THIS WEEK
The 9th annual Battle for the Big Lake trophy takes place on Saturday when the University of Mary heads 118 miles straight North up US Highway 83 to take on instate rival Minot State University. Kickoff between the Marauders and the Beavers is set for 2 pm on Saturday, Nov. 5, from Herb Parker Stadium in Minot, ND. 

THE RECORDS/LAST WEEK
The Marauders are 2-7 overall and in the NSIC and 2-2 in the NSIC North division. Last Saturday UMary went on the road and downed Concordia-St. Paul 23-13... The Beavers are 0-9 overall and 0-4 in the NSIC North. Minot State was overwhelmed 51-7 in a road loss to Minnesota Duluth. 

FOLLOW LIVE 

• Voice of the Marauders Jesse Rostvedt and former UMary athletic director and Hall of Fame football coach Roger Thomas team up to broadcast Marauders games on KFYR 550 AM. The game is also streamed online at www.kfyr.com.
• Free video streaming of Marauders home and Northern Sun games is available  https://nsicnetwork.com/goumary and at www.GoUMary.com/coverage  
• Live stats for Saturday's games are available online at www.GoUMary.com/coverage 

BATTLE OF THE BIG LAKE
This is the 9th annual "Battle of the Big Lake" travelling trophy game between the University of Mary and Minot State University. It is also the 30th meeting between the two programs, which is the most times the Marauders have faced any single opponent. The series began in 1988 when UMary joined the North Dakota College Athletic Conference. The series went on a hiatus when the Marauders moved to NCAA Division II and the Northern Sun in 2006. After a seven-year break following the 2005 contest, the two schools resumed the series in 2012 when Minot State was admitted into the Northern Sun.

BIG LAKE TROPHY
The Marauders won the first two "Battle of the Big Lake" travelling trophy games;  45-10 at home in 2013 and 31-29 on the road in (2014). The Beavers claimed the trophy for the first time in 2015 with a 15-9 overtime road win... MSU leads the Big Lake Trophy series 5-3. 

TWO TRAVELING TROPHIES
The Marauders play two games annually for travelling trophies. UMary is a combined 11-13 in trophy games. The Marauders are 8-8 in the "Battle for the Paddle" with MSU Moorhead and 3-5 in the "Battle for the Big Lake" against Minot State.
 
QUICK HITTER STORY LINES                                

• It is 118 miles between the University of Mary and the Minot State University campus without a single turn needed along the way until you arrive on campus
• The Marauders and Beavers are the only two NCAA Division II programs in North Dakota
• The drive between Minot and Bismarck is the shortest trip Northern Sun trip for NSIC foes UMary and Minot State
• This is the 30th meeting between the two schools and the 9th Battle of the Big Lake trophy game
• This is the second straight road game for the Marauders
• The Beavers return home after two weeks on the road 
• This is the second straight week the Marauders face a team searching for their first win
• UMary's first seven opponents all had winning records when they played the Marauders. The last three are the only games against a team with a losing record (MSUM. CSP, Minot State)
• UMary's first nine opponents have a current combined record of 47-34, a winning percentage of .580. Their schedule is the 21st toughest in the country. 
• Six of the Marauders nine games in 2022 were one possession games
• Over the last two seasons UMary has played nine contests that have been decided by one possession (8 or fewer points)
• UMary owned second half leads this season in losses to Wayne State, Winona State, #23 Minnesota State, #14 Sioux Falls and MSU Moorhead. Wayne State scored the winning touchdown with 1:46 left in the game and Minnesota State with 1:57 remaining. 
• A potent Marauders offense has scored 27 or more points in 10 of their last 13 games and thrown for 300 or more yards in 8 of 14 games
• The 2021 NCAA D2 leader in passing yardage, the Marauders have had 300+ yards passing three times this season (300 v WSC, 307 v SMSU, 317 at MSU)

MARAUDERS-BEAVERS SERIES HISTORY

• This is the 30th meeting between the only two NCAA Division II athletic programs in the state
• UMary has played Minot State 29 times, more than any other school
• The series began in 1988 when Mary joined the North Dakota College Athletic Conference
• The series went on hiatus in 2006 when the Marauders moved to NCAA Division II and the Northern Sun. After a seven-year break following the 2005 contest, the two schools resumed the series in 2012 when Minot State was admitted into the Northern Sun.
• Minot State leads the series 16-13
• UMary has won the only two playoff meetings (31-20 in 1993, 21-18 in 2002)

