ST. PAUL, Minn. - This Saturday at 1 p.m., Concordia-St. Paul (3-6 NSIC, 2-3 South) will host its home finale against Augustana (5-4 NSIC, 2-3 South) at Sea Foam Stadium on senior day. After honoring 11 seniors prior to the game, the Golden Bears and Vikings will play a key South Division contest as both programs are fighting to finish with winning divisional records.

THIS WEEK: GOLDEN BEARS HOST VIKINGS ON SENIOR DAY
Concordia-St. Paul (3-6 NSIC, 2-3 South) will host Augustana (5-4 NSIC, 2-3 South) at Sea Foam Stadium in NSIC South Division play. The Golden Bears will honor their 11 seniors prior to kickoff with 10 of those players spending their entire careers as Golden Bears.

SERIES HISTORY: CONCORDIA 3, AUGUSTANA 7
Since Augustana joined the Northern Sun in 2008, the Golden Bears are 0-for-6 against the Vikings head-to-head including three losses at home and two at Sea Foam Stadium. However, Concordia opened the series with wins in three of the first four meetings as the two programs have played every year since 2004. Last year, the Vikings defeated Concordia 24-7 in Sioux Falls, while two years ago the Vikings picked up a 35-27 win over Concordia at Sea Foam Stadium as Tom Obarski hit an NCAA Division II season long, NSIC & Concordia record 59-yard field goal in the game.

PLAYING FOR SECOND IN THE SOUTH
Concordia and Augustana have had two very different paths this season. The Golden Bears opened the year with three devastating one-touchdown losses to NSIC North Division opponents and after picking up a big 44-3 win over Minnesota Crookston, lost three more games by substantial margins although the Sioux Falls loss was within a score going into the fourth quarter.

The team has rebounded from the 1-6 start by winning two straight games, a 37-34 overtime win over Upper Iowa and a dominant 38-20 win at Southwest Minnesota State.

Augustana opened the year hot, going 3-1 against the NSIC North Division while scoring 48-plus points in the three wins, with the only stumble being a 1-point overtime loss to #2 Minnesota Duluth.

But losses to Upper Iowa and crosstown rival Sioux Falls gave the Vikings an 0-2 start to South Division play before rallying to defeat Wayne State 52-48. A slim 6-point loss to #1 Minnesota State followed before a 33-8 decisive win over Winona State in the home finale last week.

The two paths result in the same record in the NSIC South Division as both teams are 2-3 in division play. Although unlikely, the winner of Saturday's game has an outside shot at tying for second place in the NSIC South Division as well as a winning record in the division standings. Further, Augustana still has postseason hopes as a contender for the Mineral Water Bowl.

CONCORDIA ON A HOT STREAK
The Golden Bears come into Saturday's senior day riding a pair of big victories over quality opponents, defeating a 6-3 Upper Iowa squad 37-34 in a thrilling overtime game at Sea Foam Stadium two weeks ago before last week's dominant 38-20 win at Southwest Minnesota State against a team that reached the Mineral Water Bowl a year ago and returns a number of key players.

In those two wins, Concordia has rushed for 503 yards and two touchdowns including a season-high 345 yards and three touchdowns last week at SMSU while the offense has been guided by redshirt freshman quarterback Ben Schramski in his second and third career starts.

The defense has also completed taken away one aspect of the opposition in those two wins as well, holding Upper Iowa to 33 rushing yards on 27 attempts before limiting SMSU to 117 passing yards on 10-23 completions last week. Both teams feature balanced offensive arsenals, with the Golden Bears making them both one dimensional in contrasting performances.

HEAD COACH RYAN WILLIAMS
The Golden Bears are led by fourth year head coach Ryan Williams. Prior to being named head coach, Williams had served as offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator for the previous six seasons at Concordia. He is a Wayzata, Minn. native and played collegiately as starting quarterback and team captain at former Division II-power North Dakota State from 1997-2000.

With a 16-26 career record, Williams is 0-3 against Augustana. He is 8-14 in his career in NSIC South Division play and carries a 7-10 career record at Sea Foam Stadium.

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.

Saturday's honorary captain is Zach Moore (DE, 2009-13), who returns to the Twin Cities for his bye week from the New England Patriots.

#SeniorDayCover feature: Tom Obarski
Senior kicker/punter Tom Obarski is having a career year and among the nation's top kickers. He's already hauled in numerous awards this season: Capital One Academic All-District, Fred Mitchell Award September/October monthly honors, two-time NSIC and BSN Division II Player of the Week and USA College Football Preseason All-America honors.

Throughout the course of his senior season, Obarski has been rewriting the career, season and game records for the Golden Bears. He now holds the career records for most field goals (42), punts (221), punting yards (8401), field goal percentage (70.0, min. 15 att), points for kickers (238, second overall) and third in punting average (38.0).

He's set the single season record this year with 16 field goals made, which is third in the NCAA while hitting at an 88.9% rate which is 10th nationally, leading the league in both. He had 14 straight made field goals, three shy of the Division II record.

He also made a 2012 NCAA season long, NSIC and Concordia record 59-yard field goal and has also hit from 56-yards as a freshman in 2011 and senior in 2014. He's made a school record and 2014 NSIC single game high three field goals in a game three times as a senior and four times overall.

He can also bury opponents deep in the field position battle, pinning 13 punts inside the 20, forcing 16 fair catches with six of 50-plus yards on 55 punts in 2014; adding 20 kickoff touchbacks on 43 kickoffs with an average starting field position at the 25.

SENIOR DAY NOTES: TRE SPEARS
Senior Tre Spears is coming off his best game as a college running back as a three year starter, bolting his way to 247 yards on 37 attempts last week to finish just 11 yards shy of the school record while tying the NSIC single game high for the season. He's now third in the league in rushing with 917 yards, just 172 shy of the league leader Chris Smith at Upper Iowa and just 83 yards away from his first 1,000 yard rushing season. He's also fifth in team history with 2,836 career rushing yards and thanks to a career-high 123 yards receiving on 25 catches in 2014, he's topped 3,000 all-purpose yards with 3,067 already with a career-high 1,040 this year. He was an All-NSIC honorable mention pick as a sophomore in 2012.

SENIOR DAY NOTES: CORDELL SMITH
Senior Cordell Smith will leave a large impact on the Concordia athletics department as a two-sport athlete while excelling in both football and basketball. In football, Smith has 139 career catches for 2,132 yards and 25 touchdowns to rank eighth, fifth and third, respectively in program history. He's been a consistent threat each year, posting between 28 and 43 catches for between 469 and 627 yards and five to nine touchdowns annually. With two more games this year, Smith has 35 catches for 482 yards and five touchdowns.

SENIOR DAY NOTES: JERMAINE CLEMON
Jermaine Clemon entered the season as a USA College Football Preseason All-American and hasn't disappointed with a career-high 429 yards after coming off an All-NSIC honorable mention season a year ago in which he had 307 yards. He's up to 94 career catches as he's just six catches away from becoming the 10th 100-catch player in team history including the first tight end. He's also versatile, while being recruited as a wide receiver he has put enough work in the weight room and with his blocking that he played the second half of a 37-34 overtime win over Upper Iowa at left tackle and also has been the team's long snapper on punts.

SENIOR DAY NOTES: JARED RUSSO
Spears, Smith and Clemon have worked consistently with quarterback Jared Russo over the last four years as he's been a multi-game starter in three of his four years in the program. He currently ranks sixth in career touchdown passes (32), eighth in yards (3,673) and sixth in completion percentage (55.0). This year, he's passed for 925 yards, eight touchdowns and just four interceptions while completing 58.4 percent of his throws.

SENIOR DAY NOTES: NICK JAUCH
Insider linebacker Nick Jauch has developed a reputation as one of the toughest, hard-nosed players in the program. He ranks 11th in team history with 26.5 tackles for loss while adding 9.5 sacks and 168 total tackles. He's already put up career-highs of 12.0 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks this year, and is two tackles away from last year's career-high of 62.  He came into the year as a USA College Football Preseason All-America Second Team pick, will be a three-time NSIC All-Academic selection and was  All-NSIC honorable mention last year.

SENIOR DAY NOTES: ABDULLAH ASAD
Strong Safety Abdullah Asad was an All-NSIC honorable mention performer as a junior and is a four year starting safety. He's climbed to 10th in career tackles with 241, has four career interceptions, 16.5 tackles for loss and 12 total passes defended. His tackles went up his first three years, from 56 to 75 and although his total tackles are down to 47 as a senior, the team's pass defense has been among the best in the country for much of the year by holding six of nine opponents under 160 passing yards.

SENIOR DAY NOTES: MARC ST. LOUIS
The only transfer to be leaving the program as a senior, Marc St. Louis has made his two years impactful for Concordia's defense. The Miami native played in all 20 games while mixing in as a starter at free safety and cornerback. He's compiled 65 career tackles including a career-high 36 this year. He has five passes defended, a forced fumble, fumble recovery and scored a touchdown on a blocked punt return.

SENIOR DAY NOTES: MOSES HUERTA
Like Clemon above,  Moses Huerta has been a versatile player serving the program in an invaluable way. The California native has seen action in 23 games in his career, transitioning from a reserve center on the offensive line to a key rotational defensive tackle on the defensive line. He's made 17 tackles with 2.0 tackles for loss in his biggest season as a college football player.

SENIOR DAY NOTES: BROCK MOLDEN
Brock Molden has made an unlikely return to the football field in his senior season, returning to practice over the last few weeks after missing all of 2013 and was expected to miss the entire 2014 season.  In his freshman and sophomore seasons, Molden compiled 34 tackles, 9.0 for loss and 2.0 sacks. As a rookie in 2011, he had his career year with 22 tackles, 5.0 for loss and 2.0 sacks.

SENIOR DAY NOTES: LANDON OCHWAT
Landon Ochwat, who came to Concordia from Fort Collins, Colorado made his debut in 2012 against U-Mary. He's since become a two-time NSIC All-Academic student-athlete and expected to add his third NSIC All-Academic honor this year while providing depth and a hard-nosed work ethic at the tight end/h-back position after bouncing back from a season-ending injury in 2013.  Only Tom Obarski has a higher cumulative grade point average among senior football football players as Ochwat's 3.70 is right behind Obarski's 3.81 entering fall semester.