A Chilly Homecoming

STORY LINE: Concordia fumbled the ball three times in the first quarter, with two leading to St. Thomas touchdowns, as the Cobbers fell 46-7 to the No.3-ranked Tommies. Held the edge in time of possession and first downs but couldn't overcome the early miscues and lost for the first time in conference play.
   
RECORDS: Concordia has its 2-game win streak come to an end. The Cobbers are now 3-2 in all games and 2-1 in the MIAC. St. Thomas remains unbeaten on the year and is now 4-0 overall and 2-0 in league play. The Tommies upped their conference unbeaten streak to 30 games.
 
RUSHING REWARDS: Concordia finished the game with 115 rushing yards which marked the first time since the opening game of the 2017 season that the Tommies had given up more than 100 rushing yards in a game. UST entered the game leading the nation in rushing defense as opponents average minus-6.5 rushing yards per game in the first three games of 2018. Concordia also broke off a pair of runs over 15 yards in the opening quarter which was the first time this year that the St. Thomas defense had allowed a rush over 15 yards,     

OTTER GROUND GAME: The Cobber rushing game was led by a pair of Fergus Falls natives. Senior Dane Ringquist had 11 carries for a team-best 56 yards while sophomore Rylie Sheridan ran the ball eight times for 45 yards. Ringquist was responsible for a trio of runs over 15 yards on the day.
 
MARZOLF KEEPS ROLLING: Senior Kevin Marzolf continued his career season. Marzolf led all receivers on Saturday with six catches. He also caught his fourth TD pass of the season when he corralled a 10-yard TD strike from Blake Kragnes in the fourth quarter. Kragnes has recorded back-to-back six reception games and his 22 receptions on the year lead the team and are a single-season career high. He is tied for sixth in the MIAC in receptions this season.  

DEFENSE DIGS IN: The Cobber defense held St. Thomas to 166 rushing yards which is a season low for UST. Concordia's Black Shirts also stepped up on third down. CC held St. Thomas to a scant 18-percent (2-for-11) in third down situations.

CAREER DAY FOR A-T: Senior middle linebacker Andrew Thompson led the Cobber defense he finished with five solo and eight assisted tackles for a career-high 13 total tackles. It is his second double-digit tackle total of the year. His previous career-high in total tackles was 11 against Gustavus last season.    

UP NEXT: Concordia will look to get back on the winning track when they travel to St. Peter next weekend. The Cobbers will play at Gustavus on Saturday, Oct. 6 as part of the Gustie Homecoming weekend. Gustavus is 1-3 overall and 0-2 in the MIAC this season and is coming off their bye week.  

CONCORDIA vs. ST. THOMAS HIGHLIGHTS: