The Troll Comes Home

NORTHFIELD, Minn. (9/15/12)—The Brett Baune Wrecking Ball Tour rolled through Northfield on Saturday and helped the Cobbers beat St. Olaf 28-14 in the conference opener for both teams.

A week after battering Buena Vista for 258 rushing yards, Baune powered his way for 144 yards on 22 carries and led the Cobber offense to their third straight 200-plus yard rushing game of the year. Concordia racked up 293 yards in rushing offense as they won for the third consecutive time to start the 2012 season. It marks the first time that CC has started the season since the 2005 campaign.

The win also helps Concordia retain possession of the Troll Trophy awrded to the winner of the annual game between the Cobbers and Oles. Concordia has now beaten St. Olaf in three of the past four "Troll Bowl" games. 

"It was a total team effort," commented head coach Terry Horan. "Our offense held the ball for a large chunk of time and our defensive played their best game of the season."

Concordia, who scored seven points in each of the four quarters, held the ball for 36:48 and put up 59 rushing attempts on the day. The Cobbers outgained the Oles 447-175 in total offense and had 32 more offensive plays in the game.

The Cobbers set the tone for the game in the opening three drives of the game. Concordia went 3-and-out in their opening drive of the first quarter and then held the Oles to one first down before embarking on a 10-play, 86-yard drive that was capped by a Baune four-yard TD run.

Concordia then added a Chris Gilson 3-yard run in their final possession of the second quarter. It would be the first of two TD's for Gilson. Matt Peterson would put CC up 21-0 late in the third quarter when he cruised into the end zone from 18 yards out.  The Cobbers would then go out to a 28-point lead when Gilson caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Griffin Neal on the very first drive of the fourth quarter.

St. Olaf would finally get on the board midway through the last period on a 45-yard pass play. A 55-yard interception return would finish off the scoring.

While the Cobber offense received the bulk of the limelight on Saturday, the CC defense made the biggest impact. Concordia limited the Oles offense to just 19 rushing yards and less than 200 total offensive yards on the day. The Oles entered the afternoon averaging over 350 offensive yards per game. Concordia was able to pressure All-Conference quarterback Dan Dobson all day long. The Cobbers finished the game with 4.0 sacks and  6.0 tackles for a loss.

"I have to give our defense a lot of credit on the day," said Horan. Our scheme was very solid and we were able to attack the quarterback from a lot of different spots."

Peter Hvidston led the Cobber defense with a pair of sacks, 3.0 tackles for a loss and 9.0 total tackles. Fellow linebacker Matt Moenkedick had 1.0 sacks and 8.0 total tackles.

The Concordia offense racked up over 400 yards for the second straight week. Neal played the entire game at QB and went 11-for-18 for 154 passing yards and one touchdown. He also rushed for 16 yards. Mike Starke was the top pass catcher for Concordia . He caught five passes for 45 yards.

The Cobbers will return home to host conference rival St. John's on Saturday, Sept. 22. The game will be a part of the annual Family Weekend celebration.