A Grinding Good Homecoming Victory

MOORHEAD, Minn. (10/15/11)-- The Concordia rushing attack claimed another victim as the Cobbers rushed for 220 yards on Saturday against Augsburg and pounded out a 38-26 win in the annual Homecoming game. The win is the third straight for Concordia who is now in the thick of the MIAC. Concordia is 5-2 overall and 3-2 in league play. With the victory the Cobbers also snap a three-game losing streak in Homecoming games.

Brett Baune, Michael Dunham and Luke Gotta spearheaded the Cobber ground game. The trio combined to rush for 199 yards and four TD's. As a team, Concordia ran the ball 56 times and pounded out 220 rushing yards. It marked the third straight game that CC has rushed for over 200 yards. 

Baune once again punished an opposing defense. The junior fullback slammed his way to a 139 rushing yards and two touchdowns. It is his second consecutive game with over 100 rushing yards and his two scores push his season total to 14. He currently leads the MIAC in total TD's and has scored at least once in every single game this year. Dunham also rushed for two touchdowns while Gotta rushed for 45 yards and had 30 receiving yards coming out of the backfield. Baune and Gotta have given the Cobbers a two-headed monster at fullback with the players practically rotating on every other play.

The game was determined by three different possessions. The first key drive came in the first possession of the second quarter. Leading 7-3, the Cobbers watched Augsburg drive 58 yards in eight plays and get the ball down to the CC 2-yard line. On second down, Auggie freshman running back Tyler Maxwell rolled around the left end and as he was driving for the goal line lost possession of the ball. Cobber senior Tyler Spiczka recovered the fumble and helped preserve the four-point lead.

Concordia proceeded to use that momentum to go on a 15-play, 96-yard drive that culminated in a Dunham 19-yard touchdown pass to Bronson Shepherd. Not only did the Cobbers push the lead to 14-3 but they also took almost 8:00 off the clock.  

The final statement drive came in the fourth quarter after Augsburg had cut the lead to 31-26 after scoring 13 straight points. The Cobbers took control of the ball with 9:19 left in the game and went on a  13-play scoring drive that took 7:25 off the clock and sealed the victory. Of the 13 plays in the final CC drive, 12 were rushes and Baune carried the ball eight times for 36 yards and scored on a 5-yard run. Concordia also converted a key fourth down play from the Auggie 7-yard line when Dunham turned a QB sneak into a clutch 2-yard gain. 

The Cobbers had three drives of over 10 plays and all three resulted in touchdowns.

Three other key stats highlighted Concordia's second home win of the year. The Cobbers were a perfect 6-for-6 inside the Red Zone on the day, held the ball for 36:52 in the game and were a plus-two in the turnover column. Senior kicker Porfirio Diaz helped CC's Red Zone numbers. He connected on his only field goal attempt and was a perfect 5-for-5 on extra point attempts. The Cobbers' defense once again forced multiple turnovers. CC came away with one interception and had two big fumble recoveries. Concordia is now a league-leading +10 in turnover margin this season. 

Seth Lage and Peter Hvidston both had 7.0 tackles on the day for Concordia. Hvidston also had one of the two Cobber sacks on the day and also forced a fumble. Tyler Berling had the lone interception of the day while Spiczka and Mark Wychor came up with the two fumble recoveries. 

The Cobbers had 415 total yards of offense and picked up 27 first downs. CC also excelled on first and third downs. Concordia had 11 first down plays go for at least four yards and then went 8-for-15 on third down attempts. It is the third straight game they have converted at least 50.0% of their third down attempts in the game.   

Augsburg (4-2/3-2 MIAC) has now lost two straight. The Auggies ground game was limited to just 85 yards on the day. Augsburg's offense came away with 363 yards of total offense as quarterback Marcus Brumm went 18-for-27 for 278 yards and one TD. With the 278 passing yards Brumm becomes the third player in Augsburg history to throw for over 6,000 yards. Maxwell was held under 90 yards for the first time in his career. He finished the day with 51 rushing yards on 16 carries and had two of the three Auggie TD's.

Concordia will take their three-game winning streak on the road when they play at Hamline next Saturday, Oct. 22 at 1 p.m. The Cobbers are 3-0 on the road this season.