hayden vavra (r-fr., qb, cambridge, minn.) barrelled in from less than a yard out to score the game winning touchdown with 13 seconds remaining to give concordia-st. Paul (2-5, 1-4 nsic) a 46-41 victory over msu moorhead (3-4, 2-3 nsic) on saturday afternoon at griffin stadium in st. Paul, minn.

six school records fell as the bears ran up 586 yards of total offense on 85 plays with 32 first downs. The bears used a two quarterback attack for most of the afternoon and produced 471 passing yards on 53 attempts.

msu moorhead scored first with the only touchdown of the first quarter when dusting long connected with eric eager from three yards out to give the dragons a 7-0 lead with just under three minutes to play in the quarter.

then kole goodchild (sr., qb, west bend, iowa) lofted the first of five touchdown passes on the day to tyrone ruffin (jr., wr, plymouth, minn.) in the back corner of the end zone for an 11 yard score to tie the game up early in the second quarter.

it was the sixth time goodchild and ruffin have connected for a touchdown on the season. Goodchild finished with school records in completions (31) and yards (433) and did not throw an interception.

that touchdown was the only one of a school-record five touchdowns that went to a receiver other than calvin simon (r-fr., wr, shakopee, minn.). Simon finished the day with nine catches for 198 yards and another school record four touchdowns in the game.

simon hauled in two second quarter touchdowns from goodchild from 12 and 18 yards out, coming with 2:10 and :27 to play in the half, respectively. The result was 20 unanswered points for concordia, who stormed into the locker room at halftime leading 20-7.

but the dragons answered quickly in the second half when long found a wide open jabari taylor for a 51 yard touchdown on the fifth play of the opening drive of the half, cutting the deficit to seven as the dragons failed to convert the point after attempt.

just over two and a half minutes later simon picked up his third touchdown as goodchild delivered a 50 yard strike.

just 14 seconds later, the defense scored their fourth touchdown of the season when duy huynh (jr., lb, apple valley, minn.) deflected a pass by long inside msum's own five yard line. The deflection fell right into the hands of ben schumacher (sr., dl, oskaloosa, iowa) who trotted into the end zone for an interception return for touchdown.

the two quick scores gave concordia a commanding 34-13 lead with 9:50 to play in the third quarter.

but the dragons would respond quickly with taylor receiving his second touchdown from long from 14 yards out at the 7:56 mark. Msum scored again just over five minutes later on a curtis bedgood 16 yard rushing score, bringing the dragons back within a touchdown.

but the bears marched back down the field on offense as goodchild and simon hooked up from 39 yards out for the fourth time of the day to put the bears back up by a pair of scores, 40-27 late in the third quarter.

but the dragons didn't go away as bert smith hauled in a 28 yard score on a pass from long to bring the score back to six, 40-34 with 6:24 to play in the game.

back on offense, the explosive bears continued to move the ball effectively, pikcing up a first down when goodchild delivered a 12 yard pass to eric tonkin (sr., te, ft. Collins, colo.) on the sideline to put the ball in dragon territory at the 43.

the play worked so well that the bears went right back to tonkin, who gained seven yards before being upended. On the way down, the ball came loose and tonkin's fumble was scooped up by the dragons' eric schaumberg who darted 44 yards to the concordia 20 yard line.

the dragons took over with 4:42 to play in the red zone and scored the go-ahead touchdown with 2:06 remaining from seven yards out, putting the bears behind 41-40.

for the second straight week, concordia put their two minute offense to the test, this time only needing one score to take the lead.

goodchild completed 5-8 for 62 yards on the drive and his 12 yard completion to antwon williams (sr., wr, key west, fla.) with 45 seconds to play set the bears up with first and goal on the five yard line.

it took concordia three rushes by vavra including a near costly fumble that was recovered by neal sonntag (sr., rb, green lake, wis.). But vavra barrelled through the defensive line and stretched over the goal line for the touchdown with 13 seconds to play, giving concordia a 46-41 lead.

the dragons returned the ensuing kickoff 29 yards into concordia territory all the way to the 36 yard line but had just five seconds to get one last play off that fell incomplete in the end zone.

simon wasn't the only benefactor of goodchild's passing performance as williams had 10 catches for 133 yards and tonkin had nine receptions for 76 yards. Ruffin also contributed 6-63 in addition to his touchdown.

the bears also reached 100 yards rushing for just the third time this year with vavra leading the way on the ground with 16 carries for 74 yards and his third rushing touchdown. kama johnson (r-fr., rb, brooklyn park, minn.) had eight rushes for 36 yards as well.

defensively, the bears had their hands full with a dragon offense that was pass-happy in the second half, but made enough plays to come out on top.

huynh and jordan frain (sr., lb, treynor, iowa) led the way with 13 and 11 tackles, respectively. Aside from schumacher, dario moore (jr., db, st. Paul, minn.) also had an interception that he returned 45 yards before being brought down. It was moore's third interception of the year. Schumacher also registered concordia's only sack of the game and moore had a fumble recovery.

for the dragons, long was 25-42 for 293 yards and five touchdowns while throwing two interceptions. Taylor finished with 129 yards on nine catches and two touchdowns while enol gilles rushed for 73 yards on 15 attempts.

concordia will play the second of their three game homestand next saturday, october 20 when they host upper iowa at 1 p.m.

box score - csp 46, msu moorhead 41