Run Cobbers Run
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Concordia-M'head (3-1) | 6 | 7 | 13 | 20 | 46 |
|
Gust. Adolphus (3-2) | 0 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 21 |
ST. PETER, Minn. (10/01/16)--- MIAC fantasy football owners who benched Chad Johnson likely have the Michael Jordan crying meme being thrown at them by members of their fantasy league.
Johnson would have tallied an eye-popping 43 fantasy points on Saturday as he led a dominating Concordia ground game that racked up 400 yards and helped the Cobbers roll up a 46-21 win at Gustavus.
Concordia wins its third straight game and improves to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play.
The old saying goes "don't fix something that isn't broken" and that was the mantra with the Concordia playbook. Quarterback Michael Herzog only threw for 18 yards on 2-of-9 passing but the junior contributed in other ways.
Herzog checked the line, changed the play when needed and made the right reads in Concordia's triple-option offense all afternoon long.
The Cobbers led 13-7 heading into the half but both teams found the end zone in a hurry to start the third quarter.
Gustavus (3-2/1-2 MIAC) was forced to punt and Johnson pounded his way inside Gustie territory. He had six straight carries for 56 yards and then Herzog followed a 33-yard rush by Johnson with a 14-yard keeper to make it 20-7.
Gustavus scored on the next play from scrimmage. Gustie signal caller Christian Haffner found Josh Kirk on a 77-yard fly route to bring the game within one score.
Junior Jason Montoyne proved Cobber football radio announcer Chris Ohm to be very prophetic. Ohm had been praising Montonye's big-play ability on the edge for a majority of the game and the junior speedster showed why on the ensuing kickoff.
Montonye found a seam and rattled off a 60-yard return down to the GAC 23-yard line. Two plays later Ryan Cihak got the nod and broke through three tackles and rambled into the end zone to give CC a 26-14 lead.
A fumble proved costly on the Cobbers' next possession. Gustavus recovered at the Concordia 17-yard line and then Haffner found hybrid receiver-halfback Jamison Beulke four plays later for the six-yard score to bring the game within five points.
The Cobbers entered the fourth quarter up five points but they rattled off 21 straight unanswered points to put the game out of reach.
Johnson had rushing scores of 15 and four yards and Montonye had a 23-yard scamper around the edge as CC rolled to the 46-21 win.
The Concordia defense kept the Gustie offense in check for a majority of the day.
They forced a pair of turnovers and held the conference's leading rusher, Karim Ortiz, to just 45 yard on 18 carries.
Haffner totaled 234 yards on 19-of-29 passing with three scores and a pick.
The Concordia linebacking corps had a field day. Sophomore Alex Berg put together the best game of his young career. The Moorhead native totaled a career-high 16 tackles (also a team-high for any Cobber defensive player this season) with 1.5 sacks and two tackles for loss.
Berg's 16 tackles are the most since Erik Bye had 17 against St. John's in the third week of last season.
Senior captain Hank Van Liew also wound up with a career-high stat total as he had 12 tackles - 1.5 tackles for loss and a pass break-up.
Junior Cody Fox chipped in with seven tackles and sophomore corner Aaron Ahrndt had his first collegiate interception on the Gusties' opening drive.
OLD SCHOOL: Concordia is playing old school football and making it work. For the fourth straight game this season the Cobbers threw for under 100 yards. The last time CC threw for less than 100 yards in four straight games was in 2006 when they managed to do it for five straight contests. That season CC went 4-6 and 3-5 in MIAC play. A win next week would already equal both the conference and overall win total from head coach Terry Horan's only losing season in his 16 years at Concordia.
OLD SCHOOL PART 2: Herzog's 18 yards passing was the lowest total since the tandem of Ryan Hebrink and Jacob Odermann threw for 12 yards in a 32-13 win at Augsburg back in 2003. In that game the Cobbers dismantled the Auggie front seven as they racked up 517 yards on the ground including 141 rushing yards from Hebrink.
GUTTING THE GUSTIES: Concordia averaged 7.0 yards per carry on Saturday in St. Peter. Johnson and Cihak averaged 9.0 yards per carry, Montonye averaged 8.8 yards per rush and Herzog pounded for 6.6 yards a carry.
WHAT'S NEXT? The Cobbers will welcome No.4-ranked St. Thomas to town for Homecoming next Saturday. The Tommies waltzed to a 55-7 win over Augsburg.
HOMECOMING EXTRAS: Concordia is 4-2 in Homecoming games since 2010 and Horan is 10-5 in Homecoming games. Since 1970 the Cobbers are 33-13 in Homecoming games.
CONCORDIA vs. GUSTAVUS HIGHLIGHTS
