Stymied By Sour Seven

MOORHEAD, Minn. (10/12/13)—No.22-ranked Concordia turned the ball over seven times, gave up the first 28 points of the game and lost 45-22 to No.5-ranked Bethel.

The game matched the only two unbeaten teams left in the MIAC and was the annual Homecoming game for the Cobbers. Concordia is now 4-1 in all games and 2-1 in MIAC play. Bethel improves to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the league.   


Video Highlights: Concordia vs. Bethel


Playing the annual Homecoming game, Concordia fumbled on their first two possessions of the game and watched as the Royals raced to a 21-0 lead before the game was even 12 minutes old. Bethel tacked on a fourth score at the end of the second quarter before the Cobbers were able to drive 73 yards in 14 plays to get to within 28-7 at the half.

Concordia's Homecoming woes continued on the opening kickoff of the second half. CC fumbled the kick to start the third quarter and fell behind 31-7 at the 11:20 mark of the third period.

The Cobbers recovered and scored towards the end of the third quarter before the Royals countered with their fifth TD of the day at the start of the fourth quarter.

Concordia cut the lead to 38-22 with 10:30 left in the game but could never come up with the big play to get closer than 16.

Despite the turnovers, the Cobbers still had 366 yards of total offense and picked up 23 first downs. CC's offense was balanced as they had 154 rushing yards on 36 carries and 171 passing yards on 28 attempts.

Cobber quarterback Griffin Neal was the biggest dual threat of the day. He ran the ball 23 times for 93 yards and scored one rushing touchdown. He was also 22-for-27 for 212 yards and threw for a pair of TD's.      

Brandon Zylstra racked up receiving and return yards. He caught nine passes for 82 yards and picked up his sixth touchdown of the season. He has scored at least one TD in all five CC games this season. Zylstra also had 127 return yards. His biggest contribution came on punt returns where he averaged 17.7 yards per return on three returns.

Matt Peterson scored the other touchdown for Concordia on the day. He finished with four catches for 55 receiving yards and also rushed the ball three times for six yards. His TD came on a 14-yards pass reception in the fourth quarter.

A trio of Cobber defensive players finished with 8.0 tackles. Pedro Peterson had 8.0 tackles and also had 2.5 tackles for a loss. Bryce Hentges also had 8.0 tackles while junior defensive end Nate Adams came away with 8.0 tackles and 2.0 tackles for a loss. Taylor Main had the lone clean sack on the day for CC.  

Concordia will look to get back to its winning ways when they head to St. Paul to take on Hamline on Saturday, Oct. 19 at 1 p.m. The Pipers posted a 31-28 win over St. Olaf on Saturday.