Football | 10.30.14

ST. PAUL, Minn. - This Saturday at 1 p.m., Concordia-St. Paul (2-6 NSIC, 1-3 South) travels to Marshall, Minn. to face Southwest Minnesota State (2-6 NSIC, 1-3 South) at Schwan Regional Event Center.

SOUTH DIVISION GRIDLOCK
While Concordia and Southwest Minnesota State each have disappointing overall records, the two teams are currently locked in a five team tie for fourth place in the NSIC South Division with three division games remaining. The Golden Bears and Mustangs are tied with Augustana, Winona State and Upper Iowa. Concordia, SMSU, Winona State and Augustana all play each other in the season's final three games to help break the tie, while Upper Iowa's three losses are to SMSU, WSU and Concordia with a win against Augustana.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
Concordia and SMSU have played among the nation's hardest schedules this season with an identical slate to date. The two teams have played the exact same teams in the exact same locations this year, with each team picking up wins over Minnesota Crookston and Upper Iowa at home. The more compelling note about Concordia and SMSU's strength of schedule this season is that it's currently ranked #7 in the nation as the opponents have a combined 38-18 record. It's not a trend that's likely to shift downward much, if any, either. Factoring in the final three games of the year into the SOS still ranks Concordia and SMSU along with Winona State and Augustana at #8 with a 48-32 cumulative record.

The similarities continue, as each team has had multiple close losses this season. Concordia's first three games were all one touchdown losses, while the Sioux Falls loss was within a possession at the start of the fourth quarter, and the MSU game was a 3-3 tie in the second.

SERIES HISTORY
Concordia leads the all-time series with SMSU 9-8, but holds a 9-6 edge since joining the NSIC and Division II ranks in 1999. The Golden Bears are an even 4-4 against the Mustangs in Marshall, Minn. and have won two of the last three trips there. However, SMSU has won the last two contests in the series overall and the most recent meeting at Regional Event Center in 2012. Last year, SMSU defeated Concordia 55-24 at Metrodome en route to a Mineral Water Bowl berth. SMSU's two straight wins snapped a three game win streak by Concordia.

LAST MEETING: SMSU 55, Concordia 24 (2013)
SMSU came into the Metrodome in week 10 with one of the top offenses in the country featuring NSIC single-season rushing record holder Tyler Tonderum, who had already set the mark prior to the game. The Mustangs came out strong, putting up a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and never relinquished the lead the rest of the way. The first half was up-and-down as SMSU led 35-21 at the break before pulling away in the second half.

The Mustangs compiled 29 first downs, 254 rushing yards, 317 passing and 571 yards of total offense. Concordia had an efficient offensive day with 143 on the groun, 227 in the air and 370 yards of total offense for 21 first downs but couldn't keep pace with the no-huddle attack of SMSU.

The Golden Bears actually held Tonderum under his season rushing average by 33 yards as he ran for 156 yards on 22 carries with a touchdown while Tre Spears countered with 84 yards on 19 attempts with a score for Concordia.

Charlie Kern completed 27-39 for 317 and five scores for SMSU while Jared Russo passed for 227 yards and two scores for Concordia. Both of Russo's touchdowns went to Cordell Smith as he had five catches for 102 yards on the day.

Concordia's Ronald Zollicoffer had a game-high 183 all-purpose yards with 142 via kickoff return, 21 rushing and 20 receiving.

ABOUT THE MUSTANGS
Southwest Minnesota State enters the weekend with the 10^th-ranked scoring offense in the NSIC with 28.9 points per game while allowing nearly ten more at 38.4, 14^th best in the league. Turnover margin has been a big factor in that scoring differential for the Mustangs as they have committed the second-most turnovers in the league with 21 while turning opponents over the second-fewest times with 11 for a -10 margin. SMSU has had a lot of success, however, on third downs as they lead the league with a 46.3% conversion rate on 147 attempts.
 
Despite throwing a league-high 15 interceptions on the season, quarterback Charlie Kern has completed an efficient 63.9% of his passes and 16 touchdowns while averaging 236.2 passing yards per game. His most frequent target this season has been Nathaniel Huot, who leads the team and ranks 10^th in the conference with 41 catches to give him 459 yards receiving and five touchdowns.
 
Andrew McReynolds has been busy in the secondary as he is tied for third in the NSIC with four interceptions on the year. Jared Twedt and Tyler Fluid enter the game tied as the leading tacklers for Mustangs with 70 tackles each for an average of 8.8 per game, ranking in the top-10 in the league. Casey Hertz isn't far behind with 68 tackles for an 8.5 per game average.
 
Kicker/punter Mike Wenk has enjoyed a solid season as he leads the league in punting average by over five yards at 45.2 and ranks second (behind Obarski) in field goal percentage at 85.7% (7-8) on the season.

MEET THE 2014 TEAM CAPTAINS
The 2014 team captains are senior Abdullah Asad (SS, Chicago) and junior Jordan Halverson (LB, Fridley, Minn.) on defense and seniors Cordell Smith (WR, Mequon, Wis.) and Tre Spears (RB, Chicago) on offense. All four captains are climbing the career leaders at their respective positions:
Abdullah Asad: Has ascended to 11th with 237 career tackles while also compiled 15.5 tackles for loss, 12 passes defended with four interceptions. This year, he's made 43 tackles with 2.5 for loss and two interceptions. He's two tackles shy of moving into 10th and six shy of moving up to ninth on the all-time list at Concordia.
Jordan Halverson: Is now tied for sixth in career tackles with 275 and is 12 away from fifth place. With another year of eligibility due to a medical redshirt in 2013, Halverson has a shot at the career tackles record as he's currently 67 away from Brian Doyle's (2001-04) record of 342. He's also 12th in career tackles for loss with 25.5. This year, he's having a career-high pace with 85 tackles in eight games to rank 26th nationally and fifth in the league. He's had four games with at least 10 tackles including topping 13 tackles three times. He's made at least seven tackles in every game this year.
Tre Spears: Ranks sixth in career rushing with 2,589 yards and is less than 200 yards away from catching Sam Campbell for fifth (2,760). With three games to play, Spears is 330 yards away from his first 1,000 yard rushing season as he had 885 as a sophomore and 967 last year as a junior. This year, he has career-highs as a receiver out of the backfield with 25 catches for 123 yards.
Cordell Smith: Ranks fifth in career receiving yards with 2,070, eighth in receptions with 136 and fourth in receiving touchdowns with 24. He's one touchdown away from third and three away from second on the career list; four catches from moving up to seventh and 10 away from sixth and is 223 yards away from fourth in school history. This year, Smith has 32 catches for 420 yards and four touchdowns. Smith also excelled on the basketball court as a two-sport athlete as he averaged 12.6 points and a team-high 5.9 rebounds while hitting 52 three-pointers at a 42.3% clip last season in his final year of basketball eligibility.

OBARSKI AMONG NATION'S ELITE KICKERS
Tom Obarski has been an All-NSIC kicker and punter in his career while being a four-year Fred Mitchell Award honoree and Concordia's nominee for the National Football Foundation (NFF) scholar award. He's ranked third in the country with 1.88 field goals made per game and 10th in accuracy at 88.2%. Last week in Concordia's 37-34 win over Upper Iowa, Obarski hit a 56-yard game tying field goal in the fourth quarter and hit the game winner from 42 yards out in overtime after missing a game winning try from 39 yards out at the end of regulation to snap a streak of 14-straight made field goals.

In his career, he's hit from 59, 56 twice, 52, 51, 48 twice and 47 yards out. His 56-yarder this year is an NCAA Division II long. He holds records at Concordia for most made field goals in a career (41), season (15) and game (3, 4x career, 3x in 2014). He also holds the school record for most punts (214) and punting yards (8,186), has the second and third longest punt averages in a season (2012, 2013) and the second ranked career average (38.3). Among his 214 career punts, Obarski has placed 51 inside the 20, forced 35 fair catches and has 22 of at least 50 yards. On kickoffs, Obarski has delivered 14 touchbacks on 36 attempts this year and 43 touchbacks on 156 career kickoffs.

He's a two-time NSIC Player of the Week this season and will be a three-time NSIC All-Academic selection. He was a Captial One Academic All-District selection last year as well.

OBARSKI CAREER STATS

FG	M-Att	Pct	01-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50-99	Lng	Blk
2011	9-12	75.0	0-0	3-3	1-1	4-5	1-3	56	0
2012	10-14	71.4	0-0	3-3	5-6	0-2	2-3	59	0
2013	7-16	43.8	0-0	1-2	5-6	0-7	1-1	51	0
2014	15-17	88.2	0-0	4-4	4-6	6-6	1-1	56	0
Totals	41-59	69.5	0-0	11-12	15-19	10-20	5-8	59	0
PUNTS	No.	Yards	Avg	Long	TB	FC	I20	50+	Blk
2011	52	1792	34.5	56	2	9	10	1	0
2012	56	2285	40.8	64	3	7	10	7	0
2013	58	2357	40.6	68	1	6	21	9	0
2014	48	1752	36.5	54	5	13	10	5	0
Totals	214	8186	38.3	68	11	35	51	22	0
KO	No.	Yards	Avg	TB	OB
2011	28	1608	57.4	3	2
2012	50	2931	58.6	15	3
2013	42	2356	56.1	11	1
2014	36	2213	61.5	14	2
Totals	156	9108	58.4	43	8

MIRERI MAKING AN IMPACT
Cornerback Jimmy Mireri came up with multiple game-changing plays in Concordia's week eight win over Upper Iowa. After knocking down a deep pass in the end zone in man coverage in the fourth quarter, Mireri came up with an interception with 1:12 to play on the Concordia 38 yard line to stop a potential game winning drive by Upper Iowa. His 90-yard kickoff return for touchdown in the second quarter put Concordia ahead 21-10 en route to a 31-10 halftime lead. He finished the day second on the team with nine tackles, had three pass breakups and the interception while compiling 109 total return yards.

In his career, Mireri is fourth in passes defended with 30 and holds the record for breakups with 27. He has 147 career tackles including 45 this year.

Along with a kickoff return for touchdown, Mireri also has a 36-yard touchdown reception against Wayne State.

CLEMON MOVES INSIDE AGAINST UIU
Tight end Jermaine Clemon has posted a career-high 382 yards receiving this year on 28 receptions, 10 shy of last year's catch total. While having his top yardage campaign, Clemon was asked to move to left tackle in the second half of Concordia's week eight win over Upper Iowa due to injuries up front. At the end of the game, Clemon boasted the top grade on the offensive line for his efforts after notching three catches for 29 yards in the first half. He's had at least two catches every week and topped 60 receiving yards three times.

In his career, Clemon has moved into the career receptions rankings with 90, climbing to 12th place on the all-time list with the 100-catch milestone with grasp providing he is no longer needed along the offensive line.

CONCORDIA ON THIRD STARTING QUARTERBACK
The Golden Bears entered the season with junior Corey Cole as the starting quarterback and he responded to the role with 177 rushing yards over 300 yards of total offense in his debut start at UMD in the opener. But after an injury in week two, the Golden Bears turned to Jared Russo who had started all 11 games as a junior and made a handful of starts in 2011 as a redshirt freshman as well. In parts of seven games this year, Russo has passed for 925 yards and eight touchdowns with four interceptions. In week seven at Minnesota State, Concordia turned to redshirt freshman Ben Schramski for his first career start. In two starts and parts of five total games, Schramski has passed for 457 yards on 35-72 passing. In week eight, Schramski guided the team to a win as he had his first career rushing (5) and passing (40) touchdowns against Upper Iowa.