Cobbers Outlast Buena Vista From A To Z

STORM LAKE, Iowa (9/14/13)—It was a great day to be a transfer for Concordia. Nate Adams and Brandon Zylstra led the Cobbers to a 21-13 win at Buena Vista to help CC improve to 2-0 on the year.  It marks the fifth time in the past seven seasons the Cobbers have won their first two games of the year.

Zylstra, who transferred to Concordia from Augustana (S.D.) opened the scoring for Concordia on the fourth play of the opening drive in the first quarter when he caught an 85-yard scoring pass from Griffin Neal. He also came up with a huge 4^th-and-3 catch that set up Concordia's third touchdown of the day.

While Zylstra was sparking the Concordia offense, Adams was dominating the Cobber defense. Adams, who transferred from Bemidji State, finished the day with a game-high 9.0 tackles which included 2.5 sacks. To top things off, Adams also recovered a fumble. Adams and the Cobber "blackshirt" defense came up with huge plays in key spots all afternoon long. Nowhere was that more evident than on fourth-down plays where CC didn't allow BVU to convert on either of their two fourth down attempts in the game. The biggest stop came at the end of the game with the Beavers driving the ball for the game-tying score. With a first down and the ball at the Cobber 42-yard line, Adams and the CC defense pressured the Buena Vista offense into three incomplete passes and a scramble rush for no gain.

For the second straight game Concordia got off to a quick start as they scored on their opening drive of the game. It also set the tone for the Cobbers and CC has now gone two straight games without being behind and has a streak of 150:38 without trailing which dates back to the first half of the 2012 finale.

After Neal hooked up with Zylstra on the fourth offensive play of the game for CC, Buena Vista drove 58 yards to tie the game with 1:36 left in the opening period. The Cobbers then raced the ball and came away with their second big play of the contest when senior running back Matt Peterson diced through the Beaver defense on his way to a 42-yard TD run.  

Buena Vista picked up a 46-yard field goal before the end of the first half to push the score to 14-10 but then Concordia answered with a 10-play, 56-yard drive to put the game out of reach at 21-10 at the end of the third quarter.  Cooper Gauldin scored his first collegiate touchdown on a 5-yard run after Zylstra caught an 18-yard pass on fourth-and-3 from the BVU 23-yard line.

The Cobbers had 361 yards of total offense but gave up 389 to the Beavers. Concordia's total included 214 rushing yards. Peterson rushed for 71 yards on three carries. Neal carried the ball a team-high 16 times and rushed for 49 yards. Gauldin finished with 53 yards on nine carries.

Zylstra recorded his second straight 100-yard receiving game. He had four catches for 122 yards after collecting 131 yards in the opener against Jamestown.

Neal was 8-for-19 in the passing department and had 147 passing yards. He threw for a single score and had two interceptions.

The Cobber defense forced a pair of fumbles and recorded one interception. The CC defense also had 3.0 sacks for a total loss of 30 yards. Besides the 9.0 tackles and 2.5 sacks from Adams, Bryce Hentges had 7.0 tackles while Kenyon O'Brien earned the lone INT on the day and Nick Risbrudt had the other fumble recovery.    

Concordia will now turn its attention to the MIAC. The Cobbers will host St. Olaf on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 1 p.m. as part of the annual Family Day weekend.