewis and Laber both had two sacks as Mary limited BSU to 242 yards of offense... 2008: Erik Kruse caught nine passes for 125 yards and Penerian had seven for 112 but BSU's George Kadlec caught two scoring passes, including one covering 85 yards, and totaled three catches for 156 yards in a 31-10 Beavers win... 2009: Mary threw three interceptions and couldn't overcome a 21-point deficit at home. Jamal Lomax scored the Marauders lone TD and ran for 71 yards. Dustin Kroeplin ran for 105 yards and a TD for BSU in its 21-7 win... 2010: With 2:08 left in the game and pinned at its 2-yard line, BSU drove 89 yards and kicked a 26-yd field goal with 21 second remaining in a 23-22 Beavers win. A defensive battle, BSU out-gained the Marauders 289-262. Lomax carried 29 times for 88 yards. Kroeplin led BSU with 72 yards rushing and one score... 2011: Mary defeated a nationally-ranked NCAA school for the first time in a 49-21 rout of #20 BSU. Tyler Steffan caught eight passes for 202 yards and three TDs. His first score came on a double pass from fellow wideout Curtis Darrah. Josh Murray and Even Gross  both ran for two TDs and Murray added 117 yards on the ground. Craig Bagnell was 18-of-26 for 315 yards and two scores. Defensively the Marauders forced three turnovers.. 2012: Bemidji State ran off 29 straight points and Mary turned the ball over on downs at the Beavers two yard line plus threw three red zone interceptions in the Marauders 29-21 home loss. Elby Pope caught 10 passes for 123 yards and Zach Roberson threw for 307 yards and two scores with four interceptions. Dustin Kroeplin ran for 111 yards and a TD. Lance Rongstad completed 16-of-24 passes for 261 yards and a TD and ran for 48 yards and a score... 2013: SR QB Craig Bagnell became UMary's career passing yardage leader in a 26-17 win at Bemidji State. Down 10-3 at half, Bagnell threw a 2 yard TD pass to Nick Jolliffe and ran 1 yard for a TD and UM led 19-10 after three quarters. Bagnell was 21-of-30 for 311 yards and finished the game with a Mary career passing yardage record of 7,962 yards. Joliffe caught seven passes for a career-high 137 yards and 1 TD. UM had 404 yards of offense to 286 for BSU. Grant Singer had 14 tackles (2.0 for loss), Troy Guptill nine (1.5 sacks, 3.0 TFL) and John Oyloe added 1.5 sacks of U-Mary's seven sacks. Avery Walker led BSU with 122 yards rushing with 1 TD... 2014 Big plays by Bemidji State University and a Mary special teams miscue allowed the Beavers to shade the Marauders 21-20. The Marauders led 20-14 after Elby Pope caught a 37 yard TD from Ben Jolliffe with 10:34 left in the game, but the extra point attempt failed. BSU took the lead on a Chris Lunde TD reception of 8 yards with 9:16 left. UM had 281 yards of offense to 383 for BSU (297 pass). Pop had a 6-73-2 receiving line and Nick Jolliffe was 5-37-1. Ben Jolliffe was 13-of-26 for 167 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT. Grant Singer had 11 tackles and an interception. Ryan Shields was 17-of-38 for 276 yards, 2 TDs and 2 INTs for BSU, WR Blake Holder was 6-99-1. Colton Blascyk recorded 12 tackles (2.5 TFL). 2015: Bemidji State led 20-0 less than nine minutes into the game on the way to a 39-7 home win. Caleb Buck attempted a school-record 64 passes for Mary, completing 32 for 299 yards. Brennan Doan caught 6 passes for 98 yards and a 51 yard TD. The Marauders blocked four kicks, including two by Danielle Whitaker. BSU's Tahi Nomane ran for 95 yards and 2 TDS. QB Jordan Hein ran for 79 yards and threw for 217 yards and two TDs... 2016: In the most lopsided game in the series, BSU defeated UMary 52-3. BSU scored the first 52 points in the game, including 28 points in the third quarter to seal the game. Gena Adams opened the scoring with an 86 yard TD run. He finished with two scores and 179 yards rushing. Michael Washington scored three times and ran for 82 yards. Jordan Hein passed for 174 yards and 2 TDs and ran for 101 yards and a TD... 2017: UMary QB Garrett Weissinger ran for two scores and passed for a third in the Marauders 45-19 road loss at Bemidji State. UMary led 13-7 before BSU rattled off 31 straight points. Wessinger ran for scores of 5 and 1 yards and passed 72 yards to DeShaw Gay for the other UMary score. Brock Pittsley had 2.5 sacks, Noah Krebs made 11 tackles and Brady Zittleman knocked down three passes. Bailey Meyer hit a career-long 82 yard punt. Jordan Hein passed for three scores for BSU and Andrew Lackowski ran for 163 yards and two TDs.      
 
PAST MARAUDERS-BEAVERS MEETINGS (BSU leads 8-4)
2006       Mary 27      Bemidji State 21     Bemidji, MN
2007       Mary 10       Bemidji State 7      Bismarck, ND
2008       Bemidji State 31 Mary 10     Bemidji, MN
2009       Bemidji State 21   Mary 7   Bismarck, ND
2010       Bemidji State 23  Mary 22       Bemidji, MN
2011       Mary 49       #20 Bemidji State 21    Bismarck, ND
2012       Bemidji State 29     Mary 21    Bismarck, ND
2013       Mary 26    Bemidji State 19   Bemidji, MN
2014       Bemidji State 21   Mary 20   Bismarck, ND
2015       Bemidji State 39    Mary 7   Bemidji, MN
2016       #RV Bemidji State 52    Mary 3       Bismarck, ND 
2017       Bemidji State 45   Mary 19      Bemidji, MN
 
QUICK LOOK AT THE BEMIDJI STATE UNIVERSITY BEAVERS
Projected to place fifth in the NSIC overall and second in the NSIC North, the Beavers opened with an impressive 38-17 home win over Northern State. BSU scored four touchdowns covering 40+ yards, including a pair over 60. BSU ran for 274 yards with Andrew Lackowski running for 141 yards and and Jalen Frye 109. R-Fr. QB Brandon Alt finished 11-for-20 for 199 yards and three touchdowns in his first collegiate game. WR Landon Jones finished with 102 receiving yards and a 71-yard TD catch. Defensively BSU posted four pass break-ups, three sacks and one interception. DB Gunner Olszewski led the team with 17. Gabe Ames was named the NSIC Defensive Player of the Week after forcing two fumbles, making 3.0 tackles for loss and posting 13 total tackles. 
 
LAST WEEK
Never trailing until 67 seconds remained in the opening game of the season, the University of Mary suffered a heartbreaking loss. On the road facing a team UMary has never beaten in 13 previous attempts on Craig Bagnell's head coaching debut with a youthful squad, the Marauders battled before they were narrowly edged 14-13 by St. Cloud State University.... The Marauders defense set an early tone, stopping SCSU on a 4th-and-1 by the Huskies at the UMary 3-yard line on the second drive of the game. For the game the Marauders held the Huskies to 360 yards on 87 plays. The Marauders intercepted two Huskies passes and kept the Huskies off the scoreboard until the third quarter... UMary quarterback Jordan Velarde opened the scoring with a 20 yard scramble with 8:25 remaining in the first half. Running down the right sideline, the junior dove to the near pylon for the score and a 7-0 lead... SCSU pulled even 7-7 midway in the third quarter before UMary regained its lead. With time running down in the third stanza, Velarde swung the ball out to Tyson Carney on the left sideline. Picking up a key block by junior lineman Rory Olson, Carney sprinted 51 yards for the score with nine seconds left. A failed two-point conversion pass attempt failed but the Marauders led 13-7... With neither team gaining traction in the fourth quarter, the Huskies had one more opportunity. Taking over at their own 20 yard line with 2:45 to play, SCSU drove the field in 11 plays, moving in front for the first time all day when Dwayne Lawhorn connected with John Solberg in the back of the end zone from 15 yards out with 1:07 left in the game to take a 14-13 lead. It was the second time Lawhorn and Solberg combined for a touchdown... Velarde finished the game 18-for-32 for 191 yards. Luke Little caught four passes for 54 yards and Garrett Weissinger four for 56. Carney had three grabs for 56 yards and a score... Bailey Meyer had a big game, averaging 48.1 yards per punt, including a 75 yard effort. Two of his seven punts were downed inside the 20 yard line... Jamison Lytle led the Marauders with 2.5 tackles for loss. Jarad Zittleman had a team-high eight tackles. Paul Guptill and Marquell Evans both posted interceptions for UMary... Lawhorn threw for 255 yards and two touchdowns to pace SCSU. Solberg caught 12 passes for 148 yards and two scores. Curtwan Evans added 57 yards rushing.
 
BACKFIELD BLOWUPS
The Marauders defense penetrated the Huskies backfield to make seven tackles for loss in the game. Jamison Lytle led the way with 2.5 tackles for loss, including a sack. 
 
NEW 
Seven players caught passes for the Marauders against SCSU. Two were true freshmen (Danny Kittner, Reggie Scott), four are sophomores (Tyson Carney, Luke Little, DeShawn Gay, Jordan Beaty) and only one was an upperclassmen. After mostly playing QB last year, Jr. WR Garrett Weissinger caught four passes for 46 yards. 
 
STILL MAKING BIG PLAYS
Playing running back last season, Paul Guptill twice scored touchdowns of over 50 yards in the season finale against Minnesota Duluth. In the 2018 season opener playing on the other side of the ball at linebacker, Guptill intercepted a pass at the goal line and returned it 30 yards to halt a Huskies potential scoring drive. 
 
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 duo is Jr. Noah Krebs and Fr. Jonah Krebs, both linebackers from St. Mary's in Bismarck, ND.
 
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.