The matchups in the NSIC North this week probably aren't the most marquis matchups of the week, but certainly there is a little flavor to the rivalry between Bemidji State and Moorhead.

Over the years, despite Bemidji being one of the better teams in the Northern Sun and Moorhead struggling, the Battle for the Axe has always been fairly competitive, eventhough Bemidji as you would expect has had the edge. So that is why we start there this week.

MSU Moorhead (2-4) at Bemidji State (5-1)
Last Year: 14-6, Bemidji State

The Battle for the Axe between the two schools goes all the way back to 1948, so it makes sense that no matter who has what record, or what time of year these two teams play, it is usually a pretty good game. Overall the series dates back to 1929, and Moorhead holds and advantage overall, back in the 80's and 90's things were very different for these two programs, it was the Dragons who found themselves near the top of the conference each and every year, and it was the Beavers who struggled to get the program going.

No matter what the situation is though like we said this is usually a pretty competitive game. Go back to last year as an example, the Beavers came into the game at 3-3 while the Dragons were really struggling into the stretch run of what would lead to yet another coaching change in the program.

However, the game was about as tough as one gets with Bemidji State leading 14-6 and Minnesota State Moorhead driving with the football, Bemidji's Dan Christensen intercepted Dragon quarterback Bryson Pluta to effectively end the game in Bemidji territory.

So don't let the Beavers 5-1 and Moorhead's 2-4 record fool you into thinking this one will be completely one sided. Aside from last week, the Dragons have shown signs of being able to play some teams tough, and I would expect them to come in to Bemidji Saturday looking for something to prove.

That said, they can not stop the run, which will play right into Bemidji's hands, as the Beavers have a power running game which has been tough for anyone to get stopped. I like the Beavers to keep the Axe and pull out the victory.

Extra Point: Bemidji has only won two straight in the series, the last Dragon win came in 2008, with a 27-7 victory over the Beavers.



Minnesota Duluth (5-1) at University of Mary (3-3)
Last Year: 49-0, Minnesota Duluth

The Bulldogs went on the road last week and came out with a nice victory, I will admit that is the second time this year that this team has surprised me with a road win.

The Bulldogs continue to have a running game that gives the opposition nightmares. Brian Lucas, Zach Hulce, Austin Sikorski are all over 300-yards rushing on the season, further, quarterback Chace Vogler continues to be a major problem for opposing defense's as he has also run for 225-yards on the season, which is pretty impressive for a quarterback.

Last week in their victory over Winona the key for the Bulldogs was the ability they had to completely shutdown the Warriors running game and force them into third and long situations. Winona was 1 for 10 on third down against the Bulldogs, and quarterback Alex Nelson had to throw the ball 27 times, he completed only 11-passes and the Winona offense sputtered.

For two weeks the Marauders have been without their starting quarterback as well, and I think that could spell a lot of difficulty ahead for Mary this week. Even with Josh Murray, Dariouse Gravely, and Evan Gross I would expect the Marauders to have trouble on the ground.

Josh Edwards did a nice job leading the Marauder offense last week completing 28 of 41 passes for 283 yards and a couple of touchdowns, but the Marauders were just 7 of 22 on third downs last week, a stat that will be key this week especially after UMD's performance on third down against Winona last week.

Look for Minnesota Duluth to pull this one out.


Minnesota Crookston (1-5) at Northern State (1-5)
Last Year: 38-0, Northern State

Last week was as close as Northern State has been to win since their season opening defeat of Southwest Minnesota State. The Wolves had a lead on te Vikings late, but Josh Hanson and his tight end Ben Parsley had other ideas, and the Wolves fell to the Vikings in the final 30-seconds.

Tough break for Northern, who deserved a win last week. It could have been that programming turning win that new coaches look for, when everything clicks and they find a way to beat one of the top teams in the conference. Rest assured Wolves fans, it will happen, Coach Tom Dosch will get that win, and there is no doubt in my mind it will happen at some point this season.

Well as long as the Wolves can step up and stop the run, they should get a win this week. Richard Haley and the Golden Eagles will run, run, and then run some more.

But look for Northern to rebound from that rough one this week and get a win at home on Saturday and snap their five game losing streak.