A Trolly Magnificent 7

STORY LINE: Concordia scored 14 unanswered points in the second half to erase a 10-7 deficit and beat St. Olaf 21-10 in the annual Lefse Bowl. The Cobbers fell behind 10-7 at the 8:47 mark of the third quarter but then sophomore Rylie Sheridan returned the kickoff 95 yards to give Concordia a 14-10 lead.

RECORDS: Concordia ends its 4-game losing streak and moves to 4-5 in all games. The Cobbers are now 3-4 in the MIAC. St. Olaf has their losing streak extended to four games and is now 5-4 overall and 3-4 in league games.

A TROLLY MAGNIFICENT SEVEN: The win in Northfield marks the seventh straight season that the Cobbers have bettered the Oles to retain possession of The Troll. The 7-game win streak is the longest in the series between the two teams which started in 1921.   
 
FAST START SUCCESS: Concordia scored the first points of the game. The Cobber defense forced a fumble on the St. Olaf 16-yard line and two plays later Rylie Sheridan rambled into the end zone from 10 yards out. Concordia is now 4-0 in 2018 when they score first in the game.

THE RETURNS ARE IN: HE LOVES OLES: Rylie Sheridan's kickoff return for a TD marked the second straight season that Sheridan has gotten loose for a long kickoff return.  Last year Sheridan returned a kickoff 80 yards to the house.  

INSURANCE TIME: The Cobbers' final score of the game came on the very next CC possession after Sheridan's kickoff return. The Concordia defense stopped St. Olaf on a critical 4th-and-12 situation to get the ball back on the Cobber 40-yard line. Concordia then drove the ball 60 yards in 10 plays and put the game out of reach on a 2-yard TD run from quarterback Blake Kragnes. The most interesting part of the Cobber insurance drive was that all 10 plays were rushes.     

HOLD ON TO THAT BALL: After turning the ball over 16 times in the past four games, the Cobbers didn't have a turnover against the Oles. Concordia's defense forced one turnover to give CC a victory in the turnover battle. The Cobbers are now 4-0 this season when they commit fewer turnovers than their opponent in a game.     

DAN THE MAN: Sophomore linebacker Dan Johnson had a huge first half and finished with a career-high three sacks in the game. Johnson forced the fumble on the opening drive of the game and also recovered the fumble after sacking the St. Olaf QB for an eight-yard loss. Johnson finished with five total tackles, four of which were for a loss. Johnson entered the game without a tackle for a loss this season.

TOTAL YARD TOSS UP: Concordia had 254 total yards in the game which is the fewest in a win this season. The Cobbers' magic number on offense this year is 250. CC is 4-0 when they gain at least 250 offensive yards in a game.

RUSH DEFENSE RAMBLINGS: The Cobber Black Shirts only allowed 62 rushing yards against the Oles. In their four wins this season the Concordia defense has held their opponent to under 100 rushing yards.

UP NEXT: Concordia will finish off the 2018 season when they host Carleton on Saturday, Nov. 10 at 1 p.m. The Knights are 3-6 overall and 2-5 in the MIAC this season and had their bye week on Saturday.