One Troll's Hair Away In Northfield

NORTHFIELD, Minn. (9/20/25)---Concordia came up one point shy in their defense of the "Ugliest Rivalry Trophy" in all of college football and lost 17-16 in the Lefse Bowl for the right to the Troll Trophy.

The Cobbers scored a late touchdown on a Griffin Babolian 7-yard run with 3:52 left in the fourth quarter but failed to convert the extra point and lost by the single point.

The loss evens Concordia's record at 1-1, while the Oles move to 2-0 on the season.

The second game of the year was similar to the Cobbers' opener against Mayville State where the majority of the scoring came in the second half.

Concordia and St. Olaf battled through the first 30 minutes of play with neither team putting the ball in the end zone and the teams deadlocked at 3-3 heading into the halftime break.

The teams combined for 193 total offensive yards in the first half with the two defenses forcing six punts and holding the offenses to 5-for-14 on third down opportunities.

The game opened up in the third quarter with both teams reaching the endzone. The Oles took a 10-3 lead with 2:35 left in the third before the Cobbers countered with a 4-play, 72-yard drive that was capped by an 18-yard TD reception from Alejandro Sanchez which was his first collegiate touchdown.

The Oles regained the 7-point lead at the start of the fourth quarter when they were able to connect on a 61-yard pass play from Michael Gonzales to Will Skamp.

Concordia continued to trail until senior captain McHale Korf came up with the defensive play of the game. He was able to drop into a zone and stepped in front of an Olaf receiver on a third-and-4 play which gave CC a first down at the St. Olaf 14-yard line.   

The Cobbers' Black Shirt defense was able to give the ball back to the offense on two occasions. CC was forced to punt after a 3-and-out with 2:24 left in the contest and then St. Olaf returned the favor 1:24 later.

Concordia's last try to win the game started at their own 25-yard line with 1:00 left on the clock but is was quickly ended on the first play from scrimmage.

The Cobbers finished the game with 225 total offensive yards which included 146 passing yards. St. Olaf had 302 offensive yards and 176 passing yards.

Concordia turned the ball over three times while the CC defense and special teams came away with two turnovers which both led to Cobber scores. Korf had the pick in the fourth quarter and Ryder Vylasek recorded a muffed punt in the second quarter which set up a 38-yard field goal.

Cobber quarterback Jersey Selzler was 12-for-25 for 146 yards and had the one TD pass.

Babolian had nine carries for 37 yards and Mason Hughes came away with 13 rushes for 21 yards.

Sanchez led the team in receiving with four catches for 56 yards, while Davion Henderson recorded three receptions for 59 yards.

Kyle Mages and Jaiden Musse drove the Concordia defense. The pair finished the game with 26 total tackles. Mages had a career-high 15 total tackles, including nine solo efforts and Musse had eight solo tackles and 11 total tackles. Musse also got a hand on an Olaf field goal attempt at the end of the second quarter to stop the Oles from taking a 6-3 lead into the break.

Cobber kicker and punter Mitchell Druley had another solid game he was 1-for-1 in field goal attempts, connecting on the 38-yarder in the second quarter. He also punted the ball seven times with a 40.0 yards per punt average which included a career-long 67-yard special at the start of the second quarter.    

The Cobbers will look to rebound when they host Gustavus on Saturday, Sept. 27 at 1 p.m.