aberdeen, s.d. - juniors spencer ohm (qb, blooming prairie, minn.) and charles gilbert (wr, jacksonville, fla.) were in-sync on saturday afternoon at swisher field. Ohm found gilbert for three long touchdown passes (41, 23, 44) and another 37 yard connection as concordia university (2-1, 1-1 nsic) defeated northern state (0-3, 0-2 nsic) 27-17. Gilbert had eight receptions for 183 yards and three scores while ohm passed for a career-high 240 yards, completing 15-26 with no interceptions. For head coach mark mauer, it was his 34th career victory suprassing tom cross (1987-97) as the all-time winningest head coach in school history in his seventh season (2004-present). box score

it was a near-record breaking performance for senior kicker steven king (johnston, iowa) as well as he drilled field goals of 44 and 43 yards, both career longs, and just two and three yards shy of the school's longest made field goal, respectively (thom hardin, 46 yards, vs. Northwestern, 1982). King finished with nine points in the game and has made four out of five field goals in 2010.

along with ohm and gilbert's dominance through the air, concordia also utilized a decisive edge in field position thanks to a better kicking game, return game and a defensive effort that was lock-down in the second half.

concordia's defense continued to wreak havoc in the backfield with nine tackles for loss and three sacks, although a handful of those tackles for loss were on nsu's quarterbacks who are active runners.

no one was more dominant defensively than sophomore defensive end zach moore (chicago, ill.) who led the charge with a career high 3.0 tackles for loss and his first 2.0 sack performance. He also had six total tackles, with his one tfl that wasn't a sack was on the qb behind the line, and he had a clutch tackle on nsu quarterback nick wanner on a first half third down for a one yard gain that forced nsu to miss a game-tying field goal just before halftime.

concordia's secondary also had their best game of the season by holding northern state to 152 passing yards which was a big reason why the wolves were unable to muster a second half comeback. Senior cornerback jason mccalope (oakland, calif.) was a key culprit with six tackles, three pass breakups and a tackle for loss.

while northern state struggled to pass the ball, ohm looked poised and displayed veteran presence as he carved up the wolves for 240 yards. Despite facing an aggressive and quick pass rush, ohm on numerous occasions showed the ability to identify the rush, escape and make a strong throw on the run downfield. That presence paid off on his connections to gilbert for the big play strikes.

gilbert's big day threatened the single game record for receptions (12, joe mapson vs. Um-morris, 2000), receiving yards (241, joe mapson, vs. Um-morris, 2002) and touchdowns (4, calvin simon, vs. Msu moorhead, 2007).

and although concordia had their lowest rushing total of the season, it was an effective rushing effort that helped run the clock out in the fourth quarter to keep gilbert from breaking the records.

gilbert has scored five touchdowns in three games this season while leading cu in all-purpose yards every week.

the golden bears rushed for 78 yards on 34 attempts led by junior sam campbell (cary, ill.) who averaged 4.0 yards per attempt on 17 carries for 68 yards.

the field position game was helped by cu's five yard advantage in net-kickoffs, a tribute to kick coverage and king's leg. In the punting game, senior t.g. Schoenberg (woodbury, minn.) had a solid overall day with a 37.8 punting average while the gunners and his hangtime helped limit nsu with a 36.4 net punting average on five punts. Nsu, meanwhile, punted the same amount of times but only averaged 31.0 on their punts with the same net average. Throw in a missed 35 yard field goal by nsu and the advantage was clearly in cu's corner. Schoenberg also drilled his season long with a 51 yarder today.

while gilbert came into the game leading the nation in kick return average at 47.7 (3 returns), it was redshirt freshman jay moten (spicer, minn.) who led the team with a 28.5 average on two returns with a long of 31 while the wolves were not willing to kick to gilbert deep.

the other ongoing storyline is senior calvin simon (shakopee, minn.) who has caught a pass in every game he's played in at concordia. While he didn't have a catch today, his streak remains alive as he was not dressed for action due to injury.

concordia heads into their first nsic south divisional game next saturday at #16 minnesota state with a winning overall record and a .500 nsic record. Their game in mankato, minn. Has a 6:00 p.m. Kickoff.