ST. PAUL, Minn. - This Saturday at noon, Concordia-St. Paul (4-6 NSIC, 3-3 South) travels to Warrior Stadium to face Winona State (4-6 NSIC, 1-5 South) in the 2014 season finale. The Golden Bears are looking to extend their winning streak to four games to end the year while Winona State is attempting to snap a three game skid to end the year with a victory.

THREE GAME WINNING STREAK
With the season coming to a close, the Concordia football team has been playing its football of the season with three straight wins. Concordia's last three game winning streak was in head coach Ryan Williams' first season in 2011 as the squad won the final three games of the year to finish 6-5 overall and 5-5 in the Northern Sun. The Golden Bears started the streak with a 37-34 overtime win over Upper Iowa followed by a 38-20 road win at SMSU before closing out the home schedule with a 17-7 win over Augustana on senior day last week. With a win on Saturday, the Golden Bears would achieve their first four game winning streak since the 2005 NSIC Championship squad that finished the year 9-3 overall and 6-1 in the NSIC. That squad reeled off five straight NSIC wins en route to the program's second league title in three years.

PLAYING FOR A THIRD PLACE FINISH
After a 1-6 start to the season including dropping the first three NSIC South Division contests, the Golden Bears are now in a position to finish with a winning record in the NSIC South Division along with a third place division finish, only behind #1 Minnesota State (6-0) and #17 Sioux Falls (5-1) in division play and tied with Wayne State (3-3). WSC has a tough end to the season at Sioux Falls, so the Golden Bears have a shot at an outright third place finish. Overall, Concordia is currently in 10th in the 16-team Northern Sun but just one game behind a four-team tie for sixth place as St. Cloud State, U-Mary, Wayne State and Augustana all have 5-5 overall records. Concordia and Winona State are the only teams at 4-6 overall, so the winner moves up considerably in the final overall league ledger.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
While Concordia is hot with three straight wins and has a lot to play for on Saturday, it's even more impressive given that the Golden Bears have played the eighth-ranked schedule out of 171 Division II programs. Collectively, Concordia's opponents have compiled a .600 winning percentage (54-36) including facing the country's #1, #2 and #17 ranked programs on the road. Concordia and Winona State have faced the same schedule to date, posting identical overall records with only two common wins: Minnesota Crookston and Upper Iowa. Concordia's other two wins were over Augustana and SMSU while WSU's two other wins were over Northern State and U-Mary.

RUSHING ATTACK DOMINATING OPPOSING FRONTS
Concordia's run game has been crushing opposing defenses the last two weeks with 300-plus yards against SMSU (53-345, 3 TD) and Augustana (47-328, 2 TD) as the team now has produced four 200-plus yard rushing games this year and another with 194. The 345 yards against SMSU is the third highest single game total in program history. The result has pushed Concordia's rushing offense to 60th in the country and sixth in the NSIC at 179.9 per game behind an offensive line that has been consistently protecting the backfield all season, ranking 35th nationally with 1.40 sacks allowed per game and 23rd nationally (2nd NSIC) with 5.20 tackles for loss per game. The strong rushing attack has also produced lopsided time of possession margins all season, but even more pronounced the last two weeks as Concordia had 42:35-17:25 against SMSU and 35:48-24:12 against Augie. On the year, Concordia averages 33:37 per game of clock time, ranking 10th in the country and second only to UMD in the NSIC.

TURNOVER MARGIN LEADING TO VICTORIES
While the run game has helped control the ball in terms of time of possession, Concordia's ability to take care of the ball by limiting and forcing turnovers has been another major key to the team's turnaround down the stretch. Concordia is +5 in turnover margin during the current three game winning streak, forcing eight turnovers including three each game the last two weeks. The Golden Bears are now 4-1 when the turnover margin is neutral or positive and 0-5 when losing the turnover margin. Concordia is 3-0 when winning the turnover battle, forcing three turnovers in each of those contests.

