NEW ULM, Minn. - MLC football opens its season Saturday with a 10 a.m. home game against Macalester.
Inside the Matchup
The Knights beat the Scots 10-7 back in 2024. It was the first win in program history against a school from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC). Quarterback
Brady Turriff, then just a freshman, threw for 217 yards and a fourth-quarter TD to lead MLC to the come-from-behind win.
MLC has a 3-4 record against Macalester, the previous two wins came in 2008 and 2009.
2025 Season Review
Last season, MLC went 5-5 overall and had a 3-4 record in UMAC play. The Knights finished tied for third. They led the conference in several offensive statistics, including points per game (26.1) and total yards per game (347.6).
On the offensive side of the ball, MLC returns most of its production from a season ago. Turriff enters his junior season after throwing for 2,312 yards and 19 TDs last year. His top target,
Jude Pederson, is a senior. Pederson has been a first-team all-UMAC selection all three years of his career. Junior running back
Arthur Robinson rushed for 1,126 yards and nine touchdowns as a sophomore. The Knights also return right tackle RJ Perry, left tackle
Isaiah Durkee and right guard
Logan Broekhuizen on the line.
Defensively, MLC has to replace production at all three levels. The team lost seniors
Jeremiah Stanton,
Thomas Balge and
Andrew Esmay, who were all-conference selections. The Knights will turn to
Daniel Biermann and
Nathan Schmidt at defensive tackle as well as returners
Tyler Case and
Ethan Melso at the linebacker spot. Senior
Trevor Hueske and sophomore
Jasper Lawrenz have the most returning experience in the defensive backfield.
A Look at the Scots
Macalester went 3-7 overall and 2-7 in the extremely strong MIAC.
The Scots have plenty of talent back on both sides of the ball. Offensively, 6-foot-5 quarterback Jack Scully returns for his junior season after throwing for 1,809 yards and 13 TDs last year. His top two targets are back with him in junior Paxton Boyd and sophomore Kelly Storms. Boyd had 719 receiving yards and six touchdowns, Storms had 600 yards receiving and four scores.
On defense, the Scots return their entire front-seven. Defensive ends Jake Ray and Asher Niemi combined to make 61 total tackles, eight-and-a-half tackles for loss and four-and-a-half sacks. The linebacking corps of Dylan Jeppe, Zach Troeger and Jason Weaver combined to make 135 tackles last season. Safety Jay Green led the secondary last season, making eight pass break-ups and recording three interceptions.
