Another Battle To The End With The Knights

MOORHEAD, Minn. (9/30/23)---In the end, it turned into a typical Cobber/Knight showdown. For the fourth consecutive game, Concordia and Carleton got locked into a nail-biting, 1-score decision.

On Saturday, the Cobbers grabbed a 14-point at the start of the fourth before the Knights scored 15 unanswered points and claimed the 36-35 victory.

THE 411: Neither team held more than a 7-point lead in the game through the first three quarters of play before Ben Blancas caught a 15-yard touchdown pass at the end of the third quarter, and Zavier Carroll plowed his way to a 1-yard TD plunge at the start of the fourth quarter to give Concordia a 35-21 lead.

The Knights would win the game with a pair of passing touchdowns. The first came on a 27-yard strike midway through the final period of play. The final score came with 20 seconds left on the clock and was an 8-yard reception. Carleton decided to go for the 2-point conversion and was successful on another pass attempt.      
   
THE NEXT LEVEL: The last four games between Concordia and Carleton have been decided by a combined 12 points, with two of those games being decided in overtime and two by a single point.    

BY THE NUMBERS: Both teams put up over 400 yards in total offense. The Cobbers had 199 rushing yards and 205 passing yards for 404 total yards. The Knights had 83 rush yards and 370 passing yards. Carleton had 77 passing attempts in the game - the most in a single game by a Concordia opponent.

The Cobbers rushed the ball 40 times for the 199 yards and put up 29 passing attempts.

Both teams came through with a single interception, and neither squad fumbled the ball to keep the turnover total at 1-1.

Concordia was 6-of-15 (40.0%) on third down opportunities, while Carleton went 15-for-23 (65.0%).        

INDIVIDUALLY SPEAKING: The Cobber offense was led by junior quarterback Cooper Mattern, while Stuart DeMerit paced the defense. Mattern went 17-for-28 for 205 passing yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for a game-high 144 yards on 21 attempts. The 144 rushing yards were two shy of his career best. Demerit had a career-high 14 tackles.

Elsewhere on the defensive side of the ball, PJ Parmelee came up with 8 tackles and a tackle for a loss. Junior Griffin Decker had 5 tackles and recorded the lone interception on the day for CC.

Blancas, Eric Cockhill and Dawson Schaffer were on the receiving end of the TD strikes from Mattern. Cockhill opened the scoring for the Cobbers with a 29-yard scoring reception in the first quarter. It was his first TD of the year and second of his career. Schaffer grabbed his team-leading sixth touchdown of the year when he hauled in a 15-yard pass at the end of the second quarter.

Schaffer finished the game with team highs in receptions and yards. He ended the game with seven catches and a career-high 130 yards.

Mattern and Carroll had the two rushing scores for Concordia. Carroll was the team's second-leading rusher on the day. He ran the ball 12 times and gained 28 yards.   
      
UP NEXT: Concordia will head to St. John's to take on the Johnnies on Saturday, Oct. 7 at 1 p.m.   

CONCORDIA vs. CARLETON HIGHLIGHTS: