st. Paul, minn. - for the first time in the history of concordia's 40 year college football program, the team will play a home game in their own stadium on saturday as they host arch-rival winona state at 6:00 p.m. In the inaugural game at sea foam stadium. The game has also been deemed concordia university military appreciation day by city of saint paul mayor chris coleman. The weather forecast calls for perfect conditions and a capacity crowd is expected in the opener. gameday live options
while these two football programs have no love lost between them, the evening will be feature plenty of entertainment aside from the pure division ii football occurring on the stadium's sprinturf playing surface.
on the gridiron, concordia's only two wins against winona state came in their nsic championship seasons of 2003 and 2005, coincidentally the same seasons wsu was co-champs with cu. The victories for concordia in those two seasons give them the clear bragging rights for those two split titles.
in 2009, concordia is off to a 1-2 start while wsu is 2-1. Both teams have split their first two league games. Concordia features the most explosive receiver in the nsic, senior jordan schultenover, who ripped up the dragons for 212 yards on eight catches last week in a 45-35 road win. Sophomore jerry shaw snapped a two year 100 yard rushing drought for cu runners with 19 carries for 100 yards while scoring twice. Concordia continues to feature a two quarterback tandem with senior mitch brecke getting his first start last week while sophomore spencer ohm took plenty of snaps.
the defense was resurgent behind sophomore al quaye's career-high 11 tackles along with his first interception while junior jason mccalope made his first start at corner and recorded nine stops and an interception in his cu debut.
speaking of cu debut's, junior steven king booted three field goals and scored 11 points in the 10 point victory. The kicker had been a member of the baseball team the previous two seasons and will now be a two-sport athlete for cu, playing baseball in the spring and football in the fall while continuing baseball workouts in the fall season. King's three field goal performance tied a school record.
while king made his cu debut last week, all 96 players will be making their first appearance at sea foam stadium tomorrow.
pre-game festivities include a co-ed military flag football scrimmage at 3:00 p.m. While spectators are invited to attend and tailgate in concordia's parking lots e and h following the scrimmage which will conclude at 4:00. Winona state fans can tailgate in lot e north of fandrei center while cu fans will be able to utilize lot h between fandrei and holiday.
for those who would rather watch premier volleyball action, the top-ranked golden bears will be taking on winona state at the gangelhoff center at 3:00.
gates to the stadium open at 5:00 p.m. (ticket information) while pre-game announcements will commence approximately 25 minutes prior to the 6:00 kickoff. Pre-game festivities include an enlistment ceremony, mayoral proclamation, the team taking the field together for the first time to a firework display before honorary captain major general richard wegner assists the captains with the coin flip.
the stadium will be decorated with countless red, white and blue flags throughout but the big draw will be the 30'x50' flag to be displayed during dr. David mennicke's national anthem. Immediately prior to kickoff will be a fly-over by the minnesota vietnam veterans charity.
there will be plenty of other important military recognition spots throughout the game, including the honoring of former cu football players, sgt. Michael carlson and adam kroth. Carlson lost his life in iraq while saving two others in a tragic accident while kroth is currently home on a two week leave to see the inaugural game at the stadium.
the halftime show will feature a performance by the cu dance team while the csp choir will perform "mansions of the lord" and "the armed forces medley" before concordia's newest football player, damian heairet, will be presented with a $180,000 rotc scholarship on the field.
fans should stick around for the post-game fireworks presentation, as well.
