ST. PAUL, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul football (3-1 NSIC) opens NSIC North Division play this Saturday with a 1 p.m. at Husky Stadium against St. Cloud State (2-2 NSIC).

The Golden Bears are seeking their first-ever win over the Huskies in the sixth meeting in all-time series that opened in 2010 after SCSU joined the Northern Sun. CSP is winless in two trips to Husky Stadium, last making the trip up I-94 in 2015.

Concordia is also looking to make it three in a row on the road, with 28-23 and 28-21 wins at Upper Iowa and Wayne State, respectively, to start 2019. A win for the Golden Bears would push the squad to a 4-1 start for the first time since the last time the program captured an NSIC Championship in 2005.

Fans making the trip should prepare for tough Upper Midwest fall weather with a forecast high of 55 and a 60 percent chance of rain and winds ranging from 15-25 miles per hour from the south.

FOLLOW ONLINE
For fans not making the short drive up Interstate 94 to St. Cloud, follow the games online as part of the NSIC's league-wide streaming agreement with Presto Sports (formerly Stretch Internet). All CSP football games can be viewed in Concordia's online video portal.

Fans can also watch on their smart TV through various means including Roku, Apple TV, Amazon FireTV and Android TV. Simply search "NSIC" to find the Stretch Internet/Presto Sports application which carries the full slate of Northern Sun broadcasts (all sports!), with options to sort by school or sport.

The video will be produced by St. Cloud State.

The game will also be aired locally in the St. Cloud area on the radio on WJON AM 140 or 95.3 FM. The radio call will also be streamed online and is available on the Tune-In Radio app. SCSU also features a campus radio call on KVSC 88.1 FM.

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 CSP Bears 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!

COACHES SHOW RETURNS TO TWIN CITIES RADIO IN 2019
The Coaches Show with Shannon Currier is back for a second year, once again hosted by Wally Langfellow of Minnesota Score. The show airs following the Minnesota high school football game of the week, typically on Friday evenings in the 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. hour on KYCR 1440 AM radio, available in the Twin Cities metro area. This week's guests include senior kicker/punter Danny Laudet and freshman running back Darios Crawley-Reid.

For fans who miss the show or are outside of the radio station's Twin Cities reach, the entire show is accessible via the CSP Bears Podcast, available in Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play Music. It will typically be uploaded late Friday night (after the initial air time) or Saturday morning prior to the game. LISTEN ONLINE (available late Friday/early Saturday)

CSP MAKES FROGTOWN RADIO DEBUT IN ST PAUL
Concordia continues to make a positive impression in the St. Paul community with local radio station WFNU (94.1 FM) starting a regular segment to air on Saturday mornings at 9:30 a.m. The first air time is set for September 21, but the station has started recording interviews for a podcast titled "Concordia-St. Paul Scoreboard" which is available on Spotify and Anchor. Follow WFNU Frogtown Radio's CSP connections at @ScoreboardCSP and @651SportsUpdate.  LISTEN

2019 TEAM CAPTAINS
CSP head coach Shannon Currier will have rotating team captains each week for the second year in a row in 2019. Captains are selected by the coaching staff based on performance on the field and as a leader in practice, meetings and day-to-day activities.

This week's game captains: senior offensive lineman Rich Kelly (5x) and senior quarterback Maxon Hutton (5x) on offense and senior Dylan Wood (2x) and sophomore Jake Portz on defense.

SERIES HISTORY: ST CLOUD STATE 5, CONCORDIA 0
St. Cloud State has captured wins over Concordia in each of the first five meetings in a series that started in 2010 after SCSU joined the Northern Sun, formerly being members of the now-defunct North Central Conference. Since, the teams have played every other year, rotating sites between St. Paul & St. Cloud.

The Golden Bears have not scored more than 21 points in the series or held the Huskies to less than 28 with the closest margin being an 18 point loss in 2015 in St. Cloud (28-10).

CSP has made two unsuccessful trips to Husky Stadium, falling 41-13 in 2011 and 28-10 in 2015.

Head coach Shannon Currier has only faced the Huskies once, in his second year back with the program in 2017 at Sea Foam Stadium. In that meeting, Concordia scored 21 points, the most in a game in the five meetings. Prior to that, CSP had not scored more than 13 points against St. Cloud State.

LAST MEETING, 2017: ST CLOUD STATE 56, CONCORDIA 21
A slow start by the CSP offense, failing to convert a first down on four possessions in the first quarter, led to St. Cloud State getting off to a 21-0 start in the opening 15 minutes. SCSU added another touchdown midway through the second to put CSP into a 28-0 hole.

From there, Maxon Hutton, then a sophomore, threw for a pair of late first half touchdowns the first from 30 yards to fellow sophomore Marcus Gustaveson and the second a 2-yarder to running back Darnell Rolle as CSP went into the break trailing 35-14.

St. Cloud State scored the first two touchdowns of the second half to push the lead back to 49-14 before Hutton connected with Elias Arlington for a 65-yard touchdown in the fourth.

As the game unfolded, SCSU scored its first two touchdowns in key situations, the first on a 3rd-and-goal from the two and the second came on 4th-and-6 from the 33.

Hutton set a career-high with 15 completions (15-32), which he surpassed last week with 16 against Wayne State. His 249 passing yards and three TDs in the game remain career-highs.

Arlington had a big day with 5-126 receiving and the 65-yard TD and added 4-84 on kickoff returns for 207 all-purpose yards.

Gustaveson had 3-66 receiving including the 30-yard TD.

St. Cloud State was led by then-sophomore quarterback Dwayne Lawhorn who completed his first 11 passes en route to a 12-13 for 161 yard and three TD passing first half, adding 7-56 and a 36-yard rushing TD. He finished the game 18-25 for 254 yards and four passing TDs and 11-73 rushing with the TD.

Lawhorn had a pair of 100-yard receivers, Cole Otton (8-111, TD) and John Pass (7-110, 2 TD).

The Huskies were 5-of-5 in the red zone with five touchdowns and held CSP to just one trip to the red zone, the Hutton-to-Rolle TD. SCSU also had a 27-to-11 edge in first downs and converted 10-of-15 on third down and held CSP to 4-of-13 on 3rds.

SCSU finished the game with a 482-274 edge in total offense and 43:10 to 16:50 in time of possession.

LAST WEEK: CONCORDIA 28, WAYNE STATE 21
For the second time in a row, the Golden Bears pulled out a win in a road night game. In week two, CSP's 28-23 win at Upper Iowa snapped a 10-game losing streak in road night games that dated back to 2013.

The win pushed CSP to 11-10 in the all-time series against Wayne State and was the team's first win in Wayne, Nebraska since 2013.

After taking the game's first lead, 3-0 and holding that edge through the end of the first quarter thanks to the defense forcing and recovering a fumble on WSC's opening drive and a goal line stand on WSC's second drive, the Wildcats finally broke through.

Wayne State scored two touchdowns in a row in the second quarter for a 14-3 lead.

After starting ahead 3-0, Concordia finished the first half and started the second half strong to get back into the game. With 27 seconds to play before the break, senior QB Maxon Hutton connected with senior WR Marcus Gustaveson from six yards out.

Coming out of the break and starting with the ball, senior kicker Danny Laudet made his second field goal of the game, this one from 21 yards out after hitting from 49 in the first quarter. The 10-straight points brought the margin to 14-13 in the middle of the third quarter.

Three and a half minutes later, Hutton broke free on 3rd and 6 from the CSP 24 yard line for a 76-yard touchdown run to give Concordia the lead back, 20-14 with 5:20 to play in the third.

Wayne State reclaimed a 21-20 lead with a 17-yard TD pass midway through the fourth quarter.

The Golden Bears responded with a powerful 12-play, 75-yard drive that spanned 4:44. Freshman Darios Crawley-Reid capped it with a three yard rushing score, and Hutton found senior Jabril Clewis for the 2-point conversion for a 28-21 lead.

Wayne State responded on the ensuing drive looking to tie the game with an offense that finished the day with 440 yards on the day. But on 4th down just past midfield, senior Chris Garrett batted down the pass to halt the Wildcats comeback with 1:11 to go.

Garrett finished with eight tackles, two for loss, forced a fumble, had the big pass breakup and had a QB hurry to lead the defense.

Hutton, meanwhile, played turnover free football on the other side as Concordia won the turnover-battle 1-0. He completed a career-high 16 passes on 24 attempts (75.0), had 292 yards of total offense with 172 passing and his second 100-yard rushing performance with 120 on the ground. He accounted for a pair of touchdowns in the win.

In the game's three phases, Laudet joined Garrett & Hutton with a big performance on special teams. In addition to his career-long 49 yard field goal and making all four kicks (2-2 FG, 2-2 PAT), he drilled five of his six kickoffs for touchbacks and set a school record with an 82-yard punt while averaging 51.0 on four punts.

Concordia was out-gained 440-to-363 in the game, but CSP converted 8-of-14 on third downs and committed just three penalties for 16 yards while making timely plays at big spots.

Junior RB Lajuan Preston topped 1,000 career yards in the win (1,013) with 6-26 on the ground and 2-28 receiving. Crawley-Reid added 9-46 rushing and 2-18 receiving.

Hutton connected with seven different targets, finding six of them at least twice in the game. Senior MJ Williams was the leader with four catches for 50 yards while Gustaveson had 3-46 and the touchdown.

NOTES ABOUT THE HUSKIES
St. Cloud State enters Saturday's contest ranked second in the Northern Sun and ninth in the country in scoring defense, allowing just 13.0 points per game. SCSU's defensive front has led the charge, submitting just 63.8 rushing yards per game to the opposition, also ninth-best in the land.

The Huskies hold opponents to a paltry 27.0 pct (17-63) on third downs, as well.

They entered the season picked on spot ahead of CSP in the NSIC Overall Preseason Poll and fourth in the NSIC North Division, where they carry a 2-2 record through four weeks.

But SCSU has dropped two in a row, 20-14 at #3 UMD and last week's 20-17 home loss to Northern State.

Prior to the two-game skid, the Huskies opened the year with a pair of convincing victories and were featured in the AFCA Division II Top-25 receiving votes portion of the national poll. They won 35-12 in the season opener at UMary and blanked Minnesota Crookston 38-0 in their home opener in week two.

Dwayne Lawhorn leads the offense, averaging 173.8 passing yards and 197.0 total offense per game with nine TD passes and just 3 INTs.

His top target is Tanner Teige with 17-216 and two TDs while John Solberg has 11-168 receiving with a team-leading 3 TDs. Nathan Gimza gives SCSU three receiving options with 100-plus yards (9-103, TD). Six different Huskies have caught TD passes on the year.

Joe Blando leads an SCSU team rushing attack that produces 4.0 yards per game and 5 TDs. He has 203 yards at a 3.7 average and one TD. Paris Howell adds 18-94 (5.2) and Curtwan Evans chips in 27-93 (3.4) with a TD. Lawhorn also adds 93 rushing yards (3.1 avg) and leads the team with two rushing TDs.

Sophomore defensive back Devon Krzanowski leads the defense with 6.8 tackles per game, adding 3.5 sacks to rank third in the league along with teammate Ferris Ingraham, a senior defensive end. Krzanowski is also tied for the league lead with 7.0 TFLs.