Area college football: Mankato goes for undefeated season, Macalester plays for title

GAME OF THE WEEK

Upper Iowa (6-4, 2-4 NSIC South) at MSU Mankato (10-0, 10-0), 1 p.m. Saturday: Upper Iowa has lost four of five games since opening the season 5-0. The Peacocks lost to Sioux Falls 45-21 last Saturday. The host Mavericks, the top-ranked team in the d2football.com poll and the Division II Super Regional 3 rankings, will be trying to complete their third consecutive unbeaten regular season — and stay a step ahead of Minnesota Duluth in national and regional rankings. The Mavericks recorded their third shutout of the season in a 49-0 victory at Wayne State last Saturday. The Mavericks defeated the Peacocks, 73-7, last year in Fayette, Iowa.

WEEK 11 STORY LINES

• After gaining a share of first place in the MIAC standings with a 31-8 victory over Bethel last Saturday, St. John's can claim its first conference title since 2009 and a spot in the Division III playoffs with a victory over St. Olaf on Saturday. If St. John's wins and Bethel defeats Augsburg, the Johnnies and Royals would be co-champions, but St. John's owns the head-to-head tiebreaker. Yet the possibility of a four-way tie for first exists. If St. John's and Bethel both lose and St. Thomas defeats Gustavus, the Tommies would be 6-2 in the league and tie St. John's, Bethel and Concordia (Moorhead), which has completed its regular season.

• Macalester (8-1, 5-0 MWC North) can claim the Midwest Conference title and a berth in the Division III playoffs with a victory over Illinois College (7-2, 5-0 MWC South) in Jacksonville, Ill., on Saturday. The Scots, who have a seven-game winning streak, are seeking their first conference football championship since 1947 (when they shared the MIAC title with St. Thomas). Macalester has won only one other conference title — in 1925 — in 128 years of football. The Scots defeated No. 24 Carroll, 34-17, on Nov. 1 for the first victory over a ranked opponent in school history. This week, the Scots received two votes in the AFCA Division III poll — the first time in program history they've received votes in the poll.

• With a victory over Carleton on Saturday, Hamline (4-5) would finish with a .500 record for the first time since 1997. The Pipers have won their past two games with no time remaining on the clock. Two weeks ago, they defeated St. Olaf on a Hail Mary pass as time ran out. According to research by Hamline sports information director Dave Wright, that was only the fifth time since 1970 that an MIAC game ended on the last play of regulation. Last week, the Pipers defeated Augsburg in overtime.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Nick Pieruccini, QB, MSU Mankato: The 6-1 sophomore from Chicago has rushed and passed for a total of 1,495 yards with 15 TDs and has completed 64.9 percent of his passes, while throwing just four interceptions.

Joey Sonnenfeld, WR, Augsburg: The 6-3 junior from Osseo High School, who led the MIAC in receiving TDs (13) a year ago, is second in receiving TDs (10) and third in receiving yardage per game (91.5) this season.

BY THE NUMBERS

4 Consecutive UMAC titles for St. Scholastica, which has won 38 of its last 39 UMAC games.

8 Turnovers in 10 games by Minnesota Duluth, which is plus-12 in turnover ratio.

17 Consecutive winning seasons for Winona State (4-6) before this season.

JOEL RIPPEL