kole goodchild (sr., qb, west bend, iowa) is leaving concordia-st. Paul with his name firmly cemented in the cu record books.
he threw four touchdown passes and set a school record to lead the golden bears (4-7, 3-6 nsic) past minnesota, crookston (2-8, 1-8 nsic) 48-0 in the nsic metrodome classic.
eric tonkin (sr., te, ft. Collins, colo.) had two touchdown catches and calvin simon (r-fr., wr, shakopee, minn.) and tyrone ruffin (jr., wr, plymouth, minn.) one each for the golden bears, who had 634 yards of offense to end a two-game slide. kama johnson (r-fr., rb, brooklyn park, minn.) and antwon williams (sr., wr, key west, fla.) scored rushing touchdowns, and jordan frain (sr., lb, treynor, iowa) recovered a fumble for another score.
“this was our best game of the year,� said ruffin, who caught eight passes for 159 yards.
the concordia defense held crookston to 215 yards, 66 of which came on two long pass plays to aaron wall, who had four catches for 115 yards. They also sacked quarterback david white four times.
goodchild was 24-of-39 for 376 yards to set a school single-season passing record with 3,027 yards. James mcnear set the old record of 2,778 in 2003. Goodchild already holds school single-game records for completions, yards, touchdown passes and interceptions and single-season records for completions and attempts.
“i think it’ll mean more to me 10, 15 years down the road,â€? said goodchild, who was removed midway through the fourth quarter to a standing ovation. €œi can look back and say i did something when i see my name there. Now, it’s more about playing with my teammates that’s something special.â€?
white was 10-of-24 for 145 yards, and rushed for 42 yards, for minnesota, crookston, which was shutout for the third time in five games. The golden eagles have been beaten six straight times by the golden bears including back-to-back shutouts in the metrodome after a 49-0 decision last year.
duy huynh (jr., lb, apple valley, minn.) and mark mullaney (sr., lb, eden prairie, minn.) led a swarming concordia defense with 13 tackles apiece, tying the team season high. tim oachs (jr., dl, mankato, minn.) had 2.5 sacks for a defensive unit that entered the game allowing an average of 33.2 points, including 95 combined points to wayne state and bemidji state the last two weeks.
“we just came out to play,â€? frain said. €œwe didn’t change anything.â€?
goodchild, who had outstanding protection all game, had 210 yards and three scores at halftime.
the first was little goodchild and mostly simon, who took a screen pass, juke-stepped past a couple of defenders, and sprinted 46 yards to the end zone.
“our offensive line has developed over the year,â€? said coach mark mauer. €œwe’re very young. We started two freshmen and a redshirt freshman, but they developed.â€?
a 6-yard pass to tonkin capped an 81-yard drive early in the second quarter, which was highlighted by a double-pass that ended with williams hitting tonkin for a 35-yard completion.
goodchild and tonkin hooked up for a 20-yard score midway through the quarter for a 20-0 halftime lead.
“he just makes it so easy out there for us,� ruffin said.
“all we have to do is get to our spots and he’ll find us,� tonkin added.
johnson gave the golden eagles a 27-0 lead early in the second half, scoring untouched from 11 yards out. The score came one play after crookston’s chris wooding was whistled for pass interference on fourth down.
a fake punt resulted in a 12-yard completion from t.g. Schoenberg (fr., p, woodbury, minn.) to chuck miesbauer (sr., db, st. Paul, minn.) to keep the drive going.
umc got to the concordia 24 midway through the third quarter, but a fourth-down pass by white was knocked down by frain.
eight plays later it was 34-0 after goodchild rolled left and found ruffin for a 36-yard score.
“we had a game two weeks ago where we lost a 24-point lead, so we weren’t going to let that happen again,� ruffin said.
the golden eagles kept throwing in the fourth quarter, twice on fourth-down, plays, before a 23-yard run by williams made it 41-0.
ruffin ends his junior season with a career-high 159 yards on eight receptions, finishing the year equaling a career-best 54 receptions and reaching a new career-high with 859 yards. His touchdown reception tied a school record 11 set by joseph mapson in 2002. He surpassed the 2,000 yard receiving mark and now has 2,126 career yards, moving him into third all-time while his 142 career catches is fourth in school history. He has hauled in 23 career touchdowns, six short of the school record set by joseph mapson (2000-03).
williams’ seven catch, 72 yard effort ends his career with 176 receptions for 1,888 yards. He had five career receiving touchdowns, three career passing and three career rushing touchdowns as well. He leaves concordia second all-time in receptions.
goodchild, meanwhile ends his career as the fourth-leading passer in school history, accumulating 5,039 yards in just two seasons while throwing 34 touchdowns.
story by mike cook, special reporter for the nsic
contributions from josh deer, assistant sid, concordia
photo courtesy tim gabreilson - http://www.thefotographers.com/
box score - csp 48, minnesota crookston 0
