MOORHEAD, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul (3-1) picked up a 36-34 victory as senior All-American Zach Moore (Chicago) blocked a game-winning 23-yard field goal with seven seconds to play to spoil MSU Moorhead's (0-4) homecoming game at Alex Nemzek Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

On the game's final play, it was the 6-foot, 6-inch defensive end that was credited with the block after a timing issue between the snap, hold and kick caused a delay for Dragon kicker Wes Kramer as a host of Golden Bears were on the verge of blocking the kick. Moore also had five tackles, a sack and tackle for loss in the win, his second sack of the season and 28th of his career leaving him two shy of the school record.

Concordia held a 36-21 lead midway through the fourth quarter when junior Jared Russo (Milwaukee) connected with sophomore Matt Buhmann (Elk River, Minn.) for a 54-yard touchdown on a 3rd and 13 from their own 46 yard line.

MSU Moorhead scored on the following possession on a 7-play, 65-yard drive spanning 2:12 with quarterback Jake Hodge punching it in from a yard out with 5:03 on the clock. The Hodge touchdown run cut the margin back to a one score deficit as the Dragons trailed by a touchdown and two-point conversion.

The Golden Bears responded by draining nearly two minutes (1:52) off the clock but were forced to punt as the MSUM took over with excellent field position at the CU 45 yard line with 3:11 to play and a chance to tie.

Concordia's defense held strong as redshirt freshman Chris Krakau (South Milwaukee, Wis.) sacked Hodge on a 2nd and 10 play from the CU 29 yard line, forcing him to fumble with Krakau recovering. Krakau had a big day with 10 tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks with the forced fumble and recovery.

It was Concordia's third forced fumble as they recovered all three and won the turnover differential, 3-2.

The Golden Bears took over with 2:21 to play and on a 3rd and 14 nearly picked up a first down as senior Ronald Zollicoffer (Chicago) burst for 13 yards to set up a 4th and 1 at CU's own 44.

Concordia opted to go for it with senior Tre Spears (Chicago) getting stuff at the line of scrimmage by Sam Callahan and Mike Mann, turning it over to the Dragons with 1:32 to play and no timeouts.

Spears once again carried the load for the Golden Bears, rushing 29 times for 150 yards and two touchdowns while Zollicoffer complimented him with 17 rushes for 68 yards and a touchdown. Concordia rushed for 234 yards on 54 attempts and only needed to throw the ball 12 times.

The dominant run game allowed Concordia to win the time of possession battle, 34:34 to 25:26 as they improve to 3-0 when controlling the clock.

Two plays later, MSUM found paydirt with an 18-yard pass setting up a 26-yard touchdown from Hodge to Adam Jiskra. The Dragons misfired as Hodge couldn't connect with a receiver for the game-tying two-point conversion.

Without timeouts and 1:16 to play, MSUM was forced to onside kick with Kramer executing the play for the Dragons, who recovered at their own 48.

MSU Moorhead completed a 17-yard pass to get into Concordia territory to the 35 yard line but on 2nd and 10 after Hodge was sacked by Moore for a five yard loss, the Golden Bears were flagged for a personal foul that gave MSUM a first down at the 25 yard line.

Hodge used an 8-yard run and a 5-yard pass for another first down and a defensive holding penalty gave the Dragons a 1st and goal from the 6-yard line, setting up the blocked field goal.

Concordia led 15-7 at the half in the game despite MSUM scoring first with the only points of the first quarter. In the second quarter, Concordia got on the scoreboard with a 62-yard punt return for touchdown by junior Cordell Smith (Mequon, Wis.) while junior quarterback James Peterson (Blaine, Minn.) rushed in for the two point conversion for the lead.

Concordia never relinquished the lead after the two point conversion.

Russo finished the day 8-12 passing for 134 yards including the 54-yard touchdown pass. He connected with junior tight end Jermaine Clemon (Racine, Wis.) on five of his eight completions with Clemon hauling in 52 receiving yards. Two of his other completions went to senior tight end Raphael Washington (Orlando, Fla.) for 28 yards while Buhmann was the only receiver to catch a pass for Concordia.

Hodge was excellent for the Dragons, rushing for 107 yards and two touchdowns among his 19 carries while completing 21-38 for 285 yards and two more touchdowns. He connected with Adam Jiskra nine times for 180 yards.

The Golden Bear defense was led by Krakau with 10 tackles, 2.0 sacks and tackles for loss along with the forced fumble and recovery. Moore finished with five tackles, a sack and tackle for loss along with the game-winning blocked field goal.

Three other Golden Bear defenders had double-digit tackles led by Josh Trifunov (South St. Paul, Minn.) with 12 along with two pass breakups. Nick Jauch (Middleton, Wis.) and Jimmy Mireri (Fridley, Minn.) each had 11 tackles and forced a fumble. Jauch also had a recovery while Mireri was able to breakup four passes.

Concordia improves to 3-1 for the 14th time in program history dating back to 1969 and its the first 3-1 start since the 2010 Mineral Water Bowl team that finished 8-4. Concordia's previous 13 teams that started 3-1 have all finished .500 or better on the season.

The Golden Bears return home next Saturday, October 5 for a noon kickoff on homecoming against #2 Minnesota State University, Mankato.