ST. PAUL, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul (4-5 NSIC, 2-3 South) dropped its senior day contest 52-24 to Augustana (6-3 NSIC, 3-2 South) on Saturday afternoon at Sea Foam Stadium.

Redshirt freshman cornerback Marcus Haskins continues one of the top seasons by a defensive back in the country with a pair of interceptions, a pair of pass breakups, a forced fumble and five solo tackles. Entering the game with a DII-best 22 passes defended (5 INT & 19 PBU), Haskins likely firmed his grip on the lead and now has 26 passes defended on the year (7 INT & 19 PBU). He also helped limit Augustana wide receiver Nickel Meyers to just two catches for 22 yards and a touchdown. Meyers entered play ranked third in the league with 803 receiving yards, averaging just over 100 per game.

Concordia finishes out the year with a 3-2 home record at Sea Foam Stadium and will now hit the road for the last two games starting next Saturday at Southwest Minnesota State with a 1 p.m. kickoff in Marshall.

The teams traded jabs early in the game today, with Augustana striking first on its opening possession with Braiden Petersen's first of two rushing touchdowns, the first from 12 yards out. He'd add the final score for Augie in the fourth quarter from 63 yards out, as well and finished with seven carries for 100 yards and the two scores.

Concordia responded, and it was Haskins on defense who made it happen with an interception from CSP's own 35 yard line. He returned it 48 yards to the Augie 17 yard line. After five runs, the first three by senior quarterback Dom McKinzy for a first down, the Bears had a 3rd-and-goal from the Vikings three yard line. McKinzy found tight end John Damrow for a touchdown to tie the game.

McKinzy finished the game with eight carries for 29 yards and completed 9-of-19 for 74 yards and a touchdown in just over a half of action.
 

After the teams traded touchdowns in the first quarter, Augustana reclaimed the lead with a 25 yard field goal after the CSP defense held the Vikings in the red zone. On the ensuing drive, Concordia was able to move into field goal range, which covers a significant part of the field as senior Jonas Schenderlein answered with a season-long 55 yard field goal to tie the game at 10 early in the second quarter.

Schenderlein extends his school record to seven career 50-plus yard field goals and has now made 37 in his career, seven shy of Tom Obarski's record (2011-14).

The Vikings responded with a touchdown to once again retake the lead with just under 10 minutes to play in the half.

Late in the half, Concordia's defense picked up a stop in its own territory, forcing the Vikings trot out kicker Luis Guarita for a 50 yard field goal attempt. Instead, they snapped to him and he pinned CSP at their own 1-yard line with 40 seconds to play before the break.

In a tough spot, the Bears were able to run the ball forward three times but with Augustana calling timeout at each run were forced to punt out of their end zone. Junior Danny Laudet let a soaring 48-yard punt fly from the end zone, but Augustana returner Avram Tynes was able to get past the first wave of defenders, returning it 54 yard for a touchdown with just nine seconds to play before the break.

The crucial play sent the Vikings into halftime leading by two touchdowns, 24-10.

In the second half, CSP's drive stalled on its own 27 yard line and after Laudet forced the Vikings to fair catch at their own 37 yard line, Augustana would score just three plays later with passes of 19 and 39 yards.

Turning to Maxon Hutton under center, Concordia moved quickly with a pair of Hutton runs for eight and 12 yards but on 3rd-and-14 from CSP's own 27, Hutton was strip-sacked with Augie scooping up the fumble and returning it for a touchdown.

Just under six minutes into the third quarter, Augustana had claimed a 38-10 lead with four consecutive touchdowns in a span of just over 15 minutes of football.

But Hutton and the Golden Bear offense wasn't ready to fold, connecting with sophomore Jake Shepley for a 76-yard touchdown on the first play of the ensuing drive.

Later in the quarter, Haskins nabbed his second interception of the game deep in Augie territory, setting up CSP with ball just outside the red zone.

A 20-yard connection from Hutton to MJ Williams set-up Hutton's eight yard scamper through the heart of the Viking defense to make it a two score game, 38-24 with 3:25 to play in the third quarter.

Augustana then marched into CSP territory, but facing a 3rd-and-10 at the CSP 43 yard line with time winding down in the quarter, Saddler was intercepted by redshirt freshman Jake Portz. The interception would be wiped out by a penalty, however, and pushed the Vikings up to the CSP 14 yard line to start the fourth quarter.

Three players later, Augustana found the end zone, providing another critical moment in the game as instead of Concordia starting on offense looking to move within a touchdown the Golden Bears now faced a three touchdown deficit with 14:11 to play.

Hutton had a strong second half, completing 9-of-18 for 155 yard and a touchdown while adding 48 rushing yards on 10 attempts including the two sacks against him. Shepley finished with two catches for 73 yards and the touchdown while Williams had 4-48 and Jake Tanner added 4-40 in the pass game.

In all, Hutton and McKinzy combined to connect with eight different targets while completing 18-of-37 for 229 yards, each delivering a touchdown pass.

Saddler finished 19-for-36 for 238 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions while adding a rushing touchdown. He found Jake Welsheimer three times for 66 yards and a score among the eight different targets he connected with. The Vikings had a pair of 100-yard rushers as Rudolph Sinflorant had 18 carries for 100 yards.

Laudet, in his third game as the primary punter, finished with a 40.1 average on seven punts with a long of 49 and a pair pinned inside the 20.

Defensively, Portz led the club with 10 total tackles, adding a quarterback hurry while redshirt freshman safety Dez Bassett and sophomore linebacker Andy Aune each had seven tackles. Bassett also had a pass breakup while Aune and junior Jackson Dobbs teamed up for a tackle for loss. Dobbs had five tackles and a pair of quarterback hurries, as well. Sophomore defensive end Chris Garrett added four tackles and blocked a fourth quarter field goal.

Although Concordia dropped the turnover battle with three giveaways and two takeaways, the Golden Bears put both Haskins interceptions into the end zone while the CSP defense held Augie to just seven points on its three takeaways.