Second-Half Senior Moments Spell Success

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (10/18/14)—Several special "senior moments" in the second half helped No.23-ranked Concordia outscore Augsburg 27-7 in the final two quarters of play and come away with a 41-21 victory in Minneapolis.

Senior running backs Zach Southwick and Alex McLean combined for 156 rushing yards and three touchdowns in the second half alone and the senior-laden defense held the Auggies to a mere two rushing yards and forced two takeaways in the final two quarters of play.

The second-half "senior moments" helped the Cobbers earn their sixth overall victory and fourth victory in conference play. Concordia is now 6-1 in all games and 4-1 in the MIAC. Augsburg drops to 2-4 overall and 1-3 in the conference.

Concordia and Augsburg battled through the first two quarters of play and were deadlocked at 14-14 headed into halftime. The Cobber coaching staff then made adjustments to help CC rack up 328 rushing yards and hold the ball for 19:23 of the 30 minutes in the second half.

Concordia's stat line at the end of the game resembled a typical Cobber Saturday afternoon in the fall. CC rushed the ball 54 times for a total of 378 yards which led to a 37:58 mark in time of possession. It is the fifth time this season that Concordia has rushed for over 200 yards in a game and the sixth time they have held the ball for at least 35:00. 

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Fargo Forum Recap: Rushing attack carries load for Cobbers in victory

Southwick, who has been plagued by injuries the past two seasons, has started to flash his two-tool prowess in the backfield. He finished with 71 rushing yards and a team-high 81 receiving yards and scored three times. His three TD's are a career high and he has now crossed the goal line five times in the past four games.

McLean turned in another bruising performance from his fullback position. He had over 100 rushing yards in the second half, finished with a career-high total of 119 rushing yards and scored two TD's.

Southwick and McLean combined to score five of the Cobbers' six touchdowns.

The other Concordia score was recorded by junior Rick Hutchinson who hauled in a 23-yard TD pass at the start of the fourth quarter. It was his only catch of the day but he was one of five Cobber runners who had at least seven carries and came away with at least 50 rushing yards. Hutchinson had seven carries for 52 rushing yards.

Cobber quarterback Griffin Neal had another effective day under center. He was 12-for-18 for 173 passing yards and two TD's and also added 56 rushing yards on nine carries.

The 173 passing yards moves into the No.2 spot on the school's all-time passing yardage chart. Neal now has now has 5,055 career passing yards and needs 181 yards to break the school's all-time record. His two touchdown passes give him 42 for his career. He needs only three more to set a new school record for most career passing scores.

Senior defensive back Mitch Tauer led the "Black Shirt" defense in the second half. Tauer had five tackles and one pass break-up in the third and fourth quarters. He finished with a team-high 6.0 tackles and 1.0 tackles for a loss.

Senior defensive end Nate Adams had a sack and forced a fumble in the second half. He had 3.0 tackles in the game and now has a team-high 3.5 sacks on the season. He has 12.5 sacks in the past two seasons.

A trio of juniors recorded "senior moment" theme buster moments. Linebacker Levi Hintermeister  came away with 5.0 tackles and forced two fumbles. He now has a team-leading 37 tackles on the season. Fellow linebacker Erik Bye had three tackles and finished off the game by earning his first career interception. Monay Swafford also picked up his first career interception when he made an acrobatic catch along the sideline at the end of the second quarterback. Swafford also had a career-high five tackles in the game.

Concordia will continue with their home-away-home-away schedule trend when they host Hamline on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 1 p.m.