area college update

GAME OF THE WEEK

Concordia-Moorhead (4-0, 2-0 MIAC) at Bethel (2-1, 2-0), 1 p.m., Saturday: The Cobbers have won 20 of their past 24 games, but two of the losses in that stretch have been to Bethel. The Cobbers, ranked No. 15 in the AFCA Division III national poll and No. 22 in the d3football.com poll, defeated St. Olaf 52-14 last Saturday. The Royals, who have won five consecutive games in the series, are No. 19 in the AFCA poll and No. 12 in the d3football.com poll. Bethel is coming off a 38-7 victory over Carleton.

WEEK 5 STORY LINES

• After the graduation of Jeffrey Dubose, who rushed for a school-record 1,459 yards last season, it isn't a surprise that Gustavus Adolphus has thrown the ball more this season. But the success of the Gusties' passing game has been one of the top stories in the MIAC this season. Mitch Hendricks has completed 119 of 151 passes (78.8 percent) with 20 TD passes and just one interception. Last Saturday Hendricks, who leads Division III with 1,584 passing yards, completed 33 of 39 passes for 504 yards and seven TDs (an MIAC single-game record) in the Gusties' 55-31 victory over Augsburg.

• St. John's junior Sam Sura leads Division III with 752 rushing yards. Sura ran for 210 yards (a record for the St. John's-St. Thomas series) in the Johnnies' 24-14 victory over the Tommies last Saturday. Sura is the first ballcarrier in school history to rush for more than 200 yards more than once. He had a school-record 281 yards in the Johnnies' victory over Wisconsin-Eau Claire on Sept. 13. Sura rushed for 575 yards last season.

• When Northwestern (Roseville) and St. Scholastica meet in Duluth on Saturday, it will be the first time since 2000 that two unbeaten UMAC teams have faced each other this late in the season. Both teams are 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the conference. St. Scholastica has won 32 of its past 33 UMAC games. The Saints have won 16 consecutive conference games since a 14-13 loss to Northwestern in Duluth in 2012. The Saints defeated the Eagles 25-14 last year to even their series at 3-3.

St. John’s DL Matt Workman

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Tyler Harper, QB, St. Scholastica: The 5-7 senior from Minneapolis (DeLaSalle High School) holds the Saints' school record for career completions (354) and is 194 yards shy of the school mark for career passing yards.

Matt Workman, DL, St. John's: The 6-3 senior from Minneapolis (Holy Angels) leads the MIAC with four sacks and two forced fumbles. Workman had five solo tackles, including three sacks, in the Johnnies' 24-14 victory over St. Thomas last Saturday.

BY THE NUMBERS

0 Victories (in 12 games) by SW Minnesota State in its series with MSU Mankato.

13 Rushing TDs (tops in Division II) by Chris Smith of Upper Iowa.

36 Victories (in 38 games) by Minnesota-Duluth against NSIC North teams since 2008.

Joel Rippel