ST. PAUL, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul (1-2 NSIC) dropped a 56-21 game to St. Cloud State on Saturday night at Sea Foam Stadium. The Golden Bears close out NSIC North-South Divisional play next Saturday, September 23 at MSU Moorhead with a 6 p.m. kickoff.

The host Golden Bears were unable to convert a first down in the opening quarter, going three-and-out four times in the first quarter and on their first five possessions. SCSU countered with a pair of efficient drives (6-56, 3:04 & 8-69, 4:56) before a 28 yard punt return set up a quick three play, 23-yard drive late in the first quarter for a 21-0 lead.

The Huskies scored their first touchdown on a third and goal from the two, and their second touchdown on a fourth and six from the CSP 33 yard line - two key plays where the Golden Bears were one play from getting off the field early in the contest.

While CSP's offense was slow out of the gate with 12 plays for 27 yards, SCSU was efficient with 17 plays for 133 yards and 46 additional yards on three punt returns. Penalties also hurt CSP early, flagged seven times for 65 yards. CSP would only be charged with two penalties the rest of the night, however.

Things evened out in the second quarter as SCSU and CSP traded touchdowns in a 14-14 frame. After falling behind 28-0 midway through the second quarter, sophomores Maxon Hutton and Marcus Gustaveson connected on the first play of the possession for a 33-yard play down the right sideline. After an incomplete pass, they hooked up again for a 30-yard touchdown to put CSP on the board.

After an SCSU touchdown, Hutton found senior Elias Arlington for a 35-yard gain to the SCSU two yard line with 42 seconds to play in the half. Two plays and a timeout later, Hutton found sophomore Darnell Rolle for a two yard strike, making it a 35-14 SCSU lead at the break.

The Huskies were led by sophomore quarterback Dwayne Lawhorn who completed his first 11 passes en route to a 12-13 for 161 yards and three touchdown first half through the air, adding seven rushes for 56 yards and a 36 yard rushing touchdown as well. He finished the night 18-25 for 254 yards and four touchdowns passing and 11 rushes for 73 yards and a score. He had a pair of 100-yard receivers, Cole Otton (8-111, 1 TD) and John Pass (7-110, 2 TD).

In the second half, Hutton hit Arlington for another big play in the fourth quarter, a 65-yard touchdown on a third and three.

Hutton set career highs with 15 completions (15-32) for 249 yards with three touchdown strikes and was only sacked once. He found Arlington five times for 126 yards and the long score while Gustaveson had three catches for 66 yards with the two 30-plus yard catches in the second quarter.

Arlington also had 84 kickoff returns on four attempts including a long of 27 to give him a team-high 207 all-purpose yards.

In the final tally, SCSU had a 27-11 advantage in first downs in large part due to third down efficiency as the Huskies converted 10-15 while CSP was held to 4-13. The Huskies also converted all five trips to the red zone into touchdowns and only allowed the Golden Bears in the red zone once, the Hutton-Rolle two yard score.

The Huskies out-gained CSP 482-274 with a balanced approach with 228 on 54 rushing attempts allowing the Huskies to hold a 43:10 to 16:50 time of possession advantage. The Huskies did not have a 100-yard rusher, though, as Lawhorn's 73 yards led the team but four players were able to top 42 yards.

Rolle led Concordia's ground game by averaging 4.8 yards on his six carries for 29 yards.

Sophomore safety Brian Szutkowski led the CSP defense with 11 tackles, adding one tackle for loss while the linebacker tandem of Billy Brown, Blake Evans and Mitch Zillman each produced eight tackles with Brown adding a sack.