MOORHEAD, Minn. – The Minnesota State University Moorhead Dragons hosted the University of Mary Marauders for the coveted Battle for the Paddle on Saturday at Alex Nemzek Stadium. The Marauders won the battle in the first trophy match-up in 2006 and have never relinquished the paddle to the Dragons, taking Saturday's contest 39-13.
The Marauders used a heavy dose of running plays, relying mostly on backup running back Cameron Gatling. Gatling led the Marauders with 184 yards rushing and also accounted for two touchdown receptions from quarterback Henry Lau. Lau had 121 yards passing and had three touchdown passes on 11 completions.
The Marauders were given short fields to work with scoring two touchdowns in the first quarter, starting near midfield on both possessions. The Dragons gave up the first of six total turnovers in the game when quarterback
Zach Fry threw his first interception of the game on the first play of the second quarter.
The Dragons were neutralized on the run, being held to only 46 total rushing yards. After a few quick scoring drives, the Dragons stopped the Marauders and forced a punt. Senior
Joe Johnson fumbled the punt return and the Marauders would recover and turn it into six more points.
The Marauders were lead defensively by Phillip Thomas. Thomas had two interceptions and also led the Marauders with 5.5 tackles, including credit for a half of a quarterback sack. Thomas' first interception sealed the first half with the Marauders up 23-0. The Dragons would eventually give up six total turnovers, throwing three interceptions and fumbling the ball five times, recovering only two of them.
After giving up 460 yards of rushing to Duluth the previous week, the Dragons allowed 258 yards of rushing in their return to home. Fry completed half of his passes, throwing for 204 yards and had two touchdowns. His first scoring drive came on the end of a 62-yard drive capped off by a Fry touchdown pass to
Matt Birr, which was Birr's first of the game.
After the Marauders scored their final points of the game, the Dragons put together one final drive in the closing minutes of the game. Fry would factor into all but two plays on the drive as the freshman quarterback took advantage of a short field and completed eight passes, including his second touchdown pass to Birr.
The Marauders improve to 4-3 on the year (4-2 NSIC) and will host Northern State at home. The Dragons fall to 2-5 on the season (1-5 NSIC) and will head to MSU-Mankato next week for another NSIC matchup. The Marauders are now 4-0 against the Dragons in the Battle for the Paddle since joining the NSIC in 2006.
