GAME NOTES
DULUTH, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica football team completes its season with still plenty to play for Saturday when it heads to Illinois to face MacMurray College (Ill.).
Where:
Freesen Field – Jacksonville Ill.
When:
Saturday at Noon
Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmS9YZQc6lI
Live Stats: https://mchighlanders.com/sidearmstats/football/summary
Social Media:
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/CSSSAINTSFB
Instagram:
www.instagram.com/cssfootball08
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/StScholasticaFootball
St. Scholastica Saints
2018 Stats
Record: 6-3, 6-1 UMAC
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Standings | Stats
What You Need To Know About The Saints:
-The Saints have been eliminated in the pursuit of the UMAC's automatic qualifier to the NCAA playoffs with a Martin Luther College win over MacMurray last weekend.
-Though the Saints can still win a share of the regular season championship with a win over MacMurray this weekend and a Martin Luther loss.
-The Saints rushed for a season-high 241 yards in the win over the University of Minnesota Morris Saturday, 92 yards more than any other game this season.
-The Saints did not punt in Saturday's win over the Cougars, marking the fifth time in program history that the Saints have accomplished that feat and the first time since a win over MacMurray in 2014.
-When it does punt, CSS ranks fourth in NCAA Division III in net punting (37.25).
-It was a record breaking Saturday once again at Public School Stadium as three single-season program records were broken.
Zach Edwards (St. Paul, Minn./Henry Sibley HS) broke the single-season passing yards record by throwing for 318 yards on Saturday getting his season total to 2,891 yards. The next record that was broken on Saturday was
Jordan Kittelson (Avon, Minn./Albany HS) who recovered his fourth fumble on the season putting him alone at the top for most recoveries in a season. The third record that was broke was Jonathon Senger who recorded his 53
rd solo tackle of the season which puts him at the top for most solo tackles in a season.
-The Saints rank third nationally with 15 fumble recoveries.
Offensive Players to Watch:
-Junior wide receiver
Eddie Lee (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove HS) – Lee continues his career year for the Saints as he hauled in eight receptions for 110 yards and a score. He already broke the single-season reception record two weeks ago against Iowa Wesleyan and is now up to 63 catches on the year. If Lee can record 118 receiving yards, he will set the single-season program record in that category as well. Lee ranks first in the UMAC and 28
th in Division III with 7.0 catches per game.
-Junior quarterback
Zach Edwards (St. Paul, Minn./Henry Sibley HS) – Edwards has his eyes set on becoming the first Saint to throw for 3,000 yards in a season, only needing 109 yards this week, and with 270 yards against the Highlanders Saturday Edwards could surpass Tyler Harper and become the Saints all-time leader in career passing yards. He ranks fourth in the nation in passing yards per game (321.2).
-Senior wide receiver
Aaron Olson (Esko, Minn./Esko HS) – Olson (121) needs nine receptions on Saturday to pass Keegan O'Neill (129) for career receptions.
-Freshman running back
Spencer Ross (Two Harbors, Minn./Two Harbors HS) – Ross, since getting his first carries in the road win over Iowa Wesleyan, has revived the Saints run game. He became the Saints first 100-yard rushing in a game in 2018 and is averaging just under 10 yards a carry.
Defensive/Special Teams Players to Watch:
-Senior linebacker
Jonathan Senger (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo HS) – On Saturday Senger broke the Saints program record with 53 solo tackles in a season, that puts him at the top of the conference and 35
th in NCAA Division III. He needs four more solo tackles to set the program's career mark held by Alec French (144). Senger is also 10 total tackles shy from moving into second place in program history.
-Senior defensive lineman
Jordan Kittelson (Avon, Minn./Albany HS) – Kittelson has recovered four fumbles this season, which set a team record last weekend against Minnesota Morris, he now leads the conference and is ranked second in all of NCAA Division III,
-Senior
Donovan Blatz (Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View HS) – Blatz leads the conference and ranks eighth in the nation in punting with an average of 40.9 yards per attempt. With a good performance Saturday, he can set the single-season program record for punting average.
What You Need to Know About The Highlanders:
6-2, 6-1 UMAC
-The Highlanders controlled their own destiny and could have helped the Saints as well, but fell in a showdown at Martin Luther last Saturday by a 40-6 final.
-This will be the fourth season in a row that MacMurray has finished in the top three of the conference.
-The loss last week against Martin Luther was their first since an opening day loss to Rockford University (Ill.) 35-12.
-Nathan Randall had played most of the snaps under center so far this season for MacMurray, completing passes at a 56 percent rate for 1200 yards and a 7:5 touchdown to interception ratio. However, Randall has not played significant snaps since an October 13 win at Crown College.
-Robert Tedesco has played the last three games under center and is averaging only 110.8 yards per game and has six interceptions.
-Asa Donaldson and Marquez Ellison both have over 95 carries and 350 yards on the season for the Highlanders. Ellison has scored six touchdowns.
-Devonta Preston leads the Highlanders receiving corps hauling in 40 receptions on the year for 406 yards and four scores.
-After last week's defeat, the MacMurray defense fell from to the top of the conference to second in yards allowed per game (320.6).
-The player to watch on the Highlander defense is reigning UMAC Defensive Player of the Year Javon Muhammad, who leads NCAA Division III with 1.63 sacks per game and 3.4 tackles for a loss per game.
-C.J. O'Rourke leads the team in tackles averaging 9.5 per game.
Series Record: CSS leads 7-1
(Last Meeting: 34-26 MAC – 11/4/2017)
Series History: The Saints won every meeting against the Highlanders until the 2017 season finale where MacMurray snuck out of Duluth with an eight-point victory.
Looking ahead: The Saints complete the 2018 season this week at MacMurray. CSS is scheduled to open the 2019 season at home against Mayville State University (N.D.) on September 7.
