ST. PAUL, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul (3-4 NSIC, 0-3 South) fell behind early as Sioux Falls (4-3 NSIC, 2-1 South) cruised to a 47-7 victory on Saturday at Sea Foam Stadium.

The Cougars scored four times (two field goals, two touchdowns) in the second quarter after leading 14-0 in the first for a 34-0 halftime lead. In the first half, Sioux Falls had 22-4 advantage in first downs and 400-84 advantage in total offense. Concordia was 0-7 on third downs while Sioux Falls converted at a high rate, 9-14, in the first half.

Until Concordia's last drive of the second quarter, the Golden Bears had -3 rushing yards on 16 attempts to start the game.

But it was senior Ronald Zollicoffer that busted out for gains of nine and 17 before the second quarter clock expired.

He carried the momentum into the second half as Concordia opened the third quarter with the ball.

On the opening drive, all Zollicoffer needed was two more runs to get into the end zone on a two play, 58 scoring drive as he sprinted 43 yards for the touchdown straight down the middle of the field.

Zollicoffer was the bright spot offensively for Concordia as he finished the day with a career-high 119 yards on 15 attempts for a 7.9 average in his first career 100-yard game.

The run game continued to be solid in the second half as the team finished with 197 rushing yards on 45 attempts. Freshman Bruce Russell saw his most extensive action in the backfield as well with 15 carries for 66 yards including a long of 16.

Sioux Falls came into the contest averaging 313.2 yards per game on the ground and 169.0 through the air. Although Concordia held USF to well below their season average on the ground (50-195), the Cougars were able to pass for 433 yards.

Cougar starting wide receiver Carrington Hanna drew the start at quarterback due to USF injury issues at the position and completed 24-36 for 407 and four touchdowns. Hanna was inititally recruited as a quarterback and began his USF career there before switching to wide receiver. He also rushed for 31 yards on 12 attempts.

Concordia's passing game couldn't match Sioux Falls, which was the difference statistically. Concordia junior quarterbacks Jared Russo and James Peterson combined to complete 10-of-23 for 98 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions and were sacked twice.

Sophomore receiver Gabe Boyce led the receivers with five catches for 54 yards in the game. Boyce led the team with 168 all-purpose yards as he also had a 51 yard kickoff return among his six returns for 114 yards.

The Golden Bears finished the game dominating time of possession with 33:56 of clock to 26:04 for Sioux Falls, but lost for the first time this year when winning time of possession (3-1).

Junior kicker/punter Tom Obarski tied his career high with nine punts in the game while topping his career high with 329 yards for a 36.6 average, a long of 51 and two inside the 20.

Defensively, five Golden Bears topped 10 tackles led by sophomore Josh Trifunov with 12, adding 2.0 for loss and a sack. Junior nose guard Hank Goff picked off his first career interception, stopping a USF scoring drive in the red zone and Reggie Alouidor forced a fumble with freshman Rual Boles recovering late in the game as Concordia won the turnover battle, 2-1.

For the game, Concordia converted 4-16 on third downs, going 4-7 in the second half, but were 0-3 on fourth down. Sioux Falls was 13-21 and converted 29 first downs in the game for 628 yards of total offense.

The Golden Bears look to get back on track next Saturday, October 26 as they hit the road to take on Wayne State at 1 p.m. in Wayne, Neb.