Stunned In The Second Quarter

MOORHEAD, Minn. (10/02/21)---Concordia ran into an offense playing at a high level, conceded 35 points in the second quarter and lost 49-0 to No.5-ranked  St. John's.

The Cobbers entered the game averaging over 300 yards in passing but was held to a season-low 215 yards of total offense as they fell for the second straight conference game. Concordia also had a pair of costly turnovers inside Johnnie territory – and another miscue on a punt snap inside their own 25-yard line that proved costly.

Concordia's biggest offensive threat of the day came at the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth when they went on a 17-play drive that covered 73 yards and brought the ball down to the St. John's 7-yard line. Unfortunately for CC, an interception on a first-and-goal play stopped the would-be scoring drive in the final 10 yards.

The 17-play drive was the longest of the season for the Cobbers.

One of the big swing points in the game came at the start of the second quarter. Concordia trailed 7-0 after one quarter of play, but then allowed 14 points in a span of 45-seconds to begin the second period.

St. John's (4-0, 2-0 MIAC) scored on the very first play of the second quarter and then held the Cobber offense to a 3-and-out. The ensuing punt snap rolled back to punter Damien Silus and he was tackled at the CC 20-yard line. On the very next play, SJU found the end zone and went from a slim 7-0 lead to a 21-point margin.

Concordia (1-3, 0-2 MIAC) had 215 yards of total offense as compared to 518 for the Johnnies. The Cobbers had 163 passing yards and 52 rushing yards for the day.

Senior quarterback Tanner Dubois was 25-for-39 for 149 yards. He now has a 66.7% completion percentage for the year which is second in the MIAC this year. Dubois also rushed for a team-high 33 yards on eight attempts.

Andy Gravdahl caught six passes for CC. He finished with 33 receiving yards and was never able to break away from SJU defenders for the all-important "yards after catch".

Jake Evans caught four passes for a team-high 37 yards while Peyton Mortenson had a season-high five pass receptions.

PJ Parmelee led the CC defense with 8.0 total tackles. He also had the only tackle for a loss for the Cobbers. Defensive back Noble Scott came through with a season-high 7.0 tackles, while Noah Jenson, Robert Leslie and Sam Hegg-Entzion all had quarterback hurries.

Silus finished the game with a season-high seven punts with a 38.7 yards per punt average. He is now averaging 40.9 yards per punt this year which is second in the MIAC.   

UP NEXT: Concordia will play at Macalester on Saturday, Oct. 9 at 1 p.m. The game will be the first time the two teams have met since the 2001 season when the Cobbers won 35-12 in St. Paul in a game that was delayed for over an hour in the second quarter due to lightning.