st. Paul, minn. - concordia university (3-4, 2-4 nsic, 1-2 nsic south) toppled the only remaining unbeaten northern sun team on saturday behind 297 yards and three touchdown passes from senior spencer ohm (blooming prairie, minn.). Ohm helped lead the golden bears to a 27-24 win over #24th ranked wayne state (5-2, 5-1 nsic, 1-1 nsic south) on saturday afternoon at sea foam stadium. Concordia snaps a three game skid while halting wayne state's five game win streak. box score | photos
ohm completed 15-23 and was not intercepted while connecting for touchdown strikes of 44 and 14 yards in the second quarter and a 46 yarder midway through the third quarter.
his three touchdowns were to each of concordia's three big play wide receivers, led by senior charles gilbert (jacksonville, fla.) who had five receptions for 165 yards including the 46 yard score in the third quarter. Gilbert also hauled in receptions of 54 and 52 yards. With his kick return yardage, gilbert accumulated 205 all-purpose yards on just seven touches.
concordia freshman kicker tom obarski (burnsville, minn.) continued his breakout season by drilling a 48-yard field goal in the first quarter and adding another from 22 yards out to give concordia a 27-17 lead early in the fourth quarter. Obarski converted all three pat's and punted nine times for a 33.1 average with two inside the 20 and a long of 42. The 48-yarder is the third longest field goal in school history and he now owns three of the four longest field goals for concordia and is 6-9 on the season.
in the third quarter, the golden bears bit the wildcats with three turnovers: a pair of interceptions (senior cedric okoi and sophomore chris sesson) and a fumble recovery on a muffed punt. Early in the fourth quarter, with the wildcats looking to punch the ball into the end zone, sophomore jay moten (spicer, minn.) delivered a blow to wildcat quarterback nate most on the one yard line, knocking the ball loose and recovering for the fourth turnover of the half.
it was just what concordia needed as the wildcats were able to tally 459 yards of total offense to concordia's 393.
it's the third time concordia won the turnover battle (4-1 today) and are now 3-0 when they do so with an 8-3 turnover margin in victories. It's especially important as wayne state led the league with a +13 turnover margin entering play today.
in addition to the turnovers, concordia's defense was keyed by senior linebackers al quaye (brooklyn park, minn.) and taylor selby (stratford, wis.). Quaye led the team with 13 tackles and a first quarter sack while selby had seven tackles but produced a five yard tackle for loss on wayne state's last real offensive possession which set up a 3rd and 15 situation they couldn't recover from.
redshirt freshman safety abdullah asad (chicago, ill.) also stepped up big with 11 tackles. Concordia's swarming defense returned to form, after two straight games without a sack they produced 3.0 today and had 6.0 tackles for loss while helping cause the four turnovers. Downfield, they broke up six wildcat passes and were in on three quarterback hurries to produce constant pressure in the backfield and in the secondary.
offensively, while it was the big play that allowed concordia to score, it was their ground game that allowed them to wear down the wildcats. Concordia had 34:03 of time of possesion, to wayne state's 25:57 and bruised their way to 40 rushing attempts.
senior running back sam campbell (cary, ill.) not only ran the ball as the feature back, but was calling the signals under the wildcat formation often. He finished with a career high 28 carries, gaining 74 yards in workman-like fashion.
the wildcats struggled through the air until midway through the fourth quarter when backup evan johnson replaced starter nate most (the team's third string qb in preseason). Johnson completed 7-11 for 130 yards and a touchdown in comeback mode while most was 11-23 for 195 yards, two interceptions and was sacked three times.
mitch montgomery (7-150) and tommy warren (5-104) were solid downfield for wayne state, while kevin paulsen added 5-67 receiving, but they only completed one pass to their other targets, a four yarder to nick pulscher out of the backfield.
it's concordia's first win over wayne state in st. Paul since 2005 and their second straight win over the wildcats overall and they now lead the all-time series 8-5.
it was concordia's third annual military appreciation day at sea foam stadium as well. During the pre-game, concordia honored the 11 minnesota soldiers who have lost their lives in action since last year's military appreciation day on september 11, 2010.
the game was dedicated to the memory and honor of navy seal nicholas patrick spehar of chisago city, minn. His younger brother, jacob, is a junior defensive lineman for the golden bears. Jacob, his brother luke, and parents patrick and annette, were named honorary team captains for today's coin toss.
concordia returns to the road next saturday at winona state for a 1:00 p.m. Kickoff in divisional play.
