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The Malone University football team (0-6, 0-3 G-MAC) travels to Painesville, Ohio this Saturday October 21st to take on Lake Erie College (1-5, 1-2 G-MAC) in a Great Midwest Athletic Conference showdown kicking off at 7:00 pm.

Media Information
Live Video/Stats: portal.stretchinternet.com/malone
Live Radio: ESPN 990 AM | espn990.com
Twitter: @Malone_Football | @maloneathletics

Gameday Storylines
Malone Renews Conference Rivalry with Lake Erie
The Pioneers travel to Painesville this weekend to meet Lake Erie College for the fifth time in the last six seasons. Malone went 1-3 in four meetings with the Storm during their days in the GLIAC and the 105 combined points in Pioneers' 55-50 win over LEC in 2013 was the highest total in program history. Most recently, Lake Erie overcame a 14-point deficit to defeat Malone 27-24 in overtime in 2015. The two schools will restore their rivalry Saturday evening when they meet for the first time as members of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.
 
Pioneers Still in Search of First G-MAC Win
Malone dropped to 0-3 in G-MAC play following last week's 34-30 loss to Kentucky Wesleyan as they remained the only team in the league without a conference win. The Pioneers will have the opportunity to earn their first G-MAC win this Saturday against a Lake Erie team that is just 3-25 over the last three seasons. Those three wins were by a combined five points and two of them came in overtime. The Storm are also just 2-13 in their last 15 home games. That number bodes well for a Malone squad that has lost 20 straight on the road.
 
Running Game Back on Track
After running for an all-time low -18 yards in the week one loss to Taylor, the Pioneer rushing attack has reeled off  at least 100 yards in four of their last five outings, including a season-high 245 yards rushing last week against Kentucky Wesleyan. Redshirt freshman Xavier Garland produced his first collegiate 100-yard game, finishing with 123 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries. His total was the highest by a Pioneer freshman since Ryan Barnett ran for 130 against Anna Maria in 2010. Malone will hope to repeat its run-game success against a Lake Erie defense that has given up at least 156 rushing yards in every game this season, including 374 in their most recent game vs. Findlay. Malone ran for a season-high 338 yards at Lake Erie in 2015.
 
Dulin Does it Again
Coming into last week as the only Division II receiver with four 50+ yard touchdown receptions, Ashton Dulin added another, this time an 81-yarder, on Saturday against Kentucky Wesleyan. The dynamic Dulin finished the game with nine catches for 199 yards and two scores; his other touchdown was a mere 36 yards. The 199 receiving yards were the most by a DII receiver last week and the second-highest output in school history, trailing his own mark of 235 set three weeks prior. On the season, Dulin is averaging 17.8 yards per catch and his 127.8 yards-per-game average is 4th-best in the country. With his performance last week, Dulin moved up to 5th all-time at Malone in career receiving yards and he is currently 79 shy of 2,000 for his career.
 
Defensive Struggles Continue
While the Malone offense put up a season-high 462 total yards last week on Kentucky Wesleyan, the Malone defense allowed 528 to the Panthers, including a season-high 410 yards through the air. On the year, the Malone pass defense is giving up 315.7 yards passing per game while allowing opponents to complete 71.8% of their passes. Both of those numbers are second-worst in DII. The 410 passing yards were also the most allowed by Malone since Lake Erie put up 563 in the 2013 shootout. The Pioneers will have the chance to improve upon their numbers this week against the 2017 version of the Storm pass offense which completes just 44.9% of its passes, averages 127.7 yards per game, has not thrown a touchdown, and has been intercepted nine times.
 
Pioneers to Watch
Offense: Garland and Dulin weren't the only Pioneers having big games last week against Kentucky Wesleyan. Quarterback Zane Bunnell threw for 217 yards and ran for 78 more on 17 carries. Bunnell's 78 yards rushing were the most by a Malone quarterback since Will Szpor ran for 81 at Alderson Broaddus in 2013. Freshman slotback Dakota Hobbs has 30 touches this season for 272 total yards. He should be a factor back this weekend.
 
Defense: Defensive lineman Roy Johnson recorded two sacks and a forced fumble last week vs. Kentucky Wesleyan. He and tackle Drew Shreve will be key this week along the Malone defensive front. Freshman middle linebacker Dane Coleman (10 tackles) played well in his first collegiate game last Saturday, as did outside backer Dawalyn Washington who led Malone with seven solo tackles, including a sack.
 
Lake Erie at a Glance
The Storm are led by first-year head coach Gerald Hazzard, who previously served as the offensive coordinator since the team's first season back in 2008. After an 0-11 season in 2016, Hazzard led Lake Erie to its first win of the 2017 campaign three weeks ago in a 16-15 triumph over Alderson Broaddus. The following week, Lake Erie lost 63-3 to Findlay and has since had two weeks to prepare for Malone thanks to a week-seven bye.
 
Lake Erie comes into Saturday's contest as the lowest scoring team in the country, averaging 6.5 points a game. On the season, they've scored just four offensive touchdowns, two of which came against Alderson Broaddus, and rank last in DII in redzone scoring offense (35.7%). The Storm also one of the most penalized teams in the country, averaging 9.3 infractions for 112 yards per game. Their -35.8 average scoring margin is third-worst in DII.

Storm to Watch
Offense: Tailback Antwan Harris has carried the ball a team-high 80 times and is averaging over four yards per carry. He ran for a season-high 99 yards against Alderson Broaddus. Sophomore left tackle Josh Durst (6-6, 295) was All-GLIAC Honorable Mention in 2016.
 
Defense: Defensive back Jaden King led the Storm with nine tackles against Findlay. Freshman strong safety Thomas Covington leads the team in tackles this season and has three forced fumbles. Defensive tackle Jason Rodgers paces the front four with two quarterback sacks.
 
By the Numbers
1 – Conference win by the Pioneers in regulation (vs. Lake Erie in 2013) since joining Division II. The other two, Tiffin in 2012 and Northern Michigan in 2014, were both won in overtime.
3 – Lake Erie losses by 50 points or more. Only Simon Fraser University, who has lost 29 consecutive games, has more 50+ point losses (four) this season.
4 – Malone losses by seven points or fewer. The Pioneers are tied with Central Oklahoma for the most such losses in DII.
14 – Points scored by Malone opponents off of turnovers. The seven points at Shaw and the seven by Kentucky Wesleyan proved to be the difference in each game.
5,814 – Miles of bus rides home following Malone's 20 consecutive road losses.

Looking Ahead
Malone will face its toughest test of the season when it hosts Findlay on a short week next Thursday, October 26th at 7:00 pm.