WEEK 10 RECAP | Marauders 23 Concordia-St. Paul 13

• 2nd win of the season for UMary moves Marauders into 4th in NSIC North
• UMary took a commanding 17-0 lead and scored points in all four quarters
• Nate Eschleman blocked a punt to set up a Kevin Powell 37 yard field goal to open the scoring
• Back to back sacks by Eschleman and Mason Phillips preceded an 82 yard scoring drive with Gabe Levy running the last 28 for the score and a 10-0 lead at halftime
• WR Danny Kittner threw a 2 yard TD pass to QB Jesse Forknell in the 3rd quarter for a 17-0 lead. it's the 2nd TD pass for Kittner this season.
• A 57 yard kick return by Kittner set up a 1 yard TD run by Dave Small Jr. for a 23-7 lead
• Small ran for a career-high 147 yards and 1 TD on 32 carries. He also caught two passes for 29 yards.
• Small has scored a TD in nine straight games, an NCAA era record for UMary
• Collin Gapen had 4 catches for 50 yards
• Levy ran 8 times for 50 yards and 1 TD
• Eschleman blocked a punt, had 2.0 tackles for loss and a sack
• Devyn Charles had 1.5 TFL and 7 tackles
• Tre Gola-Callard had an interception and 5 tackles
• Ty'Rhae Gibson broke up 2 passes
• Jakob Petry and Mason Phillips joined Eschleman with sacks
• UMary ran for 202 yards on 46 carries, the most rushing yards for the Marauders since posting 329 in the 2019 season finale against Minnesota Crookston
• UMary had the edge in yards (351-307), rushing yards (202-86), first downs (21-17), plays (77-57) and time of possession (35:06-24:54)

KITTNER KNOWLEDGE BITES

• Danny Kittner has passed the century mark in receiving yards four times this season and just missed against USF with 98 yards
• The All-American has had 100+ yards receiving in 13 of his last 20 games and 16 times in his career
• Kittner is 4th in NCAA Division II in receptions/game (8.2) and 17th in receiving yards/game (94.9)

KITTNER GAME BY GAME 2022
Game 1 v WSC | 8 catches for 114 yards and 1 TD | 1-for-1 passing for 29 yards
Game 2 at WSU | 7-78 and 1 TD 
Game 3 v SMSU | 9-152-0
Game 4 at MSU | 14-161-0 | 5 yard TD pass
Game 5 v NSU | 5-41-0
Game 6 at UMD | 4-58-0
Game 7 v USF | 11-98-1
Game 8 v MSUM | 13-131-2  | 92 yard kick return TD
Game 9 at CSP | 3-21-0 | 57 yard kick return | 2 yard TD pass
Season Total | 73-854-5 TDs

RECORD WATCH | KITTNER
Danny Kittner, the Marauders all-time leading receiver with 275 catches and 3,519 yards, has caught 29 touchdown passes to trail only Jake Pfau (34) and Tyler Steffan and Luke Little (30)... with 32 total touchdowns Kittner trails only Bobby Wagner (37) and Jake Pfau (34)... Kittner broke the career record for receptions in the final game of last season and the career yardage record in game two this season at Winona State. 

KITTNER IMPACT
All-American Danny Kittner may be best known for leading all levels of NCAA football in receptions and receiving yardage and leading NCAA D2 in all purpose yardage in 2021. But Kittner impacts the Marauders in far more ways than just running routes:  

• Has thrown 2 TD passes in 2002 (5 yards to Luke Bodine at Minnesota State | 2 yards to Jesse Forknell at CSP)
• Completed 5-of-8 pass attempts for 109 yards and two TDs in his career
• Holds for extra points and field goals
• Returns punts and kickoffs and has scored TDs on both
• Scored a 2-point conversion in 2021
• Recovered an onside kick in 2021

KITTNER BECOMES ALL-TIME NSIC LEADER IN CATCHES, RECEIVING YARDS 
Danny Kittner broke the Northern Sun career records for both receptions and receiving yards on the Marauders October 22 homecoming game against MSU Moorhead. With two games remaining in his UMary career, Kittner owns 275 catches and 3,519 yards receiving. He broke the old marks of 269 catches by Nate Huot of Southwest Minnesota State (2014-17) and 3,428 yards by Shane Zylstra (Minnesota State). 

CLIMBING THE CHARTS | NELSON

• Logan Nelson is third all-time in career passing yards at the University of Mary with 6,155 yards, passing Hall of Famers Paul Cronin (4,990) and Tim Garcia (5,154) this season... Craig Bagnell is the all-time leader (9,170), followed by Chris Schwab (7,786).
• Nelson is also 3rd all-time at UMary in career passing touchdowns with 61... Craig Bagnell leads with 75, followed by Chris Schwab (73). Nelson passed Tim Garcia (58) and Paul Cronin (55) this season. 

NOSE FOR THE GOAL LINE
Dave Small Jr. has scored a touchdown in nine straight UMary games. This is the longest individual consecutive game streak scoring a touchdown for the Marauders since joining the NSIC and the NCAA in 2006. He has rushed for eight touchdowns and also has a scoring pass. 

1K
Dave Small Jr. is the 15th Marauder to crack 1,000 career rushing yards. In just over two seasons (20 games) at UMary Small has run for 1,499 yards and 14 TDs on 318 carries. He has also caught 28 passes for 227 yards and 1 TD... Small is now 7th all-time in career rushing at UMary after passing both Eric Chinn (1,450) and Steve Walker (1,464) last weekend. Next on the list is #6 Aaron Wald (1,531) and #5 Verna Owens (1,581)... Small is now tied for 6th in career rushing TDs (14).  

TOPSY TURNOVERS
The Marauder have committed multiple turnovers just three times in their last 12 games while forcing multiple turnovers five times.

PICK CITY
The Marauders ten interceptions this season are the most by the UMary defense since posting 12 in 2018... the four interceptions against MSU Moorhead was the most for UMary since making four against Minnesota Crookston in the 2019 season finale.  
 
NCAA TOP 50 RANKINGS | TEAM 
1st- Blocked Kicks and Punts allowed (0)
5th - Blocked kicks (7)
6th - Blocked punts (3)
11th - Fewest Penalty yards/game (40.89)
14th - Fumbles Lost (3)
17th - Fewest Penalties/game (4.89)
27th - Kickoff returns (23.37)
28th - Red Zone offense (.871)
48th - Passes Intercepted - (10)

NCAA TOP 50 RANKINGS | INDIVIDUAL 
Danny Kittner 

• Receptions/game - 4th (8.2)
• Receiving yards/game - 17th (94.9)
• All purpose yards - 14th (157.89)
• Kick returns - 18th (27.5)

Logan Nelson

• Passing yards/game - 49th (203)
• Completion percentage - 49th (.598)
• Completions/game - 37th (17.86)

Dave Small Jr. 

• Rushing TDs - 39th (8)
• Total TDs - 47th (9)

Devyn Charles

• Solo Tackles - 36th (5.2)

Collin Gapen

• Receiving TDs - 39th (6)

Ian Kopf

• Blocked kicks - 5th (2)

Gabe Levy

• Blocked kicks - 5th (2)

Ty'Rhae Gibson

• Passes defensed 32nd (1.3)

DEBUTS
Several scholar-athletes made their collegiate debuts for the Marauders this year. Among those wearing the Blue & Orange for the first time were transfers Adam Brown, Sonny Brown, Jordan Duson, Korvin Feagins, Caden Green and Xavier Lewis, redshirt freshmen Tre Gola-Callard, Braydon Evertsen, Jaxon Feller, Raphael Hamilton, Eli Heinrich, Ian Kopf, Gabe Levy, Mason Phillips, and Carter Smith and true freshmen Jaxon Young and Traivon Dyson.  

FAMILY MATTERS
Twins Ty'Rese Gibson and Th'Rhae Gibson and Alex Godfrey and Norman Godfrey are the two sets of brothers on the Marauders this season... Ryan Woroniecki and Jacob Thomsen both have had brothers play for UMary... Dave Small Jr. and Tylen Small are cousins... Devin Beck's father was a member of the Marauders "Originals" first football team.