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Game Notes

Game Info

Location: Moorhead, Minn.
Away Team: University of Minnesota, Crookston (1-5, 1-5 NSIC)
Home Team: Minnesota State University, Moorhead (0-6, 0-6 NSIC)
Date: Sat., Oct. 13
Stadium: Alex Nemzek Stadium
Seating Capactiy: 5,000
Online Video: NMTV
Live Stats: http://web.mnstate.edu/livestats/football/xlive.htm
Radio: KROX 1260
Play by Play/Color Analyst: Chris Fee/Chris Bruggeman
Twitter: UMCAthletics
Facebook: Golden Eagle Sports

Quick Hits

• The Start of the “Red River Valley Showdown”
    UMC and MSU Moorhead's series has been officially named “The Red River Valley Showdown” Presented by State Farm Insurance. Thanks to agents Andy Oman and David Eggers, the Golden Eagles and Dragons will play for the State Farm Traveling Trophy this year. UMC and MSU Moorhead have met every season since 1999 with the Dragons leading the series 7-6.

•#CECILBROWN4ALLAMERICA
    Cecil Brown, Jr. has been an absolute force on defense so far this season and currentlyis second in the entire NSIC with 72 tackles. The senior strong safety is ranked fifth nationally for tackles heading into Saturday's contest against MSU Moorhead. Brown set a career-high with 16 tackles versus Bemidji State two weeks ago. Brown had a role in the safety last weekend against BSU and also has three fumble recoveries on the year, as well as a sack. Brown's three fumble recoveries is ranked tied for first nationally.

• Barge Improving Through The Air
    After struggling to find a rhythm in the passing game earlier this season quarterback A.J. Barge has done a better job in the last three games of producing yardage through the air. Barge is 55-of-94 for 487 yards for three touchdowns and an interception in the last three games while he was just 21-of-47 for 157 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions through the first three games this season. Barge's best game this season came last weekend against St. Cloud State as he was 23-of-35 for 190 yards with two touchdowns. He helped account for all three of UMC's fourth quarter touchdowns with two passes and one rush for a score.

• Rollins In His Sights
    With five games left this season, running back Richard Haley has all-time UMC rushing leader R.J. Rollins in his sights. Haley needs 812 yards to move past Rollins, a task that will be tough but isn't completely out of the realm of possibilities. Haley has 706 yards rushing on 128 carries this season. He had 91 yards on the ground last weekend against St. Cloud State. Last year against MSU Moorhead, Haley had a career-high 237 yards on the ground in an overtime loss to the Dragons.

• Tale of Two Teams
    The University of Minnesota, Crookston has been a tale of two different teams this year, a home version and an away version. The Golden Eagles are averaging under three points in road games while they are averaging 26.0 points a game at home. In addition, they are averaging 399 yards of offense and giving up 409 yards defensively at home while compared to road games, where they are giving up 469 yards defensively and are averaging 190 yards of offense.


• Covering The Kickoff
    The University of Minnesota, Crookston Golden Eagles are currently leading the league in kickoff coverage as they are only allowing opponents to an average of 12.7 yards per kickoff return.

• Interception Duo
    Freedom McCullough and Ricky Jacobs have accounted for six of UMC's seven interceptions this season. Both players have three on the year. McCullough sat last game due to an injury but will look to get back into form as the Golden Eagles take on the Dragons this season. Junior college transfer Jacobs had an interception last week against the Huskies. He has also taken an interception to the end zone this year with a score against Concordia University, St. Paul earlier this season.


• Make-Shift Offensive Line
    The UMC Offensive Line has been depleted much of the season. Especially the last three weeks against Southwest Minnesota State University, Bemidji State University and St. Cloud State University. The Golden Eagles have been without starters Austin Schwager and Kevin Myers, along with top back-up A.J. Wallace. In their absence two former tight ends started the game in Matt Borowicz and Jacob Costilow. Along with Sam Smith, Jeremy Kelly and Mike Johnson, the Golden Eagles had 284 yards on the ground and 442 yards of offense three weeks ago against SMSU. This season, UMC has the seventh-best rushing offense in the NSIC and has improved in the passing game in recent weeks due much to the success of the offensive line. Wallace should be close to making a return to the line-up this week against MSU Moorhead. He should be a game-time decision as to whether he gets into the line-up.

The Scoop

    Saturday's game between University of Minnesota, Crookston and Minnesota State University, Moorhead will be the first edition of the “Red River Showdown” Presented by State Farm Insurance and will be the first time the two schools compete for the State Farm Traveling Trophy. The Dragons have won the last three meetings between the two schools.

Previewing the Golden Eagles

    The University of Minnesota, Crookston will look to get on track on the road this season as they have yet to score an offensive touchdown on the road this season. The Golden Eagles' offense has picked up recently as A.J. Barge (Fr., QB, Carrollton, Ga.) has improved over the last few weeks. Barge was 23-of-35 for 190 yards and 45 yards rushing last weekend against St. Cloud State. Barge had a role in all three fourth-quarter touchdowns against St. Cloud State last weekend. Barge has added to what Richard Haley (Sr., RB, Detroit, Mich.) has been doing all year long. Haley has 706 yards rushing this season, which ranks second in the NSIC and 22nd nationally. Barge's top targets this year in the passing game have been wide receivers Marcus Cheatham (Jr., Stockton, Calif.) and Josh Ross (Fr., Palmdale, Calif.). Cheatham has 176 yards receiving on 17 catches while Ross has 150 yards on 19 catches.

    Defensively, Cecil Brown Jr. (Sr., DB, Edison, Ga.) has been a terror to opposing teams. Brown has been everywhere. He currently has 72 tackles, which is second in the NSIC and is fifth nationally. Brown has led the Golden Eagles in tackles in five of six games this season and added a career-high 16 tackles against Bemidji State to his tally. In addition, Brown was partly responsible for the safety against the Beavers two weekends ago, had a sack and has reovered three fumbles, which ranks for a tie for first nationally. Paul Webster (Jr., CB, Opolaka, Fla.) led the team in tackles last week with seven versus the Huskies.

Previewing the Dragons

    Offensively, MSU Moorhead is led by a group of freshman who have made an impact right off the bat for Coach Steve Laqua. Freshman Jake Hodge quarterbacks the Dragons and is 60-of-124 for 773 yards for four touchdowns and five interceptions for a team that favors the pass. His top target has been freshman Adam Jiskra, who has 24 catches for 411 yards.  Hodge will also utilize Tyler Rivard, also a freshman wide reciever, who had 19 catches for 185 yards and Shawn Marlowe, a senior tight end, who has seven catches for 124 yards. In the backfield, sophomore Brandon Schell leads the team with 235 yards on 63 carries.

    Defensively, the Dragons are led by freshman safety Shea DeJong, who currently leads the league in tackles. DeJong has one interception and five tackles for loss this season. Opponents of MSU Moorhead are averaging 483.8 yards of offense this season. Up front, defensive tackle Steve Parks leads the charge with two sacks this season and 7.5 tackles for loss.

The Rundown

• MSU Moorhead leads the all-time series 7-6. The Golden Eagles last defeated the Dragons in 2008. MSU Moorhead was also the last team UMC defeated on the road with a victory Nov. 3, 2007 (42-38) over the Dragons.

• UMC has yet to score an offensive touchdown on the road this season. They have eight points on the road with an 85-yard interception return from Marcus Galan against Winona State and a safety against Bemidji State.

• The Golden Eagles have 10 seniors this season. Of those 10 seniors, six have been regular starters when healthy (Cecil Brown, Marcus Galan, Richard Haley, Mike Johnson, Keith McBride, Austin Schwager) while Stephen Henderson has been the regular kicker and Chris Secrest has handled punting duties. Tyler Roed and Joe Stearly have both been key role players off the bench this year.

• Paul Miller picked up his first victory as the UMC head coach three weekends ago as they upended SW Minnesota State 33-28.

• Cecil Brown, Jr. set a career-high two weeks ago with 16 tackles against Bemidji State. He has led the team in tackles in all but one game. Paul Webster became the first UMC player to lead the Golden Eagles in tackles not named Cecil Brown, Jr. with seven against St. Cloud State last week.

• 22 newcomers  have made appearances for the Golden Eagles in the six games so far this year.

• Six newcomers (2 offense, 5 defense) made starts against Bemidji State. Jacob Costilow and Josh Ross started on offense while Jareeq Crenshaw, Cole Jackson, Ricky Jacobs, Andrew Hall and Paul Webster started on defense against the Beavers.

• Josh Ross scored the first offensive touchdown of the season for UMC on the season and the first touchdown of his career against Concordia-St. Paul

• In the theme of the recently completed Olympics, UMC defensive lineman Cole Jackson is the son of former Olympic Gold Medalist Kevin Jackson, who is the current head wrestling coach at Iowa State University.