SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - After clawing back from an 11-point deficit in the second quarter, Concordia-St. Paul (5-4 NSIC, 3-2 South) was unable a late lead, falling 21-20 at Augustana (7-2 NSIC, 4-1 South) on Saturday afternoon at Kirkeby-Over Stadium.

The Golden Bears will close out the season with a pair of home games at Sea Foam Stadium with noon starts the next two Saturday's, first against Southwest Minnesota State followed by senior day against Winona State.

Concordia fell behind 14-3 early in the second half, but rallied under backup quarterback Jared Olsgaard who filled in for an injured Maxon Hