4+4+4=3

MOORHEAD, Minn. (10/29/16) --- Stop me if you've heard this one before.

Concordia continued its winning ways as they had four interceptions in a single game. 

The Cobbers forced four picks for the third straight Saturday as they improved to 6-2 overall and 5-1 in MIAC play as they cruised to a 40-3 win over Carleton. 

The Knights dropped to 1-8 overall and 1-6 in league play. 

Concordia outgained the Knights 398-208 yards in total offense and had 300 rushing yards compared to Carleton's 37 yards on the ground. 

CC also had 23 first downs in comparison to Carleton's 13 first downs. 

The Cobbs led 10-0 after the first quarter of play. 

Eddie Clifton drilled his second field goal of the season in as many games as he hit a 33 yarder to put Concordia on the board. 

Two possessions later the Cobbers started with excellent field position thanks to an interception by Alex Berg that was returned to the Carleton 27-yard line. 

Concordia got nowhere with the first three plays and on fourth and nine took a shot for the end zone. Michael Herzog found Matt Connelly in the back corner for six. 

Connelly's first career touchdown was one to remember. The Fargo North product made an unbelievable one-handed snag and managed to get a foot down in bounds before being forced out. 

The acrobatic catch gave the Cobbers the 10-0 advantage. 

After going three-and-out on the first possession of the second quarter, Herzog guided CC 74 yards on 10 plays and the drive was capped by a four-yard scoring push from Dane Ringquist. 

Carleton had a miscue on their next possession. Facing fourth and 22 and pinned deep, a bad snap flew into the end zone and Concordia wound up with a safety to make it 19-0. 

The Cobbs got great field position thanks to a 22-yard return from Jason Montonye and Herzog did the rest. He found Connelly for an 11-yard gain then rattled off a 30-yard scramble to the house. 

The Detroit Lakes native wove through defenders and stiff armed a safety as he evaded four Knights en route to the goal line to help CC take a 26-0 lead into the break. 

Concordia scored on back-to-back plays from scrimmage over midway through the third quarter to conclude the scoring for the day. 

Herzog found Montonye on a seam route for a 25-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 33-0 with 5:48 to play in the third. 

On the Knights' first play of the next drive a fumble was forced and scooped by Andrew Thompson who returned it 27 yards for the defensive score. 

Carleton wound up avoiding the shutout as the MIAC's best kicker Brandt Davis split the uprights from 33 yards out with just under 12 minutes to play in the game. 

Hank Van Liew led the charge on defense. The pride and joy of Snoqualmie, Washington had 10 tackles on the day while Berg had nine along with his interception. 

Herzog was the definition of a dual-threat quarterback on Saturday. He ended with a season-high 98 yards on 8-of-12 passing with two throwing scores. 

He also had 79 yards rushing, including the 30-yard scoring dash for six. 

Freshman quarterback Matt Bye stepped in for the fourth quarter and debuted the future of the triple-option at Concordia. 

Bye was the team's second leading rusher as he wound up with 52 yards on five carries with one rush going for 16 yards. 

Connelly ended with a career-high in both yards and receptions as he snagged four balls for 57 yards including the scoring strike from Herzog. 

4+4+4=3 - Concordia had four interceptions for three straight weeks for the first time in program history – resulting in three straight victories. Treyton Austvold, Jake Erholtz and Juwan Easley all had their first career interceptions while Berg had his second career pick. 

WINNING IN ALL 3 PHASES – Concordia has now had a defensive touchdown or each of the last three weeks after Concordia had the scoop-and-score fumble recovery touchdown. 

MEN WITHOUT HATS – Concordia had their first safety since the 2009 season. In the second week of the 2009 campaign they had a team safety in the fourth quarter of their convincing 43-28 win at Valley City State. 

SO CLOSE, YET SO FAR – CC was three points away from pitching their first shutout since the 2004 season. That year Concordia had two shutouts en route to winning the MIAC Championship. CC shutout Hamline 42-0 early in the season and the last shutout came against Menlo College (Calif.) on November 12 in the Fargodome. The three points surrendered is the fewest since October 23, 2010 when they defeated Hamline 30-3 at The Jake. 

JUST A FEW CENTS SHORT OF A DOLLAR BILL – Michael Herzog has yet to hit the century mark this season. It is the first time in program history that a quarterback has not managed to throw for over 100 yards in eight straight games. Herzog threw for over 100 yards in all seven of his starts last season, including a career-high 236 yards passing in the season finale at Gustavus. The 98 yards on Saturday against the Knights is a season high. 

WHAT'S NEXT? TROLL WEEK! Concordia will travel to St. Olaf next weekend to battle in the annual Lefse Bowl game. The Oles are 2-6 overall and 1-5 in conference play and are coming off a 23-3 loss to Gustavus. 

CONCORDIA vs. CARLETON HIGHLIGHTS