Football | 11/13/2019 9:20:00 AM

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The Minnesota State University Moorhead football team wraps up the 2019 regular season on Saturday at St. Cloud State. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. at Husky Stadium in St. Cloud.

MSUM enters the game at 5-5 overall and 4-2 in the NSIC North while St. Cloud State is 4-6 overall and 3-3 in the NSIC North.

Live stats, video and audio are available at msumdragons.com

An MSUM win over St. Cloud State would...
—give the Dragons back-to-back winning seasons
--give the Dragons two straight wins over SCSU
--improve MSUM to 5-2 in the NSIC
--give the Dragons a 5-1 record on the road this season.

Series History
MSUM and St. Cloud State will meet for a 64th time with the Huskies leading the series 37-24-2. The series dates back to 1920. MSUM ended an 11-game losing streak in the series last year with a 13-10 win.

Previous five meetings:
2018: MSUM 13, St. Cloud State 10 (in Moorhead, Minn.)
2017: St. Cloud State 31, MSU Moorhead 7 (in St. Cloud, Minn.)
2016: St. Cloud State 41, MSU Moorhead 38 (in Moorhead)
2015: St. Cloud State 59, MSU Moorhead 21 (in St. Cloud)
2014: St. Cloud State 55, MSU Moorhead 27 (in Moorhead)
2013: St. Cloud State 64, MSU Moorhead 27 (in St. Cloud)

The Head Coaches
Steve Laqua is in his ninth season as MSUM's head coach with a record of 42-57 at the school. Scott Underwood is in his 12th season as SCSU's head coach with a record of 86-50.

About MSUM
MSUM led 24-21 at halftime but dropped a 28-24 home contest to Bemidji State on Nov. 9. Junior quarterback Jakup Sinani threw for 298 yards and two scores while junior receiver Jake Richter caught five passes for 143 yards and two scores. Junior safety Shad Vedaa had 15 tackles and an interception.

MSUM averages 27.7 points per game and 345.0 yards per game of total offense. Junior running back Ty Jochim leads the ground game with 476 yards and five scores while junior quarterback Jakup Sinani has thrown for 1,356 yards, 10 touchdowns and three interceptions. Junior receiver Grady Bresnahan has 53 catches for 635 yards and four scores to lead the receiving corps.

On defense Taylor leads with 71 tackles.  Junior defensive end Jordan Magnuson has 12 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. Junior defensive end Darius Woods-Steichen also has 12.0 tackles for loss and six sacks.  Taylor, sophomore defensive back Deontre Wade and freshman defensive back Parker Syverson each have two interceptions. Vedaa and Woods-Steichen have two forced fumbles apiece.

MSUM is allowing 27.9 points per game and 366.1 yards per game of total offense.

About St. Cloud State
St. Cloud State ended a four-game losing streak with a 31-19 home win over Minot State on Nov. 9.  Quarterback Dwayne Lawhorn threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns while Darian Washington caught three passes for 116 yards and two scores.

Joe Blando has rushed for 386 yards and two scores to lead the SCSU ground game. Lawhorn has thrown for 1,994 yards, 16 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Tanner Teige leads with 44 catches for 565 yards and two scores.

SCSU scores 23.5 points per game and records of 334.5 yards per game of total offense.

Devon Krzanowski has 54.5 tackles and 4.5 sacks on defense. Three Huskies have 6.5 sacks apiece -- Zach Stecklein, Graham Miller and Ferris Ingraham. Payton Conrad had three interceptions.
The Huskies allow 22.0 yards per game and 311.5 yards per game of total offense.

More about the Dragons
Richter's Return
Junior receiver Jake Richter, an All-NSIC selection last year, missed the first four games of the year rehabbing an injury and then was gradually worked back into action. The last two weeks the Detroit Lakes native has been a huge weapon in the passing game, catching 15 passes for 354 yards and three touchdowns. He had 207 receiving yards in the win at Minot State on 10 catches.

Senior Sendoff
Six seniors and student assistant coach Brady Emerson will play their final Dragon game this Saturday.
That includes:
--Offensive lineman Nathan Belisle, a four-year starter who has never missed a game in his career
--Running back Herman Gray, who has rushed for more than 1,400 yards and nine touchdowns in his career
--Cornerback and captain Deiondre Taylor who has 149 career tackles and nine interceptions
--Receiver Zach Sweep, who has played multiple positions (WR, RB, DB) in his career and has rushed for four touchdowns and caught five
--offensive lineman Isaac Ripplinger who has overcome injuries to start 24 games in his career
--defensive back Tristan Hayes, who has provided depth at defensive back and special teams
Brady Emerson, a former Dragon offensive lineman, has served as a student coach this season after

Sinani Sets Records
Starting for the first time since being injured in Week 3, junior quarterback Jakup Sinani threw for a school-record 513 yards in the win at Minot State on Nov. 2. He completed 40-of-51 passes in the game -- the 40 completions were also a school record -- for four touchdowns.  Sinani's four touchdown passes were to four different receivers, and in the game he completed passes to 10 different receivers.

NSIC Player of the Week x3
Sinani became the third MSUM player to earn NSIC Player of the Week honors this season after receiving the honor on Nov. 4. Sinani was named NSIC Offensive Player of the Week. Junior defensive lineman Jordan Magnuson was named the NSIC Player of the Week on Oct. 28 to become the second Dragon to earn the honor this season. Junior receiver Grady Bresnahan earned the honors after the Dragons' Week 3 win at Northern State.

Season Finales Under Laqua
The Dragons are 4-4 in season finales under Head Coach Steve Laqua. In the snow and cold a year ago MSUM beat St. Cloud State 13-10 at Scheels Feild. The Dragons lost to Bemidji State, 45-14 in 2017 to end a three-game winning streak in finales.  Prior to that, MSUM recorded wins over Minnesota Crookston (66-36 in 2014), Minnesota Crookston (59-21 in 2015) and Northern State (48-33 in 2016).

National Rankings
The Dragons, individually and team-wise, are ranked in the top 35 nationally:
--Carter Blackwell is tied for 10th in the nation with two blocked punts
--Deiondre Taylor is 26th in solo tackles per game at 5.4
--Grady Bresnahan is 27th in receptions per game at 5.9

Team-wise, MSUM is ranked
--third in fewest penalty yards per game (38.4)
--fourth in blocked punts (4)
--11th in fewest fumbles lost (four)
--12th nationally with five blocked kicks
--24th in completion percentage (61.3)
--25th in passing offense per game (269.6).