BISMARCK, N.D. - The Minnesota State University Moorhead Dragon football team could not overcome a 21 point second quarter put up by the University of Mary Marauders in the annual Battle for the Paddle game on Saturday as the home team retained the Paddle Trophy in a 43-17 win.

The Marauders took a 7-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game and increased their lead with 21 more points in the second quarter which was enough to solidify their win.

The Dragons were down 28-0 at halftime but came out of intermission and put the first points on the board. Shawn Marlowe scored his first touchdown of the year on a seven yard pass from Kevin Koch on a three-play, 40-yard drive that took 56 seconds.

U-Mary answered with nine more points before the Dragons put up another seven. Koch connected with Kendall Hendon for a 16-yard touchdown pass at the 5:52 mark in the fourth quarter. It capped a 12-play, 81-yard drive that put the score at 14-37.

After a Marauders score, Kramer booted a 31-yard field goal with :18 seconds left in the game.

Koch ended the day completing 23 of his 46 attempts for 221 yards and two touchdowns. Bryson Pluta came in for a few drives, going 6-for-14 for 56 yards.

Brandon Thompson led the Dragons receivers with 11 catches for 113 yards. Ty Small had six catches for 52 yards.

Joey Dawson anchored the Dragon defense with 12 tackles on the day, four of them registered for a loss of 11 yards. He also had one sack for a loss of five yards. The Dragon defense had three sacks, with Max Pryor and Robert Wilhelm each tacking on a loss of yards for the Marauders quarterback. Jeff Schuette had 11 tackles while Jake Larsen had 10.

MSUM will travel to Aberdeen, S.D. on Nov. 6 to face Northern State at 1 p.m. in their final road test of the season.