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MOORHEAD, Minn. -- The Minnesota State University Moorhead football team will battle the University of Mary in the "Battle for the Paddle" this Saturday at Alex Nemzek Stadium in Moorhead, Minn. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m.

MSUM is 1-6 and 1-2 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North Division, while Mary is 4-3 overall and 2-1 in the NSIC North.

Head Coaches
Steve Laqua is in his third season as MSUM's head coach with a record of 4-25, while Myron Schulz is in his 15th season as Mary's coach with a record of 102-57.

Series History
Saturday's game will be the eighth meeting in the "Battle for the Paddle" series. Mary holds a 7-0 series advantage, including a 23-7 win in Bismarck, N.D., last year.

Previous seven meetings:
2012: Mary 23, MSUM 7 (in Bismarck, N.D.)
2011: Mary 52, MSU Moorhead 13 (in Moorhead)
2010: Mary 16, MSU Moorhead 7 (in Bismarck)
2009: Mary 39, MSU Moorhead 13 (Moorhead)
2008: Mary 24, MSU Moorhead 17 (OT) (Bismarck)
2007: Mary 45, MSU Moorhead 31 (Moorhead)
2006:  Mary 21, MSUM 20 (Bismarck)

About MSU Moorhead
The Dragons dropped to 1-6 on the season with a 20-14 loss at Minnesota Crookston last week. A week after setting a single-game school record with 685 total yards, MSUM's offense struggled in the sloppy conditions and minus injured quarterback Jake Hodge, managing just 297 yards on 59 plays. The Dragons rushed for 210 yards but managed 87 through the air.

MSUM averages 29.9 points per game and rushes for 184 yards per game and throws for 254.0. Hodge has thrown for 1,322 yards and 13 touchdowns -- along with only two interceptions -- in five starts this year. He has also rushed for 426 yards and seven touchdowns. Junior Brandon Schell has rushed for 461 yards and two scores while sophomore Zayne Medhaug has 270 rushing yards. Sophomore Adam Jiskra has 39 catches for 596 yards and six touchdowns, while redshirt freshman Cory Ambrose has 32 catches for 537 yards and four touchdowns.

The Dragon defense allows 43.4 points per game, while allowing 306.0 yards per game on the ground and 189.6 yards per game through the air. Sophomore Chris Lee has 51 tackles -- including a team-best eight for loss -- to lead the defense, while sophomore Chris Binford has 49 tackles and six pass breakups. Redshirt freshmen Aaron Bohl and Jesse Beilke each have 43 tackles, while redshirt freshman Brandon Nelson leads with two interceptions.

About Mary
Mary is 4-3 overall and 2-1 in the NSIC North after suffering a 20-13 home loss to then No. 25-ranked St. Cloud State last week. The Marauders managed just 57 rushing yards in the game but threw for 264. Their defense was solid, limiting St. Cloud State to 337 yards of offense.

Senior quarterback Craig Bagnell has been solid throwing the ball for the Marauders, completing 56.8 percent of his passes. He has thrown for 1,826 yards and 13 touchdowns. His top receiver has been Nicke Jolliffe, who has 39 catches for 530 yards and nine scores, which is second-best in the NSIC. On the ground, Mary is led by Vince Ferrante, who has rushed for 177 yards.  Mary scores 23.3 points per game on offense and rushes for 75.3 yards per game and throws for 265.1 yards per game.

On defense, Mary allows 22 points per game. Teams are rushing for 172.4 yards and throwing for 186.0 yards against the Marauders. Linebacker Grant Singer leads the NSIC -- and the team -- with 72 tackles. Troy Guptill has 53 tackles and leads the team with 15.5 tackles for loss, including an NSIC-best 9.5 sacks. Maceo Brown has three interceptions.

Record-Setting Day
The Dragons' loss to No. 11-ranked Minnesota Duluth -- which came into the game ranked sixth in the nation in total defense and ninth in the nation in scoring defense -- produced several team single-game records. Quarterback Jake Hodge threw for a single-game record 472 yards, breaking a mark that stood for six years. Redshirt freshman wide receiver Cory Ambrose caught seven passes for a single-game record 237 yards, breaking a record that stood for 50 years. The Dragons' 684 total yards were also a single-game record, breaking a mark that stood for 19 years.

Bohl in Top 10 in Forced Fumbles
Not only is redshirt freshman Aaron Bohl ranked second on the team in tackles, he is also ranked ninth in the nation in forced fumbles per game at 0.43. He leads the NSIC in that category as well with a total of three.

He's Caught On
Sophomore receiver Adam Jiskra had a solid freshman year, leading MSUM in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns in 2012. Now a sophomore, he continues to be a main weapon in the receiving arsenal. A week after setting a career-high for receiving yards with 180, Jiskra set a new career-high for catches with 11 on 139 yards to help the Dragons edge Northern State on Oct. 5 in Aberdeen, S.D. Jiskra is 36th in the national in receiving touchdowns (six) and 36th in receiving yards (596).

Hodge Ranked Nationally
Sophomore quarterback Jake Hodge's play has been stellar in the past three games. During those three contests, the Kasson, Minn., native has thrown for 1,049 yards and 10 touchdowns --  with no interceptions. And those numbers have him climbing the national Division II rankings. He is ranked seventh in total offense per game (349.6), ninth in points responsible for (122), 27th in passing touchdowns (13), 33rd in passing efficiency (144.5) and 38th in passing yards per game (264.4). Hodge leads the NSIC in total offense per game.

2013 Captains
MSUM's captains for 2013 are senior linebacker Sam Callahan and junior linebacker Lomumba Ismail.

Century Club
After having only two 100-yard rushers in 2013, MSUM has had five already in seven games in 2013. Brandon Schell and Jake Hodge both posted their second 100-yard rushing games of 2013 during Saturday's win at Minnesota-Duluth. It was the first time the Dragons had two players with more than 100 yards rushing since 2007, when Dustin Long (126 yards) and Enos Gilles (104) accomplished the feat against Wayne State.  Sophomore Zayne Medhaug was the latest Dragon to surpass 100 yards in a game when he rushed for a career-high 135 in MSUM's loss at Minnesota Crookston.

Week 8 Under Laqua
The Dragons are 0-2 in Week 8 games under Laqua. In 2011, they lost at Augustana, 35-3 and in 2012, they lost at Mary, 23-7.

MSUM Practice Players of the Day
Here are last week's MSUM practice players of the day (given out on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday practices)
Tuesday, Oct. 15 - Bryce Jorgenson (QB)
Wednesday, Oct. 16 - Kasey Groettum (OL)
Thursday, Oct. 17 - Bryce Jorgenson (QB)

Home Grown
The MSUM football team's roster is represented by seven states, with Minnesota leading the way with 41, athletes, followed by North Dakota with 16.