Football | 8/29/2018 3:48:00 PM

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The Minnesota State University Moorhead football team opens the 2018 season on Thursday at home against Minnesota Crookston. Kickoff is 6:30 p.m. at Scheels Field at Nemzek Stadium in Moorhead. The State Farm Traveling Trophy is at stake with Thursday's game.

MSUM was 5-6 a year ago while Minnesota Crookston was 0-11.

The game will be broadcast on WDAY'Z Xtra and online with Dragon broadcasters Steve d'Eustachio and Donn Groth on the call. Live video, stats and audio can be found at msumdragons.com.  

An MSUM win over Minnesota Crookston would...
—give the Dragons four straight season opening wins
—extend MSUM's winning streak over UMC to five games
—mean MSUM retains the State Farm traveling trophy for a fifth straight year

Series History
MSUM and Minnesota Crookston will meet for a 20th time with the Dragons leading the series 12-7. MSUM has won the last four meetings including a 49-7 win in Minnesota Crookston in 2017.

Previous five meetings:
2017: MSUM 49, Minnesota Crookston 7 (in Crookston, Minn.)
2016: MSUM 41, Minnesota Crookston 12 (in Moorhead, Minn.)
2015: MSUM 59, Minnesota Crookston 21 (in Crookston)
2014: MSUM 66, Minnesota Crookston 36 (in Moorhead)
2013: Minnesota Crookston 20, MSUM 14 (in Crookston)

The Head Coaches
Steve Laqua is in his eighth season as MSUM's head coach with a record of 29-48 at the school. Mark Dufner is in his second season at UMC with a record of 0-11.

About MSUM
The Dragons return six starters on offense and five on defense from last year's squad.  MSUM returns three starters on the offensive line — senior Tyler Lazarz, senior Andrew Erickson and junior Nathan Belisle. Erickson is a three-year starter who has played 33 games in the previous three seasons.  Lazarz has played 21 games on the offensive line the past two seasons while Belisle is entering his third year as a starter.

At receiver, Grady Bresnahan returns after catching 40 passes for 510 yards and four touchdowns. Senior Evan Moore caught eight passes for 122 yards and a touchdown.

Junior Herman Gray rushed for 372 yards and two scores last season in seven games. Sophomore quarterback Jakup Sinani appeared in six games and rushed for 152 yards and four scores while throwing for 1,030 yards and seven touchdowns. Junior quarterback Bryce Meehl returns after taking a medical redshirt and has been named the starter for the opener vs. Crookston. MSUM scored 25.9 points per game last season and averaged 411.1 yards per game of total offense.

The top returning tackler on defense is senior defensive back Aaron Doan, who had 56 tackles and three pass breakups a year ago. Junior cornerback Deiondre Taylor is back after recording 46 tackles last season, including 6.0 for loss. Senior linebacker Michael Strand had 45 tackles and six pass breakups a year ago while senior linebacker Casey Paskey had 39 tackles. Jerry Raye enters his third year as a starter at corner. Junior Matthew Domek returns after recording 4.5 sacks last season. Junior defensive lineman Derek Porozinski had 3.5 sacks and a fumble recovery as well.

MSUM allowed 26.3 points per game and 337.3 yards of total offense.

About Minnesota Crookston
UMC finished 0-11 in its first season under head coach Mark Dufner in 2017.

RB Kevin Evans is the top returner on the ground after rushing for 264 yards a year ago. Sophomore QB Jeremy Neuman threw for 566 yards and six touchdowns. Senior receiver Rod Stewart caught 47 passes for 633 yards and five touchdowns; he was named to the All-NSIC North First Team as a return specialist.

Last season UMC scored 12.8 points per game and recorded 235.4 yards of total offense.

On defense the Golden Eagles allowed 46.6 points per game and allowed 521 yards per game of total offense. Ali Alkhatib had 86 tackles last season while Will Cole had 85 tackles and a team-best three interceptions. Will Cross added 79 tackles. All three were All-NSIC selections last season.

More about the Dragons
Returning All-NSIC Honorees
MSUM returns four players who received All-NSIC North honors in 2017.
Senior offensive lineman Andrew Erickson was named to the All-NSIC North Second Team and was one of the anchors of a young MSUM offensive line that battled injuries. He started all 11 games at center. It is the first all-conference honor of his career.

Senior safety Michael Strand was an All-NSIC North Second Team honoree as well and had 45 tackles from his safety position and also had six pass breakups. He finished with 25 solo stops and also blocked a kick. Strand was a second-team selection for a second straight year.

Senior offensive lineman Tyler Lazarz and sophomore receiver Grady Bresnahan were honorable mention honorees. Lazarz started every game at right tackle for the Dragons and was a durable member of the offensive line. Bresnahan finished second in the NSIC in punt returns (12.4 per game) and sixth in the NSIC in all-purpose yardage at 109.6 per game. 

Season Openers Under Laqua
The Dragons are 4-3 in season openers under Head Coach Steve Laqua and have won three in a row, including a 38-7 win at Augustana last season.  MSUM beat Wayne State, 41-24 to open the 2016 season and topped Winona State, 42-17 in open 2015.  In 2011, the Dragons beat Robert Morris, 28-17. They lost three straight after that win, falling to Wayne State, 49-6 in 2012, Augustana, 41-28 in 2013 and Upper Iowa, 44-36 in 2014.

Youth Movement
Nearly half of MSUM's roster is freshmen, as 48 are on the roster this year. That does not include nine redshirt freshmen from a year ago.

Home Grown
A total of 69 players on MSUM's roster are from Minnesota and North Dakota as the Dragon coaching staff continues to emphasize recruiting locally. A total of 38 players are from Minnesota.  There are 16 players from Wisconsin and 12 from Illinois.