Neal And Wagner Reap 500th Victory Rewards
MOORHEAD, Minn. (10/28/13)—Concordia's 500th career victory brought extra benefits as junior quarterback Griffin Neal and senior kicker Ben Wagner both earned MIAC Player of the Week honors.
Neal was named the MIAC Offensive Player of the Week and Wagner earned MIAC Special Teams Player of the Week honors for helping Concordia beat Augsburg 47-20 on Saturday. The win was the program's 500th career victory. Concordia is just one of four Minnesota colleges to have 500 career victories in football.
The award marks the third time this season that Neal has earned MIAC Offensive Player of the Week honors. That is the most of any player in the conference. Wagner earns the conference weekly award for the first time in his career.
Neal had a near perfect afternoon against the Auggies as he went 19-for-21 for 281 passing yards and threw for four touchdowns. Neal's completion percentage on the day was 90.5 percent. He also had 43 rushing yards on 19 carries. Neal engineered four-straight scoring drives that produced 27-straight points for the Cobbers. That stretch turned a 6-0 deficit into a 27-6 lead. The 47 points scored by Concordia and 430 total yards were the most given up by the Augsburg defense this season. This fall, Neal ranks first in the MIAC in completion percentage (71.7 percent), third in touchdown passes (13) and fourth in passing yards (1,437).
Wagner has been perfect in extra points in his two-year career as the Cobbers' kicker. Saturday was no exception as he went 5-for-5 in PAT's. He was also 2-for-3 in field goal attempts and finished with 11 of the team's 47 points.
Wagner connected on field goal attempts from 24 and 31 yards out, with his only miss coming from 47 yards as time ran out in the first half. He has now made 73 straight extra points, including a perfect 29-for-29 this season, and he is 6-for-8 in field goals in 2013. Wagner's 47 points lead all MIAC kickers, and his six field goals and 29 extra points both rank second. He is sixth in the league in overall scoring.
Concordia will look to continue its success when they play at Carleton on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 1 p.m.