MARSHALL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul football team (2-8 NSIC, 1-5 South) fell a touchdown short in its bid for a road comeback on Saturday in a 35-28 loss at Southwest Minnesota State (4-6 NSIC, 3-3 South) at Regional Event Center.

The Golden Bears fell behind by as many as three scores twice, 21-0 in the second quarter and 35-14 in the third quarter but came as close to three yards from tying the game.

Concordia had a third and goal from the three yard line where James Peterson (Blaine, Minn.) was intercepted by Donovan Woods in the end zone with 6:17 to play in the fourth quarter.

Until that point, Concordia led in the give-take battle, with two takeaways to just one giveaway. But the Peterson interception was the second Concordia turnover and after the defense held the Mustangs on the ensuing drive, Corey Cole (Fillmore, Calif.) fumbled the punt return for the team's third turnover of the game and SMSU ran out the clock on Concordia's attempted comeback.

The loss for the Golden Bears is their fifth of the season in an 8-point or less (one score) margin and the team is now 0-6 when losing the turnover margin.

Concordia running back Tre Spears (Chicago, Ill.) rushed for his third 100-yard game of the season and eclipsed the century mark for the first time since week two as he rushed for 114 yards and two touchdowns on 16 attempts while backup Jason White (Davenport, Iowa) rushed for 43 yards on six attempts.

Concordia ran for 207 yards on 43 attempts and totalled 23 first downs in the game while SMSU had just 15 first downs as a team.

But the Golden Bears couldn't get a consistent pass threat established, as Peterson completed 10-of-20 for 122 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions while being sacked four times. He only completed passes to four different targets and was unable to connect with Cordell Smith (Mequon, Wis.) or Tre Mason (League City, Texas) with only two of his 10 completions finding a wide receiver. The other eight completions went to running backs or tight ends.

Peterson has now passed for 20 touchdowns on the season and is just two shy of tying the single season school record with one game to play.

The defense was led by junior Zach Moore (Chicago, Ill.) with a sack, 1.5 tackles for loss and seven tackles.

Concordia converted 8-of-14 times on third downs but the league's leading red zone percentage offense was able to convert just two scores (both touchdowns) in four trips to the red zone. The Golden Bears also dominated time of possession with a 33:58 to 26:02 advantage.

Golden Bear kicker Tom Obarski (Burnsville, Minn. ) also missed his first career field goal inside of 40 yards in his 12th career attempt as he missed a 35-yarder today.

The Mustangs were led by Gannon Moore with three touchdowns as he rushed for 115 yards on 10 attempts and had three catches for 44 yards, and his three touchdowns opened the scoring for SMSU including a 69-yard run. Warren Matthews added to the ground game with 16 carries for 74 yards and two more touchdowns.

The Golden Bears close out the 2012 season next Saturday at Winona State with a 1 p.m. kickoff.