Steady & Unrelenting 2nd Half Leads To Washington Win

PUYALLUP, Wash. (9/14/24)---It took Concordia a full 20 minutes to get used to their west coach surroundings, but once they did they were like the rainy season in Washington – steady and unrelenting.

The Cobbers scored 31 unanswered points – all in the final 35 minutes of play and washed away Pacific Lutheran 31-3.

The win is also the second straight against Pacific Lutheran in as many years. CC downed PLU 26-21 in Moorhead last season. The Cobbers are now 3-0 lifetime against Pacific Lutheran.

Concordia got four touchdown passes from senior quarterback Cooper Mattern and used a Kraken-like  defense to record its first win of the season.  

Mattern finished the day by going 14-for-26 for 217 yards and the four scoring strikes, while the Cobber Black Shirts held the Lutes to 154 yards of total offense, under 100 passing yards and only nine first downs. The Cobber Big "D" showed up when it mattered most by only allowing Pacific Lutheran to convert on 2-of-17 third down opportunities.   

Concordia had four different receivers catch touchdown passes. Owen Miller, Joey Headrick, Davion Henderson and freshman Grant Mages all hauled in 6-point specials. For Henderson and Mages, it was their first collegiate touchdown catches. Mages did that one better, as he caught a TD on his very first collegiate reception.   

Senior captain PJ Parmelee led the Black Shirts. He recorded a team-high 8.0 tackles which included 6.0 solo tackles.          

The Cobber offense struggled for the first 15 minutes of play. CC had a negative total offense number in the opening quarter and came away with only one first down in three possessions.

The game changed on the Cobbers' second possession of the second quarter. The Lutes scored their only points of the game to take a 3-0 lead at the end of the opening period play. CC then went 43 yards in seven plays to take the 7-3 lead at the 9:26 mark of the quarter.

Concordia's eventual game-winning scoring drive was set up by the Cobber Black Shirts who forced PLU to go 3-and-out inside their own 20-yard-line and gave the ball to the CC offense on the Lutes' 43-yard line.

The Cobbers kicked their offense into Mariner time at the start of the second half when they scored on three of their first five possessions. The key swing during that stretch came when they scored two TDs in a span of 5:11 at the end of the third and fourth frames.

Henderson caught the longest pass of the day when he hauled in a 36-yard strike from Mattern to give CC a 14-3 lead.

The back-breaking scores for the Cobbers came from Miller and Headrick. Miller grabbed a 16-yard scoring strike with 4:05 left in the third and then Headrick came away with a 12-yard grab just 1:06 into the final quarter.

Miller finished the game with a team-high four catches for 53 yards.

Jordan Summers led the Cobber ground game with 33 yards on 13 carries.

The Cobber defense recorded three sacks and had seven tackles for a loss. Sophomore Tayte Lecy posted his first collegiate sack and was one of five CC Black Shirts that had 1.0 tackles for a loss.  

Concordia will have two full weeks to recover from their trip out west. The Cobbers will have their annual bye week next Saturday and then host St. Scholastica in the home opener on Saturday, Sept. 28. That game will also be Concordia's annual Homecoming game.