SECONDARY & PASS RUSH SHUTTING DOWN OPPOSING PASS OFFENSES
Concordia's passing defense has been tremendous all season, with a few exceptions as two teams have produced 300-plus performances, but only two others have topped 200 passing yards in game. In the other six contests, Concordia has limited opposing passing games to 157 yards or less including five games allowing 117 yards or less. Concordia has also nabbed 12 interceptions on the year led by strong safety Abdullah Asad and cornerback Jimmy Mireri with three each. Meanwhile, the defensive front has been just as much a part of disrupting opposing pass games as defensive lineman Dion Roche leads the team and is third in the NSIC with eight sacks while Concordia is tied for sixth in the NSIC with 21 sacks. Senior Nick Jauch has a team-high 12 tackles for loss, followed by Roche with 11 as Roche has a team-high 16 quarterback hurries.

SERIES HISTORY: Winona State 13, Concordia 3
The Golden Bears are 3-13 in the all-time series with Winona State in a series that began in 1988 at the Metrodome. With WSU winning the first meeting at the Dome. But Concordia got the last laugh by defeating WSU 23-13 last year in the building's final Division II football game. Last year's win over the Warriors snapped a 7-game losing streak to WSU, as Concordia's only other two wins in the series were in the NSIC Championship seasons of 2003 and 2005, which were co-championships with Winona State as the NSIC did not break ties for football championships in those seasons. Concordia has never won on the road at WSU in six trips to Warrior Stadium, last heading there in 2012 (31-49).

LAST MEETING: Concordia 23, Winona State 13 (2013 finale)
At the time, Concordia and Winona State were squaring off in the last scheduled college football game in the history of the 30-plus year old Metrodome but a Division III playoff game would spoil the programs' claim to being the answer to a future trivia question. Concordia came away with a 23-13 win over WSU, producing seven sacks, forcing four turnovers and keeping the ball for over 40 minutes in time of possession. The Golden Bears held the Warriors to 27 rushing yards on 22 attempts and 233 yards of total offense as WSU had just 11 first downs and 19:26 of time of possession.

In the first half, the Concordia defense really asserted itself by holding WSU to -2 rushing and 52 passing yards for 50 yards of total offense. Concordia had the ball for 21:05 to WSU's 8:55 while Concordia was 7-of-10 on third down to WSU's 1-of-4.

In addition to forcing four turnovers (three fumbles, one INT), Concordia also stopped WSU on downs twice. The defensive effort was led up front as Zach Moore (now a New England Patriots rookie) had a pair of sacks to extend his school record to 33 in his career, adding a fumble recovery, two hurries and a batted ball at the line oof scrimmage.

While the Concordia defense grabbed the headlines and paved the way to victory, the offense had an efficient performance with 43 team rushing attempts for 149 yards while quarterback Jared Russo completed 22-34 for 225 yards and two touchdowns. Cordell Smith grabbed both touchdowns from Russo, with six catches for 71 yards. Tom Obarski added three field goals, setting a career-high and tying the school single game record which he's achieved three times in 2014 as a senior.

Concordia converted 20 first downs and put all three red zone trips into points while finishing the day with 77 plays for 374 yards of total offense.

ABOUT THE WARRIORS
Winona State had a strong start to the 2014 season with wins in the first three games while putting at least 33 points on the scoreboard each time. The strong start resulted in an AFCA Top-25 ranking. But the Warriors are just 1-6 since the perfect start including a pair of three game losing streaks around a 38-19 win at Upper Iowa. The Warriors are just 1-4 at home, guaranteed the program's first losing season at home since 1995. The Warriors feature a big play offensive attack with the 33rd ranked yards per passing completion at 14.03 in the country. WSU puts uip 389.9 yards of total offense per game including 262.3 through the air while opponents average 372.8 in total offense including 159.6 on the ground.

Quarterback Jack Nelson is second in the league in passing touchdowns (21st in DII), third in yards with 2,614 (27th in DII) and is responsible for 16.0 points per game (32nd in DII). His top target is NSIC receiving touchdown leader Josh Mikes with 13, adding 950 yards (2nd in NSIC, 21st in DII) while averaging 17.9 yards per catch. Paul Preston leads the WSU ground game with 651 rushing yards at 6.1 per carry with four touchdowns while Theo Burkett adds 298 yards at 6.0 per carry with three scores. With the high-powered offense providing plenty of yardage between the air and ground, one air the Warriors have struggled is converting points via field goals as the team is just 2-9 on the year while opponents have converted 17-20. WSU is also just 9-24 (37.5%) on fourth down.

2014 TEAM CAPTAINS ACHIEVING CAREER MILESTONES
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: A four year starter in the secondary, Asad's 246 career tackles ranks ninth all-time and he's 16 tackles away from moving up to eighth (Chris Short, 1994-96, 262). He has a career-high three interceptions as a senior with five in his career, adding 17.0 career tackles for loss, 14 passes defended and 2.5 sacks. As a senior, Asad has 52 tackles as he's posted at least 50 tackles all four years, adding 4.0 tackles for loss, five passes defended, three interceptions and a sack.

Jordan Halverson: Has moved into fifth place on the career tackles list with 292, trailing fourth place Al Quaye (2008-11) by 27 (319). He's also 10th in career tackles for loss with 28.0 and has 6.5 sacks. After suffering a season-ending injury in week three last season, Halverson has been awarded a medical redshirt for 2015 and has a chance to become the program's career tackles leader as he trails Brian Doyle (2001-04) with 342 by 50 tackles for the record. His 2014 season is a career year as he's just three tackles away from a career high with 102, adding 8.5 for loss and 2.5 sacks. He also had an interception for touchdown in a road win at SMSU. Halverson currently ranks fifth in the league and 36th in the country with 10.2 tackles per game.

Cordell Smith: Ranks fifth in career receiving yards (2,172), seventh in receptions (143) and third in receiving touchdowns (25). He's three receptions from moving into sixth, 121 yards from fourth and two touchdowns from second on the career rankings. As a senior, he's posted 39 catches for 522 yards and five touchdowns. He's four receptions and 105 yards shy of his career highs set as a sophomore when he had 43-627. He's had at least 28 catches and 469 yards and five touchdowns in all four years as a college receiver and also has one career punt return for touchdown to his credit. He's a two-sport athlete who has completed four years as a basketball player, setting career highs last year as a senior averaging 12.6 points and a team-high 5.9 rebounds while hitting 52 three-pointers at a 42.3% clip in 2013-14.

Tre Spears: Enters Saturday's game against WSU just 28 yards off the NSIC rushing title with 1,123 yards on the year, trailing UMD's Logan Lauters with 1,151. He's coming off back-to-back 200-plus yard rushing performances and has been a BSN Division II Running Back of the Week honoree each time. His 3,029 career NSIC rushing yards (41 NSIC games) rank 9th in league history and his 3,042 career rushing yards (43 overall games) ranks fourth in program history. He has a career-high seven total touchdowns as a senior and has scored 17 in his career. He also has a career high 26 catches for 123 yards as a receiver out of the backfield this year despite entering his senior year with 21 catches for 85 yards in three prior seasons.

SCHRAMSKI SPURS WINNING STREAK UNDER CENTER
Concordia turned to season opening third string quarterback Ben Schramski in week seven at #2 Minnesota State (now #1), throwing the redshirt freshman into the fire against one of the top pass rushes in the league and country. While the Golden Bears didn't pull out the win, Schramski showed the poise necessary to hold down the starting job and has since helped guide the team to three straight wins. He's the third different starter this year for Concordia, who opened the season with junior Corey Cole before his season ended in week two with an injury. Senior Jared Russo took the reins and started the next four games before giving way to Schramski for the last four. Schramski has passed for 663 yards and two touchdowns on the year, adding 97 yards and a touchdown on the ground. He passed for a high of 209 yards with a touchdown and added a rushing touchdown in the 37-34 overtime win over Upper Iowa.

CLEMON APPROACHES 100 CAREER CATCHES
Senior tight end Jermaine Clemon has moved into 11th place in career receptions with 97 and has topped 1,000 career yards with 1,088. As a senior, Clemon has put up arguably his best pass catching season with a career high 451 yards (previous high was 307) on 35 catches, just three short of last year's career high. He's second on the team this year in both receptions and yards as well as yards per catch. Recruited as a wide receiver, Clemon has not only bulked up and become physical enough to be a strong blocking tight end, but was utilized as a left tackle in the second half of Concordia's 37-34 win over Upper Iowa; and has also served as the long snapper on punts throughout the season.

TRIFUNOV AMONG LEAGUE LEADERS IN TACKLES
Junior linebacker Josh Trifunov is now in his second straight year as one of the league's top tacklers. Last year, he finished the year with 99 tackles to rank fifth in the league in a breakout sophomore campaign. He's following it up with another strong season this year with 84 tackles to rank 14th in the conference and second on the team. He's already topped 200 tackles with 201 in his career with 15.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks and eight passes defended.

VETERAN'S DAY SALUTE TO HANK GOFF
Starting defensive lineman Hank Goff has been a key contributor up front for Concordia although his efforts are often not seen in the stats. Goff has made 38 career tackles, 8.5 for loss, has six quarterback hurries, 1.5 sacks and two interceptions. He's in his second year as a Golden Bear, transferring from South Dakota State where he was a key contributor as a freshman in 2005. After leaving SDSU, Goff served four years in the United State Marine Corps as a machine gunner and was deployed to Afghanistan as a combat veteran.

MIRERI IMPACTING ALL THREE PHASES
Junior cornerback Jimmy Mireri has made a name for himself as a tremendous cover corner over the last three years with 34 passes defended (14 last year, 13 this year) and four interceptions. He's also adept at making tackles in the open field with 111 of his 160 career tackles being solo stops. This year, Mireri has 58 tackles (42nd, NSIC), 13 passes defended (6th, NSIC) and a career-high three interceptions. He's also scored a pair of touchdowns but they haven't been defensive scores. Mireri had a 36-yard touchdown reception against Wayne State and a 90-yard kickoff return for touchdown in the 37-34 win over Upper Iowa. As a returner, Mireri is averaging 21.2 per return on eight attempts this year.

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 was most recently voted Capital One Academic All-District for the second straight year, will be a three-time NSIC All-Academic student-athlete and has been named NSIC & BSN Division II Special Teams Player of the Week twice this year.

He's ranked fourth in the country with 1.70 field goals made per game and eighth in accuracy at 85.0%. He started Concordia's three game win streak in Concordia's 37-34 win over Upper Iowa with 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 - just three shy of the Division II record streak of 17.

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 (43), season (17) and game (3 FG, 4x career, 3x in 2014). He also holds the school record for most punts (226) and punting yards (8,615), has the second and third longest punt averages in a season (2012, 2013) and the second ranked career average (38.1). Among his 226 career punts, Obarski has placed 56 inside the 20, forced 39 fair catches and has 23 of at least 50 yards. On kickoffs, Obarski has delivered 21 touchbacks on 47 attempts this year and 50 touchbacks on 167 career kickoffs.
 

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	17-20	88.9	0-0	4-4	5-7	7-8	1-1	56	0
Totals	43-62	69.4	0-0	11-12	16-20	11-22	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	60	2181	35.8	54	5	17	15	6	1
Totals	226	8615	38.1	68	11	39	56	23	1
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	47	2909	61.6	21	2
Totals	167	9804	58.7	50	8