A Little Bit Of Everything In Overtime Win Over Carleton

MOORHEAD, Minn. (10/22/22)---Concordia's 20-13 overtime win over previously unbeaten Carleton had a little bit of everything. There was a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown, several key fourth-down stops, a late game-tying touchdown that was followed by a dramatic extra point and a scoring statement in the extra period of play. And plenty of hard-nosed defense.

The Cobbers used all of that mix tape to hand the Knights their first loss of the season in a thrilling conference match-up in Moorhead.

Sophomore quarterback Cooper Mattern's two rushes in overtime put the game-winning points on the board, and then the Cobber Black Shirt defense did what they had done all game long – come up with a clutch stop.

The victory is the second in the last three games for Concordia, and ups their overall record to 4-3 on the season. CC is 2-3 in conference play. Carleton has their 6-game win streak come to an end. They fall to 6-1 in all games and 4-1 in the MIAC.

The win also turns the table on last year's result when the Cobbers lost to the Knights in overtime in Northfield.

The two defenses dominated the game for most of the contest. The Cobber Black Shirts came up with four turnovers, stopped the Knights on a quartet of fourth-down situations and held Carleton to 9-of-20 on third down situations.

Concordia opened the scoring on a 27-yard field goal from sophomore kicker Damien Silus. The opening three points came midway through the first quarter after they got the ball on Noble Scott's interception and 35-yard return.

Carleton took their only lead of the day when they came up with a 12-play, 75-yard drive at the end of the first quarter.

The Cobbers' took a 10-7 lead into the halftime break on one of the biggest plays of the game. Senior Jackson Haire was able to come off untouched on the left edge and blocked a punt in the final 5-minutes of the second quarter. The ball bounced toward the Knight's enc zone where Stuart DeMerit came up with the 15-yard "scoop and score".

The blocked punt was Concordia's second of the season.

The Cobbers pushed the lead to 13-7 late in the third quarter on Silus' second field goal of the game.

The score would remain at 13-7 until the final minute of regulation thanks to the Cobber defense coming up with two big takeaways and a huge stop on fourth down.

The Knights found the end zone at the 59-second mark on a 15-yard passing strike into the corner of the end zone.

The drama heightened even more when Carleton missed the extra point which would have given them a 14-13 lead.

Concordia wasted little time in OT to get into the end zone. Mattern rushed the ball down to the 1-yard line on a 24-yard carry on the first play of OT. He followed that with a 1-yard TD run to give CC the 20-13 lead.

The Black Shirts sealed the win the didn't allow the Knights to record a first down on their possession in overtime. Carleton' last chance to tie the game came on a 4th-and-3 situation, but the ensuing pass sailed wide of the receiver.   

The Cobbers earned the majority of their offensive yards on the ground. CC ran the ball 55 times and gained 175 yards.

Senior Peyton Mortenson came away with 119 rushing yards on 32 carries. It's his third 100-yard rushing game of the year. Mortenson now has 610 rushing yards for the season which is tops in the MIAC.

Mattern rushed the ball 18 times and had 76 yards.

The Cobber defense had a ton of players step up with big plays. The Black Shirts were in the Carleton backfield all day long, and posted a season-high 6.0 sacks and 10.0 tackles for a loss.

Noah Jenson had a team-high 13 tackles which featured 2.0 sacks and 3.5 tackles for a loss. Jenson added to his league-leading tackle total. He now has 69.0 tackles for the year.

Fellow senior linebacker Ty Moser was close behind with 10 total tackles, 2.0 sacks, 2.0 tackles for a loss and a forced fumble.

PJ Parmelee and Quin Miller both had a season-high 8.0 tackles. Parmelee forced a fumble and had 1.0 tackles for a loss, while Miller had 1.0 sacks and 1.5 tackles for a loss.

Scott had a couple of hammering hits for tackles and recorded one of the two Cobber INTs. Junior Garrett Peterson recorded his first career interception on a key 4th-and-12 play in the fourth quarter from the Cobbers' 32-yard line.   

UP NEXT: Concordia will head back to Skyline division play when they travel to Minneapolis to take on Augsburg on Saturday, Oct. 29 a 1 p.m.   

CONCORDIA vs. CARLETON HIGHLIGHTS