SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Despite a strong start, visiting Concordia-St. Paul (2-6 NSIC, 0-4 South) was unable to halt #6 Sioux Falls' perfect season (8-0 NSIC, 4-0 South) on Saturday afternoon at Bob Young Field.

Facing the top-ranked total offense (560.1 yards per game) and second-ranked rushing offense (354.6 yards per game) in the country, the Golden Bear defense had its hands full against a Cougars team playing on their home field with excellent fall weather conditions with temperatures ranging from the mid 50's to low 60's with calm South Dakota wind.

The unit rose to the occasion on the yardage challenge, holding USF to nearly 130 fewer yards of total offense (432) and over 100 fewer rushing yards (249) while posting a solid day on third down as the Cougars converted just 35.3% (6-17). USF also had fewer first downs (16) than Concordia's offense (18) and the turnover margin was even, with each team throwing one interception.

Concordia also held its top performance in time of possession with 34:53 compared to 25:07.

But the statistics did not translate to the scoreboard as Sioux Falls scored a season-high 51 points.

But the Cougars were 2-2 on fourth down despite not converting a fourth down all season entering today's contest (0-4). Fourth down conversions set the tone for the Cougars on the opening drives for each team to start the game. CSP started with the ball with senior Darius Chapes breaking off a strong nine yard run. Concordia wasn't able to pick up the first on the next two plays and went for it on its own 34 yard line. Ron Johnson's pass to Elias Arlington in the flat was halted at the line of scrimmage, putting the ball in the Cougars' hands.

Chapes had a solid day against one of the top teams in the country, rushing 14 times for 59 yards and a touchdown. Johnson was stellar as well, completing 24-42 for 261 yards and a touchdown and wasn't intercepted until late in the game and only sacked twice. He connected with nine different receivers with DeCeon Schumann nabbing a career-high seven receptions for 46 yards while Elias Arlington (4-61) and Marcus Gustaveson (4-57) were the top yardage targets.

The CSP defense held strong on the short field, forcing USF to a fourth and seven from the 31 against a Cougars' offense that was 0-4 on the year on fourth downs. Instead of kicking the long field goal, USF went for it and completed a pass deep down the right side for a touchdown from Luke Papillion to Max Mickey out of the backfield.

Despite the momentum shift to start the contest, Concordia persisted. The Golden Bears would convert a pair of third downs on the ensuing drive, the first was a third and 12 from the USF 27 yard line. Johnson was forced out of the pocket and threw on the run as he neared the sideline with USF defenders closing in. His pass over the middle connected with Sammy Baucham for a 23-yard gain to put Concordia in the red zone.

Entering play, CSP was 18th in the country and second in the NSIC in red zone offense efficiency at 88.9 percent of trips turning into points. Even stronger, the Golden Bears put the ball in the end zone 77.8 percent of the time. On the other side, Sioux Falls was allowing opponents to score touchdowns at a 78 percent (28/36) clip in the red zone, as well.

With first and goal from the four, Concordia continued the trend as Chapes plunged in on third down from the one yard line to tie the game with 8:29 to play in the first quarter.

Concordia's defense put the Cougars in their second straight fourth and long situation on the next drive, this time forcing USF to punt from the CSP 43 yard line.

From there, the offense wasn't able to put points on the scoreboard the rest of the half as junior Sam Maedke became a busy player. CSP punted on its next six possessions, five of those coming in the first half although the offense did provide some staying power in converting 11 first downs in the first half. In the first quarter alone, the teams were even in total offense with 99 yards each with CSP controlling the ball for 10:36 of play in the opening 15 minutes.

Maedke finished the day averaging 42.3 yards on eight punts with a career-long of 65 yards and placed two inside the 20. He increased his school record season average from 41.2 (24th NCAA & 3rd NSIC) to 41.4 and now has 10 of his 40 punts this year inside the 20 with seven of 50-plus yards and 13 fair catches.

Concordia pushed the ball into USF territory four times in the first half, but only had the one touchdown to show for it.

Sioux Falls would score on another short field on its third possession, a five play, 33-yard drive to go ahead 13-7 with freshman Brian Lanier blocking the extra point attempt. CSP would block two kicks in the game as Jamie Fore would block a punt in the third quarter, his second block of the year. Fore had a strong all-around game with five tackles (all solo), one for loss and two pass breakups.

After Mickey broke a 76-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter, USF scored two more times with short fields, a 49-yard touchdown drive on three rushing plays and a 45-yard field goal at the end of the half after gaining 10 yards on eight plays.

Mickey finished the day with 128 rushing yards on 16 attempts, averaging 8.0 yards per carry and had one catch for 30 yards. He had three combined touchdowns to lead the Cougars.

The Mickey 76-yard run followed a key third and eight pickup on a 14-yard pass. The Mickey run, combined with the three runs for 49 yards were gave USF 125 rushing yards on four carries and were part of a 132-yard performance on the ground in the second quarter on just nine carries.

This followed a first quarter in which CSP held USF to 25 yards on seven rushing attempts.

With a 30-7 halftime deficit, Concordia had a tall task to reverse the momentum in the third quarter. Through seven games, the third quarter had proven to be the best quarter for USF and Concordia's worst in terms of scoring. The Cougars had compiled 111 points to Concordia's 28 in the quarter entering play.

The Golden Bears rose to the occasion, holding the Cougar run game to 25 yards on 11 attempts and just 39 yards of offense on 20 plays with two first downs. CSP used that strong defensive quarter to chip away at the lead. It was junior JJ Przybylka whose interception on a Papillion screen pass in intense pressure setup a short field for the offense.

On the next play after the Przybylka interception, Johnson found freshman Gabe Steed open down the left sideline for a 26 yard touchdown connection, making it a 30-14 score with 5:52 to play in the third quarter. It was Steed's first career touchdown.

But the Cougars were able to respond with a touchdown late in the third and early in the fourth to pull away. In the fourth quarter, the Cougars rushing attack was able to churn out 67 yards on 14 attempts and the passing game was 3-3 for 71 yards for 138 yards to in the final 15 minutes to finish the game strong.

Concordia's defense was led by freshman Dylan Wood who led the team with six tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack. Senior Dominic Nabak also had six tackles, a pass breakup and a half tackle for loss. Senior David Reed matched Fore's five tackles and added 2.5 tackles for loss while Przybylka had four tackles and a half tackle for loss to go with his interception.

Together, the Golden Bear defense was able to hold one of the better quarterbacks in the country (Papillion) to a 8-25 day passing for 141 yards and an interception and just 19 rushing yards on six attempts although he did pass for two and rush for one touchdown.

Arlington led the team with 117 all-purpose yards on seven touches (4-61 receiving, 3-56 KR).

Sophomore Jonas Schenderlein delivered a 40-yard field goal in the game and missed from 58 yards. He's now 6-8 on the season, with his only misses coming from 55 and 58 yards and he's converted all three of his attempts in the 40-range this year and is 4-6 from 40-plus yards on the season. In his career as a two year starting kicker, Schenderlein is 6-9 from 40-plus yards with a long of 52.

Concordia remains on the road next Saturday for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Southwest Minnesota State in Marshall.