ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul football team (2-6 NSIC, 1-3 NSIC South) dug themselves into a 27-0 hole in the first half before falling 48-21 to Wayne State (5-3 NSIC, 2-2 NSIC South) on Saturday afternoon at Sea Foam Stadium.
The Wildcats scored four of their six touchdowns from 40-plus yards and compiled 534 yards of total offense highlighted by a 310 yard rushing day.
Concordia finished with 290 passing yards in the game but committed four turnovers as a team while managing just 69 rushing yards on 33 attempts.
After a 27-0 first half, the Golden Bears rallied for some momentum early in the third quarter as
Zach Moore (Chicago, Ill.) sacked WSC quarterback Brian Kent as the ball came loose with
Chris Sesson (Chicago, Ill.) recovering on the WSC 19 yard line. Moore had a pair of sacks in the game, giving him eight for the year.
Four plays later, the Golden Bears were on the scoreboard as
James Peterson (Blaine, Minn.) connected with
Nate Thienes (Lake Elmo, Minn.) for a six yard score. The drive was keyed by an 11 yard run by
Tre Spears (Chicago, Ill.) to put the ball inside the 10.
On Wayne State's ensuing possession, the Golden Bear defense stood strong, forcing a three-and-out as WSC punted with a 4th and 9 on their own 24. The punt was blocked by
Mike Willett (Woodbury, Minn.)and scooped up by
Jordan Nieuwsma (Lakeville, Minn.) who dashed seven yards for a touchdown. Willett led the Golden Bear defense with 12 tackles, adding 1.5 for loss.
The two scores for the Golden Bears occurred in just over two minutes of clock time and suddenly Concordia was within striking distance of a comeback with plenty of time to play.
The Wildcats had other ideas as they answered with an 8-play, 75-yard drive capped by a 50-yard touchdown pass from Kent to Cole McDaniel.
On Concordia's next drive, the Wildcats intercepted Peterson on a 3rd and 9 from the WSC 43 yard line with Benjamin Perry picking the pass over the middle at the WSC 33.
WSC responded with a 3-play scoring drive capped by a 44-yard touchdown run by Nick Pulscher to cushion the lead back to 41-14 late in the third quarter.
The two teams traded scores in the fourth quarter, with Peterson finding
Cordell Smith (Mequon, Wis.) for a 14-yard score over the middle early in the fourth quarter. WSC put the game away with 1:59 to go as Charlie Davidson dashed 48 yards for the game's final score.
Peterson completed 22-of-48 for 290 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. He was sacked four times and hurried seven times by WSC's aggressive defensive front.
Spears led the ground game with 54 yards on 14 attempts and added an 11-yard reception.
Concordia's receivers were led by Smith with five receptions for 84 yards including the score.
Dustin Christen (St. Cloud, Minn.) also had five receptions for 40 yards and Thienes finished with four catches for 27 yards and the TD.
Wayne State was led by Brian Kent, who passed for 224 yards on 11-of-17 completions and three touchdowns. Kent also rushed 13 times for 156 yards and a touchdown in a dominating performance.
Concordia's defense received another solid effort from
Jordan Halverson (Fridley, Minn.) with nine tackles. He missed the 10-tackle mark for just the second time this season in eight games.
The Wildcat defense was paced by Jeff Pokorny with eight tackles, 4.5 for loss and a pair of sacks with three hurries and two pass breakups. Nick Monzu led the team with 10 tackles.
Concordia returns to action next Saturday with a 1 p.m. kickoff against Augustana in the team's home finale.
