Football | 9/19/2018 1:24:00 PM

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The Minnesota State University Moorhead plays the first of back-to-back road games on Saturday at the University of Mary. Game time is 6 p.m. at the MDU Resources Community Bowl in Bismarck, N.D.

MSUM is 2-1 on the season while UMary is 0-3.

The game will be broadcast live at msumdragons.com with Steve d'Eustachio   on the call. Live video, stats and audio can be found at msumdragons.com.   BEK Communications will also televise the game; check local listings for availability in your area.

An MSUM win over UMary would...
— give the Dragons their first 3-1 start since 2015
— give the Dragons their first road win of the season
— give the Dragons four straight wins over the Marauders

Series History
MSUM and Mary will meet for a 13th time with the Marauders leading the series 8-4. MSUM has won three meetings in a row and four of the last five.

Previous five meetings:
2017: MSUM 51, UMary 19 (in Moorhead, Minn.)
2016: MSUM 47, Mary 16 (in Bismarck, ND)
2015: MSUM 37, Mary 0 (in Moorhead, Minn.)
2014: Mary 52, MSUM 45 (in Bismarck)
2013: MSU Moorhead 48, Mary 41 (in Moorhead)

The Head Coaches
Steve Laqua is in his eighth season as MSUM's head coach with a record of 31-49 at the school. Craig Bagnell is in his first year as the UMary head coach with a record of 0-3.

About MSUM
MSUM recorded a 42-28 win over Northern State on Saturday at Scheels Field. The Dragons built a 35-7 halftime lead and picked up their second straight win of the season. Sophomore quarterback Jakup Sinani threw for 238 yards and three scores while sophomore running back Zach Simons rushed for 84 yards and two scores. Senior safety Aaron Doan led the defense with 14 tackles while Deiondre Taylor and Shad Vedaa each had interceptions.

Simons leads MSUM with 175 rushing yards and three touchdowns.  Junior Herman Gray has rushed for 117 yards and a touchdown. Sinani has thrown for 341 yard and four touchdowns. Sophomore receiver Jake Richter has 13 catches for 284 yards and four touchdowns while sophomore receiver Grady Bresnahan has 13 catches for 108 yards and a score.  MSUM is scoring 27.7 points per game and recording 361.3 yards per game of total offense.

Doan and senior linebacker Casey Paskey lead the defense with 26 tackles while Taylor has 25 tackles and a team-best two interceptions. Vedaa has 13 tackles and an interception while senior cornerback Jerry Raye has 17 tackles and a blocked kick. Sophomore Darius Woods-Steichen has a team-best two tackles. MSUM is allowing 32.7 points per game and 435.7 yards per game.

About Mary
Mary fell to 0-3 on the season with a 41-28 loss at Minot State on Saturday.  The Marauders trailed 41-14 at one point before scoring a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns to cut the lead late.

Sophomore running back Jordan Beaty leads the Marauder ground game with 85 yards on 29 carries.  Junior quarterback Jordan Velarde has thrown for 326 yards and a score while freshman quarterback Jason Hoekstra has thrown for 313 yards and a score. Sophomore receiver Luke Little has 20 catches for 334 yards to lead the receiving corps.  The Marauders score 13.67 points per game and record 307 yards per game of total offense.

Junior linebacker Grady Blewett leads the defense with 22 tackles while sophomore linebacker Will Blewett has 19. Freshman linebacker Maxwell Askew has four tackles for loss. The Marauders allow 40.3 points per game and 436.0 yards of total offense.

More about the Dragons
Deiondre's Defense
Junior cornerback Deiondre Taylor is off to a strong start for the Dragon defense. He leads the team with two interceptions, including a key one in the end zone to end a Northern scoring threat, and is tied for fifth in the NSIC in that category.  He is second on the team with 25 tackles as well.

Doan Getting It Done on D
Senior safety Aaron Doan shares the MSUM team lead with 26 tackles and is tied for fourth in the NSIC at 8.7 tackles per game, along with senior teammate Casey Paskey. Doan had a career-high 14 tackles, including eight solo stops, in the win over Northern State.

Simons Says
Sophomore Zach Simons was recruited to MSUM as a quarterback but made the switch to running back last season and has been an important part of the MSUM ground game this season. He leads the Dragons with 175 rushing yards and three touchdowns and recorded two in the win over Northern, including a 29-yarder in the first quarter. Simons is averaging 4.9 yards per carry.

Richter Big Threat at Receiver
Sophomore receiver Jake Richter had the best game of his Dragon career during the win over UMC. He caught five passes for a career-high 123 yards and two scores in the win. For the season the Richter leads the Dragons in receptions (13), receiving yards (284) and touchdowns (four) and is fourth in the NSIC at 94.7 receiving yards per game.

Meehl A Winner in First Start
Junior Bryce Meehl made his first start at quarterback of his collegiate career a winning one on Aug. 30 vs. Minnesota Crookston. The junior from Oakes, N.D., completed 15-of-30 passes for 215 yards and two scores in the win. He didn't turn the ball over and also was only sacked once.

Sack Party
Darius Woods-Steichen had a career-high two sacks in the win over UMC. The performance was part of five sacks by the Dragon defense, which held UMC to 10 points and 204 yards of total offense.

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.

Week 4 Under Laqua
MSUM is 2-5 in the Steve Laqua era during week 4 games. MSUM ended a five-game losing streak on Week 4 with a 21-20 win over Concordia-St. Paul last season. The Dragons had lost five straight week 4 games, including a 36-34 loss to Concordia St. Paul in 2013 and a 28-14 loss to Minnesota State last season. MSUM lost to Southwest Minnesota State 48-9 in 2015. In 2014, MSUM lost to Sioux Falls 73-21. In 2012, they lost to Minnesota State 24-0.