Ground Corn

MOORHEAD, Minn.  (10/21/17)--- No.19-ranked Concordia rushed for a season-high 479 yards and wore down Augsburg to claim a 42-20 win in Moorhead.

The Cobbers rushed the ball 63 times and held a 36:41-23:19 time of possession advantage to win their second straight game. Concordia is now 6-1 overall and 4-1 in the MIAC.

The game was undecided until early in the fourth quarter when Jason Montonye scored on a 5-yard run to give Concordia a 35-20 lead. Junior Brandon Wayne then scored his first career touchdown late in the game to bring the final score to 42-20.

Chad Johnson had another big game for the Cobber offense. He led the way with 153 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries.

Concordia trailed 10-7 after the first quarter as Augsburg scored on its first drive of the game and then added an impressive 44-yard field goal. Sandwiched in between the two Auggie scores was a 67-yard TD run from Cobber sophomore quarterback Blake Kragnes sprinted 67 yards up the middle for his longest career run from scrimmage for a touchdown.

Johnson then gave the Cobbers a 21-10 lead at the half when he scored on a pair of running plays in the second quarter. He powered his way over from 1-yard out at the 5:57 mark of the second period and then found the end zone from 4-yards out in the final minute of the first half.

Concordia scored on five of their final six drives in the game which included a 3-yard score from Dane Rinquist in the third quarter and then the TDs from Montonye and Wayne in the final period of play.

The Cobbers sealed the win by holding on to the ball for 11:16 of the fourth quarter.

Concordia's defense held Augsburg to only 12 first downs in the game and 87 rushing yards. Junior linebacker Alex Berg and senior defensive end Kirby Siewert led the CC Black Shirts with six tackles each. Berg also had a tackle for a loss, a forced fumble, a pass break-up and two quarterback hurries.

Ethan Eagerton and Treyton Austvold had two pass break-ups each to lead the Cobbers.

Kragnes picked up his first career 100-yard rushing game. He carried the ball eight times and racked up 116 rushing yards. Kragnes was also 7-for-9 for 44 passing yards. Montonye almost gave Concordia three players with 100 rushing yards. He ran the ball nine times and collected 84 yards.

RUN COBBERS RUN: Concordia's 479 rushing yards and 63 rushing attempts are the most since the 2012 season when the Cobbers ran the ball 68 times and ran for 547 yards in a 38-14 win over Buena Vista.

RUN COBBERS RUN 2: Concordia has now rushed for over 350 yards in two straight games and have put up at least 230 rushing yards in six of their seven games in 2017. CC leads the MIAC in rushing yards with a 281.4 yards per game average. The Cobbers are averaging 298.4 rushing yards in their five league games.  

RUN CHAD RUN: Senior Chad Johnson continued his jaw-dropping senior season. His 153 rushing yards adds to his string of 100-yard rushing games. Johnson has now rushed for over 100 yards in six of the Cobbers' seven games in 2017 and in eight of his past nine games. The 27 carries against the Auggies is the most in a single game in his Cobber career. Johnson continues to lead the MIAC in rushing with a 135.3 yards per game average.

SCORE CHAD SCORE: Chad Johnson also added to his impressive touchdown total in 2017. Johnson now has 14 "tuddys" this season which is tops in the MIAC and five shy of tying the Cobber single-season mark of 19 set by Adam Swingdorf in 2007. Johnson also added to his school-record career TD mark. He now has 39 trips into the end zone in his days in maroon and gold.

WHAT'S NEXT: Concordia will travel to Northfield to take on Carleton on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 1 p.m. The Knights are 0-8 this year and 0-6 in conference play and are coming off a 29-26 loss at St. Olaf.

CONCORDIA vs. AUGSBURG HIGHLIGHTS: