Sophomore wide receiver tyrone ruffin and junior quarterback kole goodchild hooked up for three scoring strikes through the air to lead concordia university (1-2, 1-0 nsic) to a 28-20 victory over northern state (1-2, 0-1 nsic) in the northern sun opener on saturday afternoon at griffin stadium in st. Paul, minn.

goodchild (right) completed 20-29 for 190 yards and the three td passes without an interception and rushed for 43 yards on six attempts. Ruffin recorded five catches for 45 yards with the three td receptions while junior antwon williams hauled in team-highs with eight catches for 85 yards in the game. Goodchild connected with eight different receivers with his 20 completions.

concordia also posted their first 200 yard rushing performance of the season as they bruised the wolves for 202 yards on 41 attempts led by senior aaron cawthorn?s (left) 93 yards on 18 rushes while junior eric clinton produced 55 yards on 12 attempts and a touchdown run.

while the rushing offense found it?s groove, the rushing defense responded with an equally impressive performance as the bears shut down nsu to just 44 rushing yards on 17 attempts.

the golden bears found the end zone first as goodchild hit ruffin from 10 yards out to complete a five play 60 yard drive midway through the opening quarter. The score remained 7-0 through the first quarter.

the wolves responded by grabbing the lead with a pair of unanswered touchdowns, the first coming on a blocked punt return for a touchdown from 13 yards out by una latu less than a minute into the second quarter. Their second score was a five play, 60 yard drive that was finished off with a wade ginsbach to brian jark touchdown strike on a wide receiver option play around left end. The wolves converted a two-point conversion on a trick play but were flagged for illegal formation and missed the ensuing point after attempt to keep the score at 13-6 with 8:23 remaining until the half.

nsu?s jark finished the day with 13 catches for 161 yards and td?s while nsu quarterback jimmie griffin completed 31-44 for 287 and a touchdown.

the bears jumped back out in front with 3:21 remaining when clinton (left) dashed and dove over the goal line for a three yard touchdown after an 11 play, 70 yard scoring drive that elapsed 4:51 off the clock.

the bears added another touchdown with just one second remaining in the half as ruffin caught his second of three td?s from four yards out.

concordia extended their lead to 28-13 early in the fourth as goodchild and ruffin completed the hat trick on a five yard connection.

the wolves response was swift as jark broke off a short passing route for a 76 yard touchdown but the wolves would not find the end zone again as the concordia defense held the lead for a 28-20 final.

the bears were efficient in their northern sun opener, converting all four red zone opportunities for touchdowns to go with a 9-17 third down conversion clip while the defense held the wolves scoreless in two trips to the red zone while holding them to 6-15 on third downs and 1-4 on fourth downs.

concordia also played nearly error free football with just three penalties for 30 yards while nsu was flagged seven times for 87 yards.

the cu defense was led by junior jordan frain (left) who recorded a team-high nine tackles with a game-high four tackles for loss while forcing a fumble and recording one sack. In all, frain?s tackles for loss and sack backed the wolves up 46 yards on the five total stops.

sophomore linebacker duy huynh (right)produced eight tackles with 2.5 for loss and one sack while senior defensive end travis mellor and senior defensive lineman luke robie each were in on another sack.

mellor and senior defensive tackle eric power (right)combined for 17 hurries with power piling up11 on his own while also batting down a pass at the line of scrimmage. The cu defense totaled 26 total hurries compared to nsu?s 15.

senior jason simmons (left) led concordia's special teams with four kick returns for 111 yards for a 27.8 yard average and a long of 34.

the bears take a break from northern sun play next saturday when they travel to bismarck, n.d. To take on the university of mary at 1:00. Cu?s next nsic contest is in two weeks when they host #13 winona state in a game that will be webcasted on cstv.