Football | 11/10/2021 7:57:00 AM

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The Minnesota State University Moorhead football team wraps up the 2021 season at home on Saturday against Wayne State. Kickoff is at noon at Scheels Field at Nemzek Stadium. All military personnel will receive free admission with their military ID.

MSUM is 5-5 and 3-3 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North after a 24-3 win at Concordia-St. Paul while Wayne State is 6-4 overall and 3-3 in the south after losing to Sioux Falls, 38-17 last week

Live stats and video are available at msumdragons.com

An MSUM win over Wayne State would...

—give the Dragons their fourth straight victory over the Wildcats

--give the Dragons their fifth winning season in the Steve Laqua era and fifth in the last six seasons

--give the Dragons a 3-3 home record

Series History

MSUM and Wayne State will meet for a 25th time with the Dragons leading the all-time series 15-9. MSUM has won the last three meetings.

Last five meetings:

2018-MSUM 28, Wayne State 22, OT (in Wayne)

2016-MSUM 41, Wayne State 24 (in Moorhead)

2014-MSUM 40, Wayne State 36 (in Wayne)

2012-Wayne State 49, MSUM 6 (in Moorhead)

2009-Wayne State 41, MSUM 0 (in Moorhead)

The Head Coaches

Steve Laqua is in his ninth season, and 10th year overall as MSUM's head coach with a record of 48-62 at the school. John McMenamin is in his first season at Wayne State with a record of 6-4.

About MSUM

MSUM evened its mark at 5-5 with a 24-3 win at Concordia-St. Paul on Nov. 6. The Dragons held CSP to 179 total yards and nine first downs, and the three points were the fewest MSUM allowed in a game since shutting out UMary 37-0 in 2015. Senior Grady Bresnahan caught two touchdowns for the Dragons. 

Freshman quarterback Tommy Falk has completed 199-of-336 passes for 2,666 yards and 18 touchdowns while senior receiver Grady Bresnahan has 69 catches for 887 yards and six scores. Sophomore receiver Ryan Bieberdorf has 59 catches for 696 yards and seven scores.

On the ground freshman running back Luke Imdieke has 290 rushing yards and a score.

MSUM scores 25.1 points per game and records 335.5 yards per game of total offense. 

Freshman linebacker Josiah Behm has 77 tackles and three interceptions while senior linebacker Matt Schoh has 74 tackles  Senior defensive end Darius Woods-Steichen leads with five sacks while Cody Sorenson and Jared Kallenbach each lead with four interceptions.

The Dragons allow 25.1 points per game and 384.4 yards per game of total offense.

About Wayne State

Wayne State dropped a 38-17 home contest to Sioux Falls to fall to 6-4 on the season. 

Anthony Watkins has rushed for 669 yards and 11 touchdowns to lead the ground game while Nick Bohn has thrown for 1,745 yards and 13 touchdowns. Taurean Grady has caught 49 passes for 868 yards and eight scores. 

Wayne State scores 33.4 points per game and records 419.8 yards per game of total offense.

Alex Kowalczyk leads the WSC defense with 78 tackles. Kevin Ransom has four interceptions while Nichole Joynt has 66 tackles. Wayne State allows 26.6 points per game and 386.4 yards per game of total offense. 

More about the Dragons

Senior Day

MSUM will honor 20 seniors who will be playing their final games this Saturday against Wayne State:

WR Grady Bresnahan

DL Darius Woods-Steichen

DL Hunter Sall

DL Jordan Magnuson

DL Derek Porozinski

LB Matt Schoh

DB Carter Blackwell

OL Austin Roob

OL Phil Melroe

OL Matthew Hinds

OL/TE Jacob Fleming

OL Logan Bruce

OL Joe Mucchio

OL Dylan Evans

FB Theo Chwala

DB Shad Vedaa

RB Zane Miller

QB/P Justin Czech

LB Beau Driscoll

OL Adam Johnson

Take Your Pick

MSUM has intercepted 17 passes through 10 games which is tied for third in all of Division II. Nine different Dragons have recorded an interception this season. Two Dragons have four interceptions each: sophomore safety Jared Kallenbach and freshman cornerback Cody Sorenson.

Big Day for Blackwell

MSUM senior cornerback Carter Blackwell had a big day in the Dragons' 35-31 win over UMary. He returned a kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter was named NSIC Special Teams Player of the Week on the following Monday, becoming the first Dragon to earn a weekly honor this season.

Grady Grabs Record, Chases Another

Senior Grady Bresnahan became MSUM's all-time leader in receptions dagainst Upper Iowa.  Bresnahan has 248 career receptions at MSUM.  He is now 120 yards away from the career receiving yards record at MSUM, which is 3,112 yards held by Damon Gibson.

Sorenson Steps Up

Freshman defensive back Cody Sorenson returned an interception 60 yards for a touchdown in the first half of the 29-17 win over Minot State. Sorenson shares the team lead with four interceptions and also ranks 26th in passes defended per game.  It was MSUM's first pick six since Deiondre Taylor returned an interception for a score against Minot in 2019. 

Season Finales Under Laqua

The Dragons are 5-4 in season finales under Head Coach Steve Laqua, beating St. Cloud State in Nov. 2019. In the snow and cold in 2018 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

MSUM is ranked in the top 25 in several team and individual stat rankings

Team

--tied for third in passes intercepted (17)

--15th in turnovers gained (24)

--tied for 21st in punts blocked (two)

--21st in turnover margin (+8)

Individual

--Grady Bresnahan is sixth in receptions per game (7.8) and 11th in receiving yards per game (99.2)

--Denver Sheets is tied for ninth in fumbles forced per game (0.44)

--Tommy Falk is 11th in completions per game (23.3), 16th in passing yards per game (2,662) and 22nd in passing yards per game (266.2).

--Justin Czech is 23rd in punting (40.5)