ABERDEEN, SD – In their final road game of the 2019 season, University of Mary quarterback Avery Gould threw for a pair of touchdowns and Paul Guptill found the end zone on a fumble return in the Marauders 49-21 loss at Northern State University.
 
Making his second start for the Marauders, Gould passed for 246 yards as a trio of Marauders wide receivers had big games. Leonardo Vecchi set a career-highs with five catches for 82 yards, including a long of 55 yards. Luke Little had four grabs for 77 and a touchdown. It was his third straight game catching a scoring pass.
 
Danny Kittner, the Northern Sun leader in all-purpose yardage, had five catches for 63 yards and a touchdown. The sophomore also returned five kicks for 125 yards – including a long gainer of 39 yards – and ran to ball twice for nine yards. Kittner's impressive 197 yards in all-purpose yardage is his third-best total of the season.
 
With the Marauders trailing early and Northern State in possession of the ball nearfield, UMary's defense came up big. After a short pass completion, Noah Krebs forced a fumble that was picked up and returned for a touchdown by Guptill. The score by the former Marauders running back was the team's first defensive touchdown of the season and knotted the game at 7-7 at the 7:03 mark of the first quarter.
 
Northern State struck for touchdowns on its next two possessions to extend the Wolves lead to 22-7 when UMary put together its best offensive drive of the opening half. Taking advantage of Kittner's 39 yard kick return and catches of 13 and ten yards by the Arizona native, the Marauders drove to the Wolves 3 yard line. Playing aggressive, the Marauders looked to punch the ball into the end zone but turned the ball over on downs. The Wolves followed with a 97 yard scoring drive to move ahead 29-7.
 
UMary soon converted another Northern State miscue into points. Jonah Krebs forced a Wolves fumble on a punt return that was recovered by Grady Blewett. On the next play, Gould found Kittner in the end zone on a 20 yard touchdown pass with 29 seconds left in the opening half before entering intermission down 32-14.
 
Continuing to find their way offensively, the Marauders took possession to open the second half and drove 75 yards to pull within 21-32. On the 11^th play of the drive, Gould found Little for a 13 yard scoring pass, the longest UMary play on a possession that featured five runs and six passes.
 
The Marauders reached the red zone two more times in the game – including the NSU 5 – and also penetrated the Wolves 30 yard line on another possession but couldn't reach the end zone.
 
Bryan Lumsden ran for a team-high 47 yards for the Marauders while Isaiah Hilliard chipped in 45.
 
Bailey Meyer had a big day, averaging 47 yards on three punts with a long of 64. He also downed a punt inside the 20.
 
Richard Bendish registered a team-high 13 tackles for the Marauders. Jarad Zittleman and Toure' Oliver added eight each, all solo stops. Grady Blewett had five tackles, including one for loss, and had a fumble recovery. Cyrano Rayfield also had a tackle for loss.
 
Hunter Trautman paced the Wolves offense, completing 20-of-27 passes for 179 yards and two touchdowns and running for 88 yards and two scores. Isaiah Cherrier ran for 77 yards and a score while Dakota Larson had 101 yards receiving and a touchdown on ten catches. Chance Olson intercepted two passes, returning one for the final score of the game.
 
The Marauders return to Bismarck, ND, for a pair of home contests. First the Marauders welcome the University of Minnesota Duluth on Saturday, Nov. 9, before the University of Minnesota Crookston comes to town on Saturday, Nov. 16.
 
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