GAME 8: Northern State (1-6, 1-5 NSIC) at University of Mary (4-3, 4-2 NSIC)
THE GAME: The Northern State Wolves will travel to Bismarck, N.D. to battle with the University of Mary Marauders in an NSIC North matchup Kickoff for the game is slated for 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 17, at the Bismarck Community Bowl.
Gene Reich will handle the play-by-play on both 94.1 KSDN-FM “The Rock“ and 930 KSDN-AM.
For those fans that can't make it to the game and still want to watch the Wolves, the University of Mary will have live stats available HERE and you can view video of the game on
www.northernsu.tv.
THE MATCHUP: The University of Mary is currently 4-3 overall, 4-2 in the NSIC, and 2-1 in the NSIC North. Prior to the 2009 season they were picked to finish 8th overall in the conference and third in the North Division by the NSIC league coaches.
The Wolves are 1-6 overall, 1-5 in the NSIC, and 1-3 in the North Division. They were picked to finish 11th in the NSIC by the league's coaches and tied for fifth in the North Division prior to the 2009 campaign.
SERIES HISTORY: The Northern State Wolves are winless in all three meetings between the two teams, and all matchups have happened in the last three years. The University of Mary is 3-0 all-time vs. Northern State.
Northern State head coach Chris Boden, the only Northern State coach to face the Marauders, is also 0-3 against the school.
Series History
Last 10 Years
2008 Northern State 31, Mary 34
2007 Northern State 13, Mary 37
2006 Northern State 7, Mary 20
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
NSU MARY
1-6 2009 Record 4-3
1-5 NSIC Record 4-2
123 First Downs 116
127.9 Rushing Offense/gm 147.4
189.9 Passing Offense/gm 192.0
317.7 Total Offense/gm 339.4
242.1 Rushing Defense/gm 123.4
211.1 Passing Defense/gm 208.4
453.3 Total Defense/gm 331.9
19.6 Points Per Game 26.6
38.9 Points Allowed Per Game 23.6
4.8 Avg. Yards/Play 5.1
39/306 Penalties/Yards 51/443
2/4 Field Goals/Attempts 3/4
33/96/34% 3rd Down Conv./Att/% 40/106/38%
22/16 Giveaway/Takeaway 10/16
NSIC SCHEDULE THIS WEEK
Saturday, October 10
1:00 pm C Wayne State (NE) at Winona State
1:00 pm C MSU Moorhead at Minnesota State
1:00 pm C Bemidji State at Minnesota Crookston
1:00 pm C St. Cloud State at Minnesota Duluth
1:00 pm C Upper Iowa at Augustana
2:30 pm C Northern State at Mary
6:00 pm C Concordia St. Paul at SW Minnesota State
C = NSIC Game
NSIC SCORES FROM LAST WEEK:
Wayne State (NE) 10 at Bemidji State 21
Minnesota Crookston 7 at St. Cloud State 65
Winona State 46 at Upper Iowa 9
Minnesota State 54 at Concordia St. Paul 3
Mary 39 at MSU Moorhead 13
Minnesota Duluth 42 at Northern State 0
Augustana 29 at Southwest Minnesota State 7
LET ME 'TREL YA SOMETHIN': Northern State running back Montrel Richardson continues to be the main catalyst for the Northern State offense and now has 1,283 all-purpose yards on the season, with an average of 183.3 yards per game.
The biggest chunk of that has come on the ground where the speedy junior has churned out 665 yards through the first seven games, an average of 95.0 per game and a 6.4 yards per carry average.
He also leads the team in scoring with 36 points, coming off of six touchdowns.
He scored three of those touchdowns two weeks ago against UMC, getting into the end zone twice on the ground and once through the air.
His signature game of the season was on the road against Upper Iowa where he notched 289 all-purpose yards (157 rushing) including a 90-yard kickoff return touchdown and 47-yard scamper.
He matched that performance a week later with another 289 all-purpose yard performance, including notching 174 rushing yards.
He's currently 3rd in the NSIC with 611 in-conference rushing yards (101.8 ypg) and second in all-purpose yards and all-purpose yards per game (197.3).
I GOT FIVE ON IT: Junior captain wideout Trent DesLauriers is currently eighth in the NSIC in receptions per game, averaging 4.67 per contest during conference matchups
He has set new career-highs in season marks for catches (33) and receiving yards (381) and is tied with his 2008 total of three receiving touchdowns.
He has also already set career-highs for receptions and yards in a game on September 5th against Winona State when he went for seven catches and 96 receiving yards.
TOMMY BOY: Northern State junior kicker Thomas Parrott a junior from Tampa, Fla. was named to the Fred Mitchell Award Watch List prior to the 2009 season. A 2008 Second Team All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference selectionafter being an Honorable Mention in 2007, Parrott has connected on 59 of 64 PAT's in past two seasons. He earned NSIC Player of the Week honors as a Freshman after connecting on 7 of 7 PAT's and adding a FG in the Wolves 52-9 win over Minnesota-Crookston on October 20, 2007. Parrot donates his time to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and volunteers as a chemistry tutor to Northern State students, and also participated in the United Way and Northern State University Day of Champions event to assist with various community service projects in the Aberdeen area.
ABOUT NORTHERN STATE: The Wolves followed their first win two weeks ago over Minnesota, Crookston 34-17 with a 42-0 loss to #8 Minnesota Duluth last Saturday during Gypsy Days.
They have one of the premier yardage men in Montrel Richardson, but the rest of the team has been inconsistant and stagnant at times, keeping the Wolves from scoring more than 20.5 points per game (11th in NSIC).
They are currently 10th in passing offense per game (203.3 YPG), 10th in rushing yardage per game (130.3), 10th in total offense per game (333.7 YPG), and 13th in passing efficiency (101.9).
They are 4th in the conference in penaltie yardage per game with 44.2 free yards given away.
The Wolves are 10th in scoring defense (37.2 PPG), 7th in passing defense (204.5 YPG), 13th in rushing defense (248.5 YPG), 10th in pass efficiency defense (141.2), 13th in opponent first downs (147), and 13th in total defense (453.0 YPG).
The Wolves are also tied for 10th in sacks (8).
The Wolves have forced 15 turnovers on the year (6 fumb, 9 INT), tied with Winona State for third highest total in the league. They have also committed 18 turnovers (5 fumb, 13 INT) which is also the third highest total in the league.
ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF MARY: The Marauders sport two of the league's best offensive playmakers in QB Henry Lau (6-5, 238, Sr.) and RB Jamal Lomax (5-8, 190, Jr.).
Lau is second in the conference with 18 passing touchdowns on the year, compared to only five interceptions. He is also sixth in the conference in passing yardage per game, averaging 209.0 yards a contest.
Lomax is second in the conference in rushing yards per game (105.0), ahead of NSU's Montrel Richardson, and trailing UMD's Isaac Odim, two backs who faced each other a week ago. That number also puts Lomax no. 11 overall in the country for Division II.
The Marauders are ranked 10th in the conference in total offense per game (339.43 ypg) and 5th in the conference in total defense (331.86).
DID YOU KNOW?: Last week, NSU senior WR Brian Jark went over 2,000 receiving yards for his NSIC career. Only nine other receivers have ever eclipsed that mark in the history of the NSIC. Jark now has 2,005 receiving yards over his 3+ year career.
ALVAREZ ON THE TACKLE: Senior linebacker David Alvarez was named NSIC Defensive Player of the Week on October 5th after recording a game-high 12 tackles and two interceptions in the Wolves' 34-17 win over Minnesota, Crookston. It was the Soquel, Calif. native's first Athlete of the Week award in his career.
JARK EYES HISTORY BOOKS: Senior wide receiver and Aberdeen native Brian Jark etched his name into the Northern State record books on September 5th against Winona State, becoming the school's all-time leading receiver with 218 career receptions. He has since then added four more receptions to bring his career total to 222. He is still closing in on all-time records for TD receptions, reception yards, and a host of other NSIC records. He trails Damien Hoffman of Minnesota Morris, and now Logan Masters of Wayne State by three and six receptions, respectively, for the all-time NSIC lead in that category. With his six receiving yards in Northern State's loss to Minnesota-Duluth he surpassed the 2,000 yard plateau for NSIC receiving yards and now has 2,005 yards receiving in conference play.
NSU RECORDS:
Receptions - Brian Jark - 222
Brent Sheehan - 217
Yards - Brent Sheehan - 3,072
Brian Jark - 2,489
TD's - Josh Martin -22
Brian Jark -19
NSIC RECORDS:
Receptions - 1. Logan Masters (2006-Present) / Wayne State - 188
2. Damien Hoffman (1997-2001) / Minnesota-Morris - 185
3. Brian Jark, NSU - 182
Yards - 1. Chris Samp (2001-2004) / WSU - 2, 855
10. Brian Jark, NSU - 2,005
TD's 1. Chris Samp, WSU - 43
t-9. Brian Jark, NSU - 16
CAPTAINS: Senior wide receiver Brian Jark, junior wide receiver Trent DesLauriers, senior outside linebacker Ryan Olerud, and senior inside linebacker Anthony Ponzo, Jr. will serve as the Northern State captains for the 2009 season.
Northern State University is an NCAA Division II affiliated school participating in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and is located in Aberdeen, South Dakota.
**GO WOLVES**
