GOLDEN EAGLE TIDBITS

1. The Golden Eagles are looking for their first win of the season heading into their final game of the season against UMary Saturday at 2 p.m. Minnesota Crookston and UMary have been historically evenly matched, but the Golden Eagles are looking for their first win in the series since Nov. 10, 2012 with a 37-36 win at the Alerus Center. UMary won last season's game 34-14 in a snowstorm in Crookston, Minn.

2. Minnesota Crookston is coming off a solid effort last week against Northern State as they held a 14-7 lead on the Wolves late in the second quarter. Northern State ended the first half on a 14-0 run, and the Wolves used a 21-3 run in the second half to pick up the win. The Golden Eagles left 11 points off the scoreboard in the red zone in the second half of last Saturday's game. Minnesota Crookston will look to channel their strong moments from last week this weekend against UMary.

3. Minnesota Crookston had a big momentum boost last week as they had a fumble recovered in the end zone early on in the game by Dylan Wheeler. The fumble return for a touchdown was the first for the Golden Eagles since Kyler Banks did so in 2017 on a special teams play.

4. The Golden Eagles had a historic game passing against Northern State, as Jalin Scott and Tristan Robbins combined for 410 yards through the air. The 410 yards marks the best passing game in NCAA Division II history for the Golden Eagles. The previous best came with 363 yards in the Alerus Center in 2012.

5. Jonattan Mudd also had a historic day for the Golden Eagles, as Mudd continued to beat his corner and demand the ball for Minnesota Crookston. Mudd had eight catches for 170 yards, which broke Rod Stewart's mark for receiving yards in a game. Stewart previously had 166 yards on Oct. 29, 2016 against Minnesota Duluth. Mudd is closing in on the top five for receiving yards in a career. He has 884 career receiving yards, needing just 100 yards to surpass Marcus Cheatham for fifth all-time for the Golden Eagles.

6. Kyler Banks and Tristan Robbins hooked up for a 70-yard touchdown completion against Northern State. The touchdown strike was the longest for the Golden Eagles since a 62-yard strike from Jeremy Neuman in 2018.

7. Kicker Jared McLemore is already tied for fourth all-time in field goals in his career with eight. McLemore needs two field goals to surpass Chris Secrest for third all-time. McLemore is 4-of-7 on the season with a long of 34 yards. He is 3-of-4 in the 30-yard range this season.

8. Austin Steele has had a historic season for the Golden Eagles with 69 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, and six sacks. He also has four forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. Steele is already just three sacks away from tying Drew Selvestra for fifth all-time for Minnesota Crookston.

8. Minnesota Crookston has set the mark for most sacks in a season in recent history as their 21 sacks, surpassed the 18 the team had in 2016. The Golden Eagles have been led by Steele with six sacks. Joe Warner has added three sacks, while Ben Branscom and Skyler Quinn each have two sacks, along with Tysen White.

10. Minnesota Crookston senior Will Cross has been a leader throughout his career for the Golden Eagles. Cross had 11 tackles against Northern State. Cross has had 231 career tackles for Minnesota Crookston. He has 63 tackles on the season with six tackles for loss and a half sack with one fumble recovery.

11. Trevor Long, Jr., missed last game for the Golden Eagles but it was still an eventful one as he got engaged to his girlfriend Michaela on Senior Day. Long has had a strong career for the Golden Eagles. He has 247 career tackles coming into Saturday for Minnesota Crookston.

12. Minnesota Crookston is looking for their first road win since a 29-21 win over Minot State University Sat., Sept. 22, 2018.

13. Alex Folz has done a little bit of everything this season. He punts, kick returns, runs, catches passes, and even tried to throw one against Northern State, which ultimately resulted in a pass interference call. A former high school quarterback, Folz has shown off his athleticism. As a punter, he is averaging 35.6 yards per punt with eight inside the 20 and four punts over 50 yards. On kickoff returns, Folz is averaging 20.1 yards per game for the Golden Eagles.

 

1. UMary is seventh in the NSIC North at 1-9 (0-6 in div.). They remain one game ahead of the Golden Eagles.

2. The Mauraders are averaging 109.8 rush yards per game offensively and average 191.20 yards through the air. Last week against Minnesota Duluth Avery Gould was 11/25 passing for 105 yards with no interceptions. The Mauraders ground game was lead by Bryan Lumsden. He had 13 carries for 82 yards and a rushing touchdown.

3. Defensively, the Mauraders have allowed 249.0 rush yards per game and 207.5 through the air. UMary against Minnesota Duluth last week had seven tackles for loss and two sacks. The Mauraders defense last week was lead by defensive back Richard Bendish who tallied six solo tackles in the loss to UMD.

 

#5StoryLines
 

1. Can the Golden Eagle defense force UMary into mistakes?

2. Can the Golden Eagles find similar success passing the ball, as they did last Saturday against Northern State?

3. Will Jonattan Mudd have another big game for Minnesota Crookston?

4. Will the Golden Eagles end a six-year drought against UMary?

5. Can the Golden Eagles exploit the UMary run defense?