Football | 9/27/2017 6:25:00 PM

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The Minnesota State University Moorhead football team begins NSIC North Division play on Saturday when it faces Northern State. Game time is 2:30 p.m. at Swisher Field in Aberdeen, S.D.

MSUM is 2-2 while Northern State is 1-3.

The contest would be broadcast online with Dragon broadcasters Steve d'Eustachio and Larry Scott on the call. Live video, stats and audio can be found at msumdragons.com.  

An MSUM win at Northern State would…
—give the Dragons back to back wins for the first time this season
—first win in Aberdeen since 2013
—give MSUM a 1-0 mark in the NSIC North
—give MSUM a 2-1 mark on the road this season

Series History
MSUM and Northern State will meet for an 55th time with the Wolves holding a 30-23-1 lead. MSUM's last win came in 2016, a 48-33 win in Moorhead.
 
Previous meetings:
2016: MSUM 48, Northern State 33 (in Moorhead, Minn.)
2015: Northern State 48, MSU Moorhead 26 (in Aberdeen, S.D.)
2014: Northern State 40, MSUM 38 (in Moorhead)
2013: MSUM 47, Northern State 46 (in Aberdeen)
2012: Northern State 45, MSUM 7 (in Moorhead.)

The Head Coaches
Steve Laqua is in his seventh season as MSUM's head coach with a record of 26-44 at the school. Tom Dosch is in his eighth season at Northern State with a record of 38-43.

About MSUM
The Dragons broke a two-game losing streak with a narrow 21-20 win over Concordia-St. Paul on Sept. 23. The Dragons led 21-10 and held off a Golden Bear rally in the rain to pick up their first home win of the season. Senior running back Austin Stone rushed for two scores in the win.

For the season, senior quarterback Demetrius Carr has thrown for 1,089 yards and six touchdowns.  Senior receiver Damon Gibson has caught 20 passes for 265 yards and three scores while senior receiver Hunter Braaten has 32 catches for 423 yards and three scores. Stone has 240 rushing yards and four scores through  four games while sophomore Jonathan Kabambi has 216 yards rushing. Senior receiver Hunter Braaten has 26 catches for 275 yards and a score.

MSUM scores 27 points a game and records 449.8 yards of total offense per game.

Senior linebacker Abe Roehrich leads the defense with 29 tackles and two fumble recoveries. Junior Aaron Doan has 25 tackles while junior Michael Strand has 21 tackles and five pass breakups. Sophomore defensive end Miles Baggett leads with 7.5 tackles for loss and three sacks. Junior cornerback Jerry Raye has an interception and forced a key fumble in the win over Concordia-St. Paul.

The Dragons allow 30 points per game and 374.5 yards of total offense.

About Northern State
The Wolves are 1-3 after suffering a 36-0 road loss at then-No. 8 ranked Minnesota State on Sept. 23. Northern State was held to 216 total yards by the Maverick defense.

The Wolves average 11 points per game and 222.8 yards per game of total offense. Senior Nicholas Truen leads the ground game with 176 yards on 42 carries, while sophomore quarterback Jake Comeaux is 59-of-106 passing for 555 yards, three scores and five interceptions. Sophomore Riley Frantzen leads with 12 catches while junior Zech Culbreath has nine catches for 96 yards and two scores.

Northern State allows 30 points per game and 406.5 yards per game of total offense. Junior Alex Gray leads the defense with 25 tackles while junior linebacker Noah McPherson has 22. Sophomore Preston Droessler and senior Cody Braeger have two sacks each.

Junior punter Jacob Wiedrich averages 37.7 yards per punt and has placed 10 inside the opposing 20-yard line.

More about the Dragons
Miles Makes His Mark
Sophomore Miles Baggett is making a big impact from his defensive line position. He is second in the NSIC at 1.88 tackles for loss per game and with 7.5 tackles for loss. Baggett has seven solo stops for loss. Baggett also tied for second at 3.0 sacks as well.

First Things First
MSUM leads the NSIC with 101 first downs through four games. That includes 41 rushing, 50 passing and 10 by penalty. MSUM is sixth in all of Division II in first downs.

Century Mark
Sophomore running back Jonathan Kabambi recorded the first 100-yard rushing game of his career on Saturday in the win over CSP. Kabambi had 23 carries for a career-high 120 yards in the win and ran for two key first downs on the final drive to help preserve the Dragon win. Kabambi is the first back to surpass 100 yards since Zach Sweep did so in the season finale in 2016 for MSUM.

Records in Reach for Carr
Senior quarterback Demetrius Carr is closing in on a pair of records. He is just 12 yards away from becoming the all-time leading passer in MSUM history; he trails current leader Jake Hodge by 11 yards (6,929-6,818). Carr is also second all-time in total offense at 8.007 yards, trailing Hodge's 8,608. Carr threw for 2,710 yards last season, second-highest single season total in school history.

Gibson Climbs
All-American wide receiver Damon Gibson continues to climb the career receiving charts at MSUM. Entering this week Gibson has 169 career receptions, which is third-most in MSUM history. He trails second-place Adam Jiskra by 32 and all-time leader Jabari Taylor by 45. Gibson leads the NSIC in receptions (32) and receptions per game (8.0) and is second in receiving yards per game (105.8). The Beardsley, Minn., native is eighth in the nation in receptions per game. Gibson has 16 100-yard receiving games in his Dragon career.

Braaten Nears Top 5
Senior receiver Hunter Braaten has become a reliable receiving target for Carr. He is tied for five in the NSIC with 26 receptions and 6.5 receptions per game. He also has a receiving touchdown. In his four-year Dragon career, Braaten has 135 receptions and nine touchdowns. Braaten trails Bruce Green (146 receptions) by 11 catches for fifth on the MSUM all-time list.

Bresnahan All-Purpose Threat
Redshirt freshman Grady Bresnahan is fourth in the NSIC in all-purpose yards at 127.5. He has a total of 510 all-purpose yards — 13 rushing, 213 receiving yards, 122 punt return yards and 162 kick returns. Bresnahan is third in the NSIC at 13.6 yards per punt return, an average that puts him 18th in the nation.

Week 5 Under Laqua
The Dragons are 1-5 in Week 5 games under Head Coach Steve Laqua. In 2011, the Dragons lost to Minnesota-Duluth, 49-21 and in 2012, lost their homecoming game to Northern State, 45-7. In 2013, MSUM edged Northern State, 47-46 in Aberdeen, S.D. before losing to nationally-ranked UMD, 63-28 in 2014 and 47-14 in 2015 and 42-34 in 2016.