A Most Memorable Finish To A Milestone Season

MOORHEAD, Minn.  (11/16/13)—It was only fitting that a milestone season would come down to a dramatic last-second, last-play finish. Concordia outscored Gustavus 14-7 in the second half and held on to beat the Gusties 38-31 in the regular-season finale.

The win pushes the Cobbers' final win total to eight marking only the third time in program history that Concordia has won at least eight games in back-to-back seasons. The other consecutive milestone seasons came in 1980 and '81 and then again in 2004 and '05. CC finishes the year by winning four of their final five games and ends the year at 8-2 overall and 6-2 in conference play. The Cobbers finish in a tie for second place in the league standings which is the third time in the last six years that Concordia has placed in the top 2 in the MIAC standings.

Gustavus ends the 2013 campaign with a 6-4 overall record and a 4-4 mark in conference play.

The end-game drama played out after Concordia had the ball at their own 24-yard line with 3-seconds left on the clock and facing a fourth-and-10 situation. Instead of punting the ball and facing a possible  botched snap or return for a touchdown, the Cobbers elected to have quarterback Griffin Neal take the snap, run out the clock and then take a knee. Unfortunately for Concordia, and the Senior Day home crowd, Neal tripped as he pulled away from center and fell to the turf with 1-second left on the clock.

The Gustavus sideline erupted as they were given one more chance to tie the game and the CC defense was forced to go back on the field and try to come up with one more stop. The Gusties had a chance to tie the game at the CC 14-yard-line. The Cobbers elected to blitz on the final play of the game and junior defensive end Nate Adams was able to sack Gustavus quarterback Mitch Hendricks as he tried to roll out of the pocket towards the sideline.

The dramatic finish was a fitting ending for a game that saw many momentum swings, lead changes and two of the best offensive players in the conference.

Gustavus relied on the legs of senior running back Jeffrey Dubose to pile up 475 yards of total offense, including 217 rushing yards. Concordia rode the arm of Neal who helped CC rack up 305 passing yards and 365 total yards.

Dubose finished the day by running for 198 yards on 35 carries. He scored three TD's and was a big reason that the Gusties amassed 27 first downs and were 7-for-14 on third down attempts and were able to keep the ball for 39:08.

Neal capped his stellar season by going 13-for-19 for 305 yards and threw for one touchdown. He also ran for a pair of scores and helped initiate several big-gain plays throughout the day.

While the offense ruled the day for most of the game, it was Concordia's defense that buckled down and came up with big second-half stops which helped the Cobbers erase a 31-24 deficit late in the third quarter.  

Gustavus had 286 total yards in the first half, piled up 18 first downs and were 4-for-6 on third-down conversions. The Cobber defense then stiffened in the second half and by the fourth quarter, they were able to hold the Gustie offense in check. Concordia's "Black Shirt" defense allowed only 48 yards and three first downs in the decisive final quarter of play.

While Neal was the offensive leader, Adams ruled the day for the defense. He finished with a career-high 15 total tackles and his game-saving sack pushed his season total to 9.0 which was tops in the MIAC. Linebacker Levi Hintermeister was right behind Adams as he had a career-high 14.0 total tackles and had the team's lone interception. Senior defensive back Kenyon O'Brien was the third member of the defense to finish with a double-digit tackle total. He had 10.0 tackles for the day.

The Cobber receiving corps was the beneficiary of Neal's ability to pick apart the defense. Junior Brandon Zylstra had four catches for a game-high 134 receiving yards. Matt Peterson caught five passes and had his first 100-yard receiving game. He finished with 107 receiving yards.

Jon Baune had only one catch but it might have been the biggest of the day. With the score tied at 31-31 six minutes into the third quarter, Baune caught a 36-yard TD pass on a third-and-20 situation. Baune caught the ball in double coverage after Neal did his best Aaron Rodgers impersonation by zipping the ball past one of the defender's ear hole and right into the waiting hands of Baune.

Cobber senior kicker Ben Wagner returned to his perfect ways on extra points in the final game of his career. Wagner was 5-for-5 on PAT's and went 1-for-1 on field goals to end the day with eight points. He finished the year with a team-high 62 points and was the league leader in scoring among kickers.