Concordia-st. Paul (1-2, 0-1 nsic) committed 14 penalties for 131 yards, one taking away an eric clinton 58 yard touchdown run in the first quarter. The penalties cost the golden bears as northern state (1-2, 1-0 nsic) scored the game winning touchdown with :59 to play to defeat the golden bears 15-9 in front of 3,942 fans at swisher field on saturday afternoon in aberdeen, s.d.

clinton's 58 yard explosion was negated by a holding penalty on the first play of concordia's drive following a northern state touchdown. Clinton would finish with 12 carries for 34 yards while hauling in five receptions for 48 yards in the passing game.

on the next play, kole goodchild (sr., qb, west bend, iowa) was sacked for an eight yard loss. After a six yard completion to charlie johnston (jr., wr, aberdeen, s.d.), goodchild delivered a strike 25 yards downfield to johnston for a first down at the nsu 30.

but another penalty cost the bears on the same drive, this time a 15 yard facemask that gave the bears a third and 32 from their own 30 yard, essentially a 40 yard penalty and costing the bears a first down in scoring position.

northern state dominated the first quarter, holding the ball for 10:32 of the first 15:00 of play. Concordia committed seven penalties for 50 yards in the opening quarter, setting the tone for a rough afternoon.

with the second quarter winding down, concordia finally engineered a scoring drive, marching 80 yards in five plays in just 1:30.

the bears gained positive yards on each of their five plays, starting with a goodchild completion to tyrone ruffin (jr., wr, plymouth, minn.) for 14 yards. Clinton followed with a 13 yard carry before goodchild found calvin simon (r-fr., wr, shakopee, minn.) for nine more yards giving the bears a second and one a the nsu 44 yard line.

then goodchild delivered a big play, finding a wide open eric tonkin (sr., te, ft. Collins, colo.) downfield for a 43 yard connection down to the one yard line. Tonkin hauled in career-highs with seven receptions for 126 yards to lead the bears offense.

that delivery set up hayden vavra (r-fr., qb, cambridge, minn.) for his first career touchdown as he pounded it up the middle to bring the bears within a point, 7-6, as the extra point caromed off the crossbar.

goodchild finished the day with a school record 28 completions in 46 attempts for a career-high 331 yards. He did not throw a touchdown while firing two interceptions and being sacked three times.

the score remained 7-6 going into halftime.

in the third quarter, goodchild threw a pair of interceptions, the first at the northern state one yard line and the second at the nsu 31, halting two solid scoring opportunities.

northern state was unable to capitalize, however, as the teams played a scoreless third quarter.

the bears opened with the first drive of the fourth quarter, moving 58 yards in 12 plays over a 3:44 span, the key play a 20 yard strike from goodchild to ruffin for 20 yards, ruffin hauling in the pass over the middle despite a pass interference penalty on the wolves.

the drive was stalled but stephan bjerke (so., k, stillwater, minn.) drilled a career-high 45 yard field goal to give concordia their first lead, 9-7 with just under 11 minutes to play.

concordia did their best to take time off the clock, draining 4:32 off the clock in just six plays on a drive that started at their own five yard line. They only got to their own 27 yard line before tg schoeberg (fr., p, woodbury, minn.) belted a 63 yard punt all the way to the northern state 10 yard line, returned to their own 19.

starting a drive inside their own 20 with just 3:09 to play in the game, the wolves executed a text book game winning drive, getting 21 and 30 yard pass completions along with multiple short yardage gains. The drive went 11 plays for 89 yards in 2:10. They converted the two point conversion to take a 15-9 lead.

concordia started with the ball at their own 30 yard line with 54 seconds to play but goodchild was sacked as time expired at the nsu 40 yard line to close out the game.

for the second straight week, rushing dictated the outcome as concordia struggled to establish a run and couldn't stop the wolves rushing attack on defense. The bears rushed 25 times for just 27 yards while nsu countered with 146 yards on 37 attempts.

the bears did outgain northern state in offense with 358 yards to nsu's 349 thanks to a potent passing attack behind the arm of goodchild. Ruffin finished with four catches for 63 yards in the contest.

defensively, the golden bears notched a pair of interceptions as chuck miesbauer (sr., db, st. Paul, minn.) had one with a 13 yard return while dario moore (jr., db, st. Paul, minn.) recorded his first career pick off of a deflection. Moore was making his debut in the secondary after switching from wide receiver following the central missouri game. The pair of defensive backs each recorded five tackles.

duy huynh (jr., lb, apple valley, minn.) led the team with 12 tackles, a sack and two tackles for loss. Four others recorded six tackles each.

concordia once again struggled in time of possession, as northern state held nearly a six minute advantage (33:04 to 26:56) and on third down conversions where csp was 3-13 while nsu was slighlty better at 5-14.

concordia will look to return to the win column when they play in their home opener next saturday, sept. 22 at 1:00 for their homecoming game against the university of mary, who dropped a 32-27 defeat at winona state this afternoon.

box score - northern state 15, csp 9