DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica football team returns to Public Schools Stadium on Saturday when it hosts the University of Minnesota Morris.
 


Where:
Public Schools Stadium – Duluth, Minn.
 
When:
Saturday at 3 p.m.
 
Live Video/Stats: http://www.csssaints.com/ssn
 
Social Media:
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St. Scholastica Saints
Stats
Record: 6-1, 6-0 UMAC
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Standings | Stats
 
Last Action: The Saints scored 13 points in the final 57 seconds of the second quarter and it held up as CSS prevailed over the University of Northwestern 13-7 in a showdown of UMAC unbeatens … Returning from injury, Dakota Paulson (Menomonie, Wis./Menomonie HS) found Nick Murphy (Glendale, Ariz./Brophy College Prep ) (23 yards) and Hunter Thompson (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo HS) (19 yards) for touchdowns late in the first half … Xavier Rhodes (South St. Paul, Minn./South St. Paul HS) had two interceptions one to setup the eventual game-winning score and another at the end of the game to seal the victory … The CSS defense recorded three interceptions and also forced a fumble in the victory.
 
Turnovers the Difference: In their first three games of the season, the Saints had a minus-3 turnover margin, including five turnovers in the team's only loss at Ripon College (Wis.) … In the last four games, CSS has a plus-11 turnover margin and have forced at least three turnovers in each of the last three games.
 
Geiselman Ties Sack Record: Senior Joe Geiselman (Virginia, Minn./Virginia HS) registered a half sack in Saturday night's victory over Northwestern and in doing so, tied Blake Cedarleaf (Mahtomedi, Minn./Mahtomedi HS)'s program record for career sacks (14.5).
 
Big Second Quarters: The Saints have out-scored teams 111-17 in the second quarter this season and 160-26 in the first half this season.
 
Spreading the Ball Around: So far this season, 18 different Saints have caught a pass … That is already a program-best as the previous high was 14 during the 2011 season … Also four different CSS quarterbacks have thrown touchdown passes, which is also a program-high in a season.
 
UMAC Streaks: The Saints have won 27 straight UMAC games; a streak dating back to October 20, 2012 when they fell to Northwestern 14-13 at Ordean Stadium.
 
20 is the Magic Number: The Saints are 47-0 since 2010 when they score at least 20 points … Saturday night's victory over Northwestern was only the second time (2-16) the Saints won a game when they failed to score 20 points … That other victory also came against Northwestern in 2010.
 
UMAC Preseason Poll
1. 80 Points – College of St. Scholastica (8 First Place Votes)
2. 70 Points - University of Northwestern (1)
3. 69 Points – Greenville College (1)
4. 54 Points – Westminster College
5. 44 Points – Iowa Wesleyan College
6. 36 Points – Crown College
7. 35 Points – Eureka College
8. 27 Points – MacMurray College
9. 21 Points – University of Minnesota Morris
10. 14 Points – Martin Luther College

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Upcoming Opponent
Minnesota Morris Cougars
Record: 4-3, 4-2 UMAC
 
The Cougars are coming off a 10-6 victory over Crown College last Saturday … All 10 points for Minnesota Morris were scored in the fourth quarter … The Morris defense held the Storm scoreless after allowing a touchdown on the opening drive and then held Crown out of the end zone with a goal line stand late in the game … Morris is under the guidance of new head coach Rob Cushman, who implements a new spread option attack offensively … Junior Donnie Mavencamp and freshman Devan Griffin have split time at quarterback … Griffin has put up slightly better numbers with a .583 completion percentage and 561 yards through the air … Griffin is also the team's leading rusher with 275 yards on the ground … Junior running back JC Cummings is right behind Griffin, with 269 yards on the ground this season … Wide receiver Kyle Petermeier leads the conference with 41 receptions and is third in the UMAC averaging 59 yards per game and four touchdowns … Senior linebacker Jacob Wirz leads the team with 78 tackles, which ranks second in the league … Junior defensive end Colin Evenson has 8.5 tackles for a loss, including four sacks on the year … The Cougars lead the conference field goals made (8), led by freshman kicker John Hoff.
 
Series History: CSS leads 6-1
 
Last Meeting: Preston Robinson (Northfield, Minn./Northfield HS) ran for a program record five touchdowns and the CSS defense pitched a shutout in a 40-2 victory in Morris last season … This will be the first meeting between the two teams at Public Schools Stadium.

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Looking Ahead: The Saints will host Westminster College (Mo.) in the regular season home finale on Saturday, October 31.