ST. PAUL, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul (1-1 NSIC, 1-1 South) rebounded from heartbreak by relying on old school football in securing a 34-7 win over Upper Iowa (0-2 NSIC, 0-2 South) on Saturday afternoon in the team's 2018 home opener at Sea Foam Stadium.

It was another sign of growth for the program, which not only was attempting to recover from last Thursday night's stunning loss in the closing seconds on the road against a ranked opponent, but also was coping with the emotions of holding Billy Brown, Jr. Day to honor the legacy of the late linebacker who passed away in June just over a month after graduation.

The 27-point victory was a solid tribute to the Peoria, Illinois native's family, with many in attendance for the special game today.

CSP hits the road next Saturday for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Blakeslee Stadium in Mankato against #3 Minnesota State. The Mavericks improved to 2-0 today with a 38-36 win at Augustana against a Vikings team that had defeated Upper Iowa 48-45 last Saturday in Fayette.

Concordia moves to 3-0 in home openers under head coach Shannon Currier in his return to the program. Further, the team has produced a 75-7 scoring margin in home openers since the 2016 season, with today's second quarter touchdown by UIU being the only points allowed.

By that point of the game (UIU's 2nd quarter TD), Concordia had already secured 24 points, all coming via the big play with a 73-yard touchdown by sophomore Lajuan Preston starting the scoring with 7:09 in the first, a blocked punt by redshirt freshman Grant Ericksen returned 17 yards for a touchdown by senior Emanuel Jones and a 61 yard scoring strike down the middle from senior Dom McKinzy to junior MJ Williams all coming in the second quarter. Senior Jonas Schenderlein also added a 43 yard field goal for a 17 point second frame.

The Bears were able to mount the big lead in part due to a strong defensive start, holding Upper Iowa to -2 yards rushing on five first quarter carries to run up a 165-40 total offense advantage powered by 108 rushing yards to start the game. By halftime, Concordia had still allowed only 23 yards on the ground (13-23) to the Peacocks with the McKinzy-Williams connection allowing the passing game to break open for 100 of the 157 first half passing yards coming in the second quarter.

Concordia's 24-7 lead at the break came with a 282-140 advantage in total offense despite UIU claiming one more first down (11-10) and a slight 15:06 to 14:54 time of possession margin.

In the second half, Concordia turned to the ground game to grind out the clock on the Peacocks, churning out 146 yards on 28 attempts and controlling the clock for nearly 18 and a half minutes.

By game's end, the Golden Bears had rushed 46 times for 271 yards while holding Upper Iowa to 24 rushes for 17 yards. It was a team effort on the ground led by sophomore Shaq Johnson's 110 yards on 22 carries. He added a pair of catches for 26 yards including a 17 yard touchdown catch early in the fourth quarter. His third touchdown catch of the season is a new program record for a running back in the Division II era.

Preston finished with 76 yards and a touchdown and junior Garrett Gardner was a force in the fourth quarter as he added five carries for 24 yards.

The quarterback position also produced key rushing yards as McKinzy had 56 yards on 11 rushes with a long of 32. He added 12-of-21 in the pass game for 184 yards and two touchdowns. He found Williams six times for 93 yards while junior Marcus Gustaveson had a pair of catches for 51 yards with a long of 36.

While Upper Iowa was able to pass for 336 yards in the game, it took 60 passing attempts to get there, as CSP's secondary allowed just 5.6 yards per passing attempt, chased quarterback Brent Lammers in and out of the pocket for 4.0 sacks and 11 hurries and had 9.0 tackles for loss. Lammers finished 32-of-60 for 336 yards and a touchdown and had 13 rushes for -16 yards.

Redshirt freshman cornerback Marcus Haskins had another strong effort in the secondary with six pass breakups, an interception and three tackles with a half tackle for loss. Sophomore defensive end Chris Garrett was in the backfield often with 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble and three quarterback hurries. The fumble was scooped up by junior defensive end Jackson Dobbs, who had 1.5 tackles for loss and a half sack among his two tackles.

Sophomore linebacker Blake Evans was a menace in the ground game with 10 total tackles. In two games, 11 of his 16 tackles have come against the run.

Third down defense stood out as well as Concordia held UIU to 3-of-17 and stopped the Peacocks on all three fourth down attempts. Through two weeks, teams are 8-of-31 (26%) on third down against the defense and just 1-of-5 on fourth downs.

On special teams, Schenderlein made a pair of field goals from 43 and 49 yards, missed one wide right with plenty of distance from 51 yards and had a 48 yarder blocked. He hammered six of his seven kickoffs for touchbacks, as well. With four PATs, he finished the game with 10 points and has made 66 in a row.

Sophomore punter Jake Shepley averaged 46.0 yards on four punts, pinning a pair inside the 20 with a long of 52. He's off to a strong start with a 46.8 average on 10 punts with four of 50-plus yards, three inside the 20 and just one touchback on the year.

Although the turnover margin was even in week two, with each team throwing an interception and each team losing a fumble, the Bears had a 7-0 scoring margin on turnovers and hold a 21-0 points off turnovers differential through two weeks.

In the red zone, Concordia held the Peacocks scoreless twice in three trips inside the 20 while CSP converted a touchdown in its only visit to the red zone offensively. Another sign of program growth, Concordia has been to the red zone as many times (5) as its opponent and produced scores on four while holding the opposition to three red zone scores.