Cobbers Live Up To Troll Bowl GameDay Hype

MOORHEAD, Minn. (9/21/13)—Concordia was picked to win by ESPN College GameDay analyst Lee Corso and the Cobbers lived up to the hype as they beat St. Olaf 33-29 in the 40^th anniversary of the Troll Bowl.

Concordia had the two biggest swing plays of the game and retained possession of the ugliest rivalry trophy in college football which was shown on the College GameDay set on Saturday. The Cobbers remain unbeaten on the year and move to 3-0 in all games and 1-0 in the MIAC. It is the second straight season that CC has started the year at 3-0.

The two biggest plays of the game for Concordia came directly after St. Olaf had seemed to take control of the game. The first play was a zig-zagging 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Bryce Hentges    at the start of the second quarter immediately following an Ole TD that brought the score to 13-7. Hentges' momentum changer helped Concordia take a 26-14 lead into halftime.

The second, and probably biggest, game-changing play came at the 10:06 mark of the fourth quarter. Trailing 26-21, St. Olaf was driving for the go-ahead score. The Oles marched 80 yards and had the ball first-and-goal on the Cobber 7-yard line. A pair of running plays moved the ball down to the 2-yard line and that is when a host of CC defenders swarmed the St. Olaf ball carrier on third down and stripped the ball loose. The football caromed into the end zone where senior defensive back Pedro Peterson fell on it for a touchback.  

Fueled with a sense of new life, Concordia proceeded to go 80 yards in eight plays and come up with a Brandon Zylstra 28-yard touchdown run.

Concordia was outgained on offense for the game.  St. Olaf had a 359-334 advantage in total offense. The two significant statistical areas where the Cobbers had an edge came from special teams and turnovers. The CC special teams accounted for a touchdown and gave Concordia an average starting position on their own 46 and 43-yard lines in the first and third quarters. Hentges finished the game with four kickoff returns for 166 yards and a 41.5-yard average.  CC punter Brett Harmelink also played a key role in the game as he punted five times with a 42.6-yard average. He had a game-high 56-yard punt and had a pair of punts downed inside the 20-yard line.

Hentges played an important part in the turnover battle as well. He picked off a pass in the first quarter and Concordia took advantage of the Ole miscue by marching 67 yards for a touchdown. The Cobbers turned both of their takeaways into TD's. CC did not turn the ball over in the game.

The Cobbers had 154 rushing yards and 180 through the air. Junior quarterback Griffin Neal rushed for a game-high 83 yards and was 17-for-27 for 180 passing yards. Fullback Domenic Fraboni rammed his way for 48 yards on 11 carries and scored on a 10-yard scamper in the first quarter. CC senior wideout Mark Whiting caught a game-high six passes for 61 yards.

Peterson was the top tackler on the day. He finished with a game-high 8.0 tackles. Defensive end Nate Adams had 7.0 tackles and 3.0 tackles for a loss while Tyler Berling came away with 6.0 tackles and 1.0 sacks.  

Concordia will now head to Collegeville, Minn. to take on St. John's on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 1 p.m. in a battle of unbeaten teams.