Cobbers Fall At Bethel

STORY LINE: Concordia gave up 21 points in the second quarter after battling through a 0-0 scoreless tie after the first 15 minutes and lost 41-13 at Bethel. The Cobbers trailed 21-0 at the halftime break and then fell behind 35-0 late in the third quarter before a pair of Riley Sheridan rushing touchdowns brought the final score to 41-13.

RECORDS: The Cobbers fall for the third straight game and move to 3-4 in all games. CC is now 2-3 in league play. Bethel wins for the second straight week and is now 6-1 overall and 4-1 in the MIAC.

FOILED BY THE FUMBLE: Perhaps the biggest play of the game came at the start of the second quarter. Bethel had just taken a 7-0 lead and Concordia started their next possession on their own 23-yard line. The Cobbers were looking to drive for a game-tying score but on the very first play from scrimmage they fumbled the ball and the Royals were able to scoop up the loose ball and run 23 yards for the TD. Instead of playing in a tight, 1-score game the Cobbers fell behind by 14 and Bethel used that momentum to take a 21-0 lead at the half.

FOILED BY THE FUMBLE 2: Concordia put the ball on the ground three times on Saturday and lost all three fumbles. The second fumble came in the very first drive of the third quarter and was also deep inside Cobber territory. CC  lost the ball on their own 22-yard line and three plays later Bethel scored to make it 28-0. Concordia has now fumbled three times in each of the past three games. The Cobbers had only fumbled the ball four times in the first four games of the year.

DANE TRAIN: Senior Dane Ringquist accounted for almost half of the Cobbers' total offensive yardage. He carried the ball 14 times and gained 62 yards. CC finished with 138 total yards on the day.

RYLIE RACKS UP TOUCHDOWNS: Sophomore running back Rylie Sheridan scored both of Concordia's touchdowns on the day. He scored on a 2-yard run at the end of the third quarter and then finished off the game with a 4-yard scamper in the final minute of the fourth quarter. Sheridan leads the Cobbers with six TDs on the year. He has scored at least one touchdown in four of the team's seven games.

THOMPSON TACKLE TIME: Senior co-captain Andrew Thompson led Concordia's defense with 15 total tackles. He had seven solo tackles and eight assisted take downs. Thompson leads the team with 66 total tackles. That total is third in the MIAC and is nine shy of his single-season career-best he set last year.     

SUDDEN SAM: For the second straight game linebacker Sam Michel came away with a double-digit tackle total. He posted a career-high 19 tackles at Gustavus on Oct. 6 and against Bethel he posted 12 tackles. Michel had 12 total tackles in the first five games of the year.  

STAT STUFF: Concordia was held to a season-low 136 total offensive yards. Bethel came away with 287 offensive yards on the day. CC came away with eight first downs as compared to 20 for the Royals. Bethel also held a 35:00-25:00 edge in time of possession.

UP NEXT: The Cobbers will try and rebound against No.5-ranked St. John's next Saturday. Concordia will host the undefeated Johnnies on Saturday, Oct. 27 at 1 p.m. SJU is 7-0 on the year and is coming off a 57-7 win at home over St. Olaf.