ST. PAUL, Minn. - This Thursday night, Concordia-St. Paul (1-2 NSIC, 1-2 South) and Wayne State (1-2 NSIC, 1-2 South) look to even their records at .500 in the NSIC Thursday Night Football Game of the Week at Sea Foam Stadium, televised by Midco Sports Network with the multi-camera, HD broadcast also streamed online and available through multiple streaming devices.

THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
The Northern Sun and Midco Sports Network, a cable company primarily based in North and South Dakota but also available in select markets in parts of Minnesota, are in the second year of a league-wide agreement to televise football games on Thursday nights. Last year, CSP hosted the Thursday Night Football Game of the Week in a 24-0 season opening win over Minot State.

David Brown, a Burnsville, Minnesota native and 2008 graduate from the University of Minnesota, will handle the play-by-play call. Brown joined Midco Sports Network in November of 2012 and has been the voice of the NSIC on Midco SN since 2014. He's broadcasted more than 30 NSIC football games from 15 of the 16 member schools.

His broadcast partner is Greg Enkers, Moorhead, Minnesota native who studied broadcast television while attending the University of North Dakota. Enkers has been with Midco Sports Network since 2014 and provided analysis for NSIC football broadcasts the past two seasons.

WATCH ONLINE OR STREAMING DEVICES
As part of the NSIC/Midco SN agreement, Midco SN will also provide the high quality broadcast to CSP's webcast channel on Stretch Internet which is also a joint agreement through the Northern Sun. All games streamed through the NSIC and the Stretch Internet GameCentral portal are also available to be viewed through numerous streaming devices such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon FireTV and Android TV. Simply search "NSIC" to find the Stretch Internet application which carries the full slate of Northern Sun broadcasts, with options to sort by school or by sport.

DOWNLOAD THE CSP BEARS GAMEDAY FAN APP
Follow the Golden Bear football team along with the rest of your favorite CSP Bears squads by downloading the new gameday fan app, hosted by From Now On. The app provides users with a unique and customizable experience, allowing each user to select the sports they want to follow and how they are connected to CSP (fans, students, faculty/staff, alumni, etc). The app will also be a new way to stay updated on the action as well as to be the first to find out about promotions and special events!

MEET THE WEEK FOUR GAME CAPTAINS
For the fourth straight week, junior defensive end Jackson Dobbs will serve as team captain and is joined by redshirt freshman Jake Portz on the defensive side of the ball. Junior offensive guard Rich Kelly, who was captain for the season opener, is joined on offense by junior wide receiver Marcus Gustaveson. View a listing of each week's game captains.

SERIES HISTORY: WAYNE STATE 10, CONCORDIA 9
The Golden Bears and Wildcats have met every year since CSP joined the Northern Sun in 1999 with Wayne State holding the slight edge, 10-9 entering the 20th meeting between the clubs. WSC has won four in a row and is 8-3 against Concordia in the last 11 contests dating back to 2007. Concordia opened the series by winning six of the first eight including wins in each of head coach Shannon Currier's first term of four years from 2000 to 2003. Currier is now 4-2 against WSC, falling 45-10 in WSC's last trip to Sea Foam Stadium in 2016 before last year's close contest, a 27-23 decision in Wayne, Nebraska. Overall, Concordia is 5-5 against the Wildcats in St. Paul but just 1-4 when Wayne State comes to Sea Foam Stadium.

LAST YEAR: WAYNE STATE 27, CONCORDIA 23
The last time the Golden Bears and the Wildcats met Wayne State recorded a 27-23 victory on their home turf in Wayne, Nebraska. The Golden Bears took the lead late in the fourth quarter, but Wayne State scored the game-winning touchdown with 23 seconds to play.

Leading the Golden Bear offense in that contest was quarterback Maxon Hutton. The sophomore went 11-17 for 136 passing yards and contributed 86 rushing yards on 17 carries to lead the team before an injury ended his day (and season) early in the fourth quarter.

Also contributing to CSP's offense on that Saturday were sophomores Darnell Rolle and Marcus Gustaveson. Rolle rushed 13 times for 57 yards and Gustaveson collected five catches for 98 yards to lead the team.

On the defensive side of the ball, freshman Blake Evans led the team with 10 tackles, including two tackles for loss. Fellow freshman Chris Garrett also collected eight tackles (including a tackle for loss) and forced a fumble. Senior defensive back Andrew Capirchio also pitched in five tackles, two tackles for loss, and broke up three passes.

The teams combined for six turnovers and three punt miscues. WSC won the turnover battle 4-2 but Concordia won the punt miscue battle 2-1 with CSP's only punt miscue also resulting in one of its four turnovers.

The Wildcats opened the scoring with a 70 yard touchdown run, and went up 14-0 after a 20 yard touchdown pass. The Golden Bears answered with a nine yard Hutton touchdown run, and the teams traded field goals for a 17-10 halftime score in the favor of Wayne State.

After two field goals from CSP's Jonas Schenderlein and one from the Wildcats, Concordia took the lead with with 2:56 on touchdown pass from reserve quarterback Ron Johnson to Deceon Schumann. The Wildcats marched down the field and completed a 15 yard touchdown pass to Nate Rogers on 3rd and 14 to take the 27-23 lead with 23 seconds to go.

ABOUT THE BEARS
Although 1-2, the Concordia football team has had its two losses come on the road against some of the top teams in Division II football. In week one, it was a chilling 27-24 loss in the closing seconds at #20 Sioux Falls despite holding a 24-20 lead with 26 seconds to play and USF starting from its 40 yard line. In week three, it was a 46-13 loss at #2 Minnesota State during which a 32-0 second quarter that included a pair of safeties put the Golden Bears away despite a competitive first quarter when the teams were even in first downs (6-6), close in total offense (139 to 134 in favor of MSU) with the Mavericks leading 14-6 after senior quarterback Dom McKinzy connected with junior wide receiver MJ Williams for a 16 yard touchdown with one second left in the quarter.

The victory was a solid all-around performance in the only home game, a 34-7 win over Upper Iowa two weeks ago. In the game, CSP had a pair of turnovers and a 7-0 scoring margin in the turnover game, returned a blocked punt for a touchdown (Grant Ericksen block, Emanuel Jones 17 yard return) and had big scoring plays in the run game (Lajuan Preston, 73 yards) and pass game (Dom McKinzy to MJ Williams, 61 yards). The Bears also used dominance up front to control the run game by a 254 yard margin (46-271 to 24-17) and control the clock (33:15 to 26:45).

On the year, sophomore running back Shaq Johnson leads the team with four touchdowns. Three of those have been through the air, a team record in the Division II era by a running back. He's scored six touchdowns in the past four games, accounting for seven total (3 rush, 3 receiving, 1 pass) dating back to a two rushing and one passing touchdown performance in the 2017 finale win over SMSU. Johnson ranks 21st nationally and third in the league in receiving touchdowns and fifth in the league in total touchdowns while also ranking seventh in the league with 87.7 rushing yards per game (264 total), averaging 5.0 per carry. In the pass game, Johnson has six catches for 49 yards. Sophomore Lajuan Preston is averaging 8.0 per carry, rushing for 104 yards on 13 attempts with a long of 73 on his first quarter TD run against Upper Iowa.

McKinzy has posted a 143.8 quarterback efficiency on the year, fourth best in the conference and his 14.3 per completion is 29th in the country. He has connected for six passing touchdowns, ranking sixth in the league and 32nd nationally and is ninth in the league with 513 passing yards and a 54.5 completion percentage.

He's connected with junior wide receivers Williams and Marcus Gustaveson 10 times each, with Gustaveson going for 205 yards and a touchdown (20.5 avg) and Williams 151 yards (15.1 avg) and two scores. Gustaveson, a three year starter, has 1,425 yards on 94 catches with 15 touchdowns as a Golden Bear.

Sophomore Keyon Walters, who has six catches for 50 yards, also has 50 yards in the punt return game on four returns for a 12.5 yard average with a 24 yard average.

The headliner for CSP's special teams has been senior kicker Jonas Schenderlein who has the leg strength to consistently place touchbacks with 11 on the season in 17 kickoffs and is 3-of-5 on field goals with his only misses coming from 51 and 48 yards while making a pair from 40-plus. He holds the CSP record for most 50-plus yard field goals in a career (6), season (5) and has the second longest make in school history of 58 yards. He made a 67-yard field goal in pregame at USF and a 71-yard field goal in practice prior to the week three MSU game. He's second in CSP history with 32 made field goals (32-of-48) and 11th with 175 career points. He tied the single season record in his junior year with 18 field goals made (18-25).

Joining him in the kicking game is breakout sophomore punter (and wide receiver) Jake Shepley who is second in the league and 15th nationally with a 43.9 yard season average which is ahead of Sam Maedke's 2017 single season record pace of 41.3 yards which led the Northern Sun last year. On Shepley's 15 punts, five have been inside the 20 and four have been 50-plus yards with just one touchback.

Defensively, redshirt freshman cornerback Marcus Haskins has been perhaps the biggest story on the team with an interception each game and eight pass breakups. He's second nationally and leading the league in interceptions and his 11 total passes defended are also second in the country and lead the conference. He had seven passes defended (INT & PBU) in week two which is still tied for the single game high in the country. He also has 15 total tackles, 13 being solo with a half tackle for loss to lead the secondary.

The team's top three tacklers are its linebackers, redshirt freshman Jake Portz with 23 (13th NSIC) followed by sophomores Blake Evans with 18 and Andy Aune with 16.

Up front, the defensive line has spread around its production as sophomore Chris Garrett leads the team with 1.5 sacks and 2.0 tackles for loss but is closely followed by juniors Dylan Wood and Kelly Pierce with 1.5 TFL and 1.0 sacks each and redshirt freshman Shawn Aarhus and junior Cole Marmor with 1.0 sack each. Junior Jackson Dobbs is tied for the DL lead with Garrett and Wood with nine total tackles and adds 1.5 TFL and 0.5 sacks.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Wayne State enters the game with a 1-2 record (1-2 NSIC South). The Wildcats fell at home last week to Augustana by a score of 27-21.

Picked to finish 9th in the conference and 5th in the NSIC South, Wayne State lost their first contest to Winona State (41-28) and picked up a win against SMSU (23-14) before losing to the Vikings last weekend.

Wayne State's offense has been led by junior quarterback Aaron Bleil through the first three games. Bleil has thrown for 291.7 yards per game, and has tossed eight touchdowns. Bleil's main target has been senior wideout Nate Rogers, who leads the NSIC with 129.3 yards per game. Rogers also leads the conference with five receiving touchdowns.

Handling the rock the majority of the time in the running game for the Wildcats is Marlon Warren. The sophomore running back has rushed 65 times for a total of 251 yards, averaging 3.9 yards per carry.

On the defensive side of the ball, junior Tyler Thompson leads the Wildcats and the NSIC in tackles with 35. Junior defensive lineman Jacob Protzman has been a force disrupting opposing backfield's, leading the conference with nine tackles for loss and six sacks through three games. Junior defensive back Shaq Paddy leads Wayne State with four passes defended, and has also pitched in 10 tackles.

Ball security has been an issue for the Wildcats through the first three games of the season, as they have lost six fumbles and thrown three interceptions. They also have attempted four fourth down conversions, succeeding on just one. On the flip side, Wayne State has recovered no fumbles and recorded just one interception. Opponents are two for seven so far this year against the Wildcats on fourth down.

Wayne State has been able to win the battle in the passing game, throwing for 291.7 yards per game and holding opponents to 186.7. They have been vulnerable in the ground game though, with opponents rushing for 163.7 yards per game compared to the Wildcats' mark of 84.3.

On special teams, Wayne State's punter Cody Netusil has had a solid start to the year, averaging 40.5 yards per punt with five punts inside the 20 and three punts over 50 yards. The Wildcats haven't done much in the kicking game, attempting just three field goals and converting on just one, a 27-yard kick.