Nagurski, Jeter And Gretzky Lead To Homecoming Win

MOORHEAD, Minn. (10/11/14)—Concordia paid homage to Bronco Nagurski, Derek Jeter and Wayne Gretzky in their 34-7 win over Carleton.

Concordia scored on 3 (number worn by football great Nagurski) straight possessions at the end of the first quarter and start of second quarter, scored 2 (number worn by baseball great Jeter) touchdowns after forcing a turnover and had a 99-yard (number worn by hockey great Gretzky) scoring drive. The 3, 2, 99 combination led to a 27-point victory and helped the Cobbers honor the 1964 Concordia NAIA National Championship Team which was honored during halftime of the annual Homecoming game.      

The win wasn't the prettiest of the year for the Cobbers but helped CC up their overall mark to 5-1. Concordia is now 3-1 in conference play and all alone in third place in the league standings.  The Knights fall for the fourth straight time to open the MIAC season and are now 1-5 in all games.

Concordia was forced to go away from their season-long M.O. of scoring early and then holding on to the ball for most of the game. The Cobbers didn't score until its fourth possession and for the first time all season lost the time of possession battle. Concordia held the ball for a season-low 31:29 and only had 12:49 in time of possession in the first half of play.

The Cobbers also allowed a season-high 273 rushing yards to Carleton – 150 of which came from the legs of quarterback Zach Creighton. CC hadn't allowed a team to rush for over 105 yards in 2014 and the Knights had 139 rushing yards in the first half alone.

Media Recaps

Fargo Forum Recap: Concordia picks up homecoming football win over Carleton

WDAY-TV: Cobbers cruise past Carleton

KVLY-TV: College football rundown 

Concordia was able to counter Carleton's rushing game by coming up with 445 total offensive yards and had 16 plays which went for 10 or more yards. The Cobbers were also 3-for-3 inside the "red zone" with all three scores by touchdown inside Carleton's 20-yard line.

Perhaps the two most dramatic plays of the game came at the end of the first quarter and start of the third quarter. Concordia had been stopped on their first three possessions of the game and was facing a 4th-and-8 situation from the Knight 36-yard line. Instead of kicking a field goal into a swirling side-to-side wind, CC head coach Terry Horan elected to go for the first down.  The Cobbers got more than a first down as quarterback Griffin Neal found a wide open Jon Baune behind the Carleton secondary and Concordia put up the first points of the game on the 36-yard passing strike.

The touchdown was Baune's sixth of the season.  He has caught one TD pass in each of the Cobbers' first six games of the year.

Concordia vs. Carleton Game Highlights

The second dramatic play on a sunny Homecoming Saturday set up the 99-yard "Wayne Gretzky" drive. The Knights had the ball on their own 20-yard line in the first possession of the second half. Creighton took off up the middle on a quarterback draw and sprinted through the middle of the Concordia defense and appeared to be on his way for a TD that would cut the lead to 20-14. Unfortunately for Creighton, Cobber senior defensive back Mitch Tauer had other ideas and sprinted 50 yards to track down Creighton at the CC 25-yard line. Tauer then tackled Creighton with one hand and punched then ball with the other. Tauer's strip tackle knocked the ball free where it rolled all the way down to the Concordia 1-yard line. Cobber senior captain Dan Berdan fell on the ball to give CC the ball and avert a second Knight score.

Concordia would take over and then methodically march 99 yards in 16 plays and take 8:36 off the clock to push the lead to 27-7 and put the game out of reach.

The Cobbers scored three rushing touchdowns on the day. Zach Southwick scampered 29 yards to post the second TD of the day for Concordia and the fullback tandem of Domenic Fraboni and Alex McLean finished off the Cobber scoring with a pair of short yardage plunges in the third and fourth quarters.

Concordia had eight players carry the ball in the game and finished with 242 rushing yards. It is the third time in 2014 that CC has amassed over 200 rushing yards. Southwick came away with a career-high 83 rushing yards for the game. Neal ran the ball 12 times and had 70 yards.

Neal also passed for over 200 yards. He was 14-for-24 for 203 yards and threw for a pair of TD's. In addition to his fourth-down strike to Baune, Neal also hooked up with Brandon Zylstra for a 14-yard scoring pass in the second quarter.

The 203 passing yards brings Neal's career total to 4,882. He is now seven yards shy of Ethan Pole for the No.2 spot on the school's all-time passing yardage list. Neal now needs 354 passing yards to break the school record held by Michael Dunham.

Baune had five catches for a game-high 72 yards while Zylstra caught four balls for 41 yards.

Junior linebacker Erik Bye had a team-high 11 tackles and had a sack. All-American Nate Adams had five tackles and earned his first collegiate interception when he leapt high and gathered in a Creighton pass in the first quarter. His "pick" led the Concordia's first score of the day.

The Cobbers will now hit the road as they continue their "home-away-home-away" theme for the 2014 conference season. Concordia will play at Augsburg on Saturday, Oct. 18 at 1 p.m.