st. Paul, minn. - in a must-win situation for the visitors, the host concordia university football team (3-8, 3-7 nsic) was unable to derail playoff/bowl hopes for bemidji state (8-3, 7-3 nsic) on saturday afternoon at sea foam stadium. Bemidji state defeated concordia 35-20 in a heated contest. Junior wide receiver calvin simon (shakopee, minn.) became the fifth player in concordia history to surpass 2,000 receiving yards with a five catch, 81 yard performance. box score

simon's performance also extended his catch streak to 32 games, spanning his entire three seasons with the golden bears. He now has 2,070 career yards, moving him to fourth on the all-time list while ranking sixth in career receptions with 134 with his senior season ahead of him.

the golden bears threw often in the contest, dropping back for 43 pass attempts as senior mitch brecke (maple grove, minn.) threw for 266 yards completing 24-42 with two interceptions. He fired passes to six different targets, hitting sophomore running back sam campbell (cary, ill.) seven times for 21 yards. Senior jordan schultenover (minnetonka, minn.) led the team in yards with 83 on five receptions while junior tight end hayden vavra (cambridge, minn.) hauled in three receptions for 49 yards.

the running game was stifled by a tough bsu defense, carrying 19 times for 26 yards as a team led by campbell's 14 attempts for 19 yards. Campbell did add his ninth touchdown of the season, a yard sprint around the left end with 9:13 to play in the game.

the campbell touchdown run cut the score to 28-20 after brecke connected with simon for a two point conversion in the back of the end zone.

but bemidji state answered with a methodical 15 play, 70 yard drive draining over seven minutes off the clock as dustin kroeplin broke through the plain for a five yard touchdown, putting cu two touchdowns behind with two minutes to play.

bemidji state only totalled 326 yards of total offense in the game but was able to compile 22 first downs and limit concordia to under 300 yards of total offense.

things started extremely shaky in the first half, with each team recording a safety while penalties were plentiful and so were missed extra points. Bemidji state scored first just 95 seconds into play with a 32 yard pass down the right sideline. They missed the pat, however, and on bsu's next drive with a 4th down on their own 40 yard line, snapped the ball over the punter's head. Jesse sundby, the punter and kicker, tracked the ball down just before schultenover could beat him to it and punched it out of the back of the end zone for a safety, putting cu on the board with 8:30 to play in the first quarter.

it was concordia's first safety since eric power recorded one against u-mary in the 2006 season.

but another derek edholm touchdown pass, this time a 33 yarder to henningson for the duo's second td, put bsu ahead 13-2.

concordia responded with a field goal just before the quarter expired, junior steven king's (johnston, iowa) 13th of the season from 22 yards out, cutting the score to 13-5 at the first quarter break.

in the second quarter, the teams struggled to move the ball and as bsu had another 4th down deep in their own territory, senior joe butler (kansas city, mo.) blocked his fourth kick of the season with teammate al quaye (so., champlin, minn.) falling on it in the end zone for a cu touchdown, cutting the gap to one point, 13-12.

but the beavers would sneak up on cu with a 4th down surprise punt by edholm from cu's 35 yard line, a 34 yard punt to the one yard line. This is where bsu picked up their safety, j.lardinois stuffing campbell on a run up the middle.

leading 15-12, bsu struck from 30 yards out again, this time edholm hitting cameron abram for a 30 yard strike. But another missed pat by sundby put bsu up 21-12 going into halftime.

the missed extra points put an exclamation point on a bsu season that is likely coming to a close. The beavers had scored a touchdown with no time remaining a few weeks ago against minnesota duluth, but missed the pat to send the game into overtime.

the pat's continued to haunt the squad today, but the second half play by the beavers ensured the two misses would not impact the final outcome.

bsu's fourth touchdown was a 13 yard run by edholm, who finished with 173 passsing yards and three td's through the air while rushing seven times for 20 yards and a score.

concordia's defense was led by quaye's 12 tackles including two for loss and the touchdown on special teams. Junior trevor glomski (wabasha, minn.) had 11 tackles, a pair of sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss while senior defensive end will brown had 10 tackles and 3.5 for loss to finish the year with an impressive 21.5 tfl's to lead the nsic. Butler, who had the big punt block, also recorded eight tackles, five of them solo stops.

concordia's defense also held the most efficient third down offense in the league in check this afternoon as bsu converted just 3-12. They did manage to convert 3-4 on fourth downs, however while cu was 0-2 on fourth downs.

the 2009 golden bears conclude their first season at sea foam stadium this afternoon in front of 2,210 fans on concordia football alumni day. While the aforementioned note on power's 2006 safety was one alumni highlight, any mention of cu-bsu in st. Paul must include the unforgettable performance of james mcnear in 2005. In the game against bemidji state that year at griffin stadium, mcnear became the first player in ncaa division ii history to post a 300 yard passing, 200 yard rushing performance with 309 through the air and 222 on the ground. He passed for two td's and rushed for four including the game winner in a 55-48 overtime win in a season that saw cu capture their second nsic title in three years.

a special thank you to all of the alumni who were present this afternoon.

concordia also saw nine seniors close out their football careers, honoring them in the pre-game:
jordan schultenover, joey lehman, mitch brecke, christian even, joe butler, kyle tidemand, donny severs, will brown, john pimental