Concordia-st. Paul was unable to hold a 44-21 lead with 10:47 to play as wayne state scored the final 27 points to defeat the golden bears 48-44 at griffin stadium on saturday afternoon in st. Paul, minn.

wayne state scored 41 second half points, 34 coming in the fourth quarter as they erased what seemed to be a commanding concordia lead.

the two teams combined for 1,084 yards, wayne state totalling 626 to concordia's 458. The wildcats ran up 473 of their yards of total offense in the second half.

wayne state's silas fluellen was the story, throwing for 389 yards and five touchdowns while rushing for 124 on 13 attempts. He completed 26-45 and threw three interceptions while combining for 513 yards of total offense.

the wildcats scored first when travis rhone rushed in from 16 yards out for the first of his two touchdown runs. He finished with 47 yards on 11 carries.

concordia would score five consecutive times before halftime, with four touchdowns and a 37 yard stephan bjerke (so., k, stillwater, minn.) field goal.

redshirt freshman running back kama johnson (brooklyn park, minn.) scored his first career touchdown with 1:41 to play in the first quarter from one yard out to tie the score at seven.

he punched in his second touchdown just a few minutes later from four yards out to give concordia a one touchdown lead, 14-7 with just under 12 minutes remaining in the half.

johnson finished with his first 100 yard performance as well, with 26 carries for 121 yards along with two receptions for 13 yards.

concordia scored their third rushing touchdown of the game halfway through the second quarter as antwon williams (sr., wr, key west, fla.) scored from a yard out. Through the air, williams had seven receptions for 57 yards.

just under one minute later, with 6:50 to play in the half, redshirt freshman defensive lineman orien facion (minneapolis, minn.) scooped a fumble and jogged three yards for concordia's sixth defensive touchdown of the year.

add bjerke's field goal with :02 seconds in the half and the golden bears stormed into the lockerroom up 31-7.

at the half, concordia was dominant in all facets. They racked up 276 yards of offense on 44 plays, including 103 rushing yards. They had the ball for 18:59 to wsc's 11:01 and converted 5-9 on third down and 1-1 on fourth down while limiting the wildcats to 0-4 on third downs. The bears had 16 first downs in the half to wayne state's seven.

but it was all wayne state from there. The wildcats scored the only touchdown of the third quarter on a fluellen 33 yard touchdown strike to frederic bruno.

senior quarterback kole goodchild (sr., qb, west bend, iowa) would find tyrone ruffin (jr., wr, plymouth, minn.) for a pair of touchdowns with a 39 yard bruno scored sandwiched in the middle. Ruffin's scores went for 39 and 20 yards at the 13:59 and 10:47 marks in the fourth quarter, respectively.

ruffin finished with four receptions for 101 yards and two scores.

that's when fluellen took over, throwing three consecutive touchdown passes before rhone carried in his second touchdown, the eventual game-winner, from two yards out with 1:10 to play in the game.

concordia also had a 22 yard field goal attempt with 8:22 to play in the game blocked by the wildcats, which could have changed the scope of the game. Wsc also recovered an onside kick to keep their comeback alive with 3:00 to play.

but the wildcats left concordia enough time on the clock to attempt their third straight fourth quarter comeback win.

starting with the ball on their own 32 yard line and 1:05 on the clock, goodchild quickly drilled a pass to the sideline to calvin simon (r-fr., wr, shakopee, minn.) for 16 yards to their own 48.

three plays later and facing fourth and five from the wsc 47, goodchild scrambled for nine yards and a first down, giving the bears the ball at the wildcat 38.

but with time winding down, concordia was forced to call a timeout on second down with :06 remaining and goodchild was sacked on the final play of the game by troy pribnow to end their comeback chances.

goodchild finished the day 28-44 for 322 yards and two touchdowns. He completed at least two passes to all of the six targets he connected with.

defensively, dario moore (jr., db, st. Paul, minn.) led concordia with 10 tackles, a forced fumble and two pass breakups while also returning seven kicks for 168 yards including an 84 yard return where he was forced out at the six yard line.

concordia's three interceptions were by jordan frain (sr., lb, treynor, iowa), karl collins and ryan clark. Concordia forced five wsc turnovers in the game.

for wayne state, fluellen nearly had three 100-yard receivers, led by logan masters' eight catches for 112 yards and two scores while bruno had four catches for 120 yards and two scores and brian chapman hauled in seven receptions for 94 yards and a score.

the wilcats also mounted 237 rushing yards on 30 team carries, averaging 7.9 yards per rush.

concordia, meanwhile, had 136 rushing yards on 40 attempts and three touchdowns in one of their finest rushing performances this year.

concordia returns to the road next saturday when they travel to bemidji, minn. To take on bemidji state.

box score - wayne state 48, csp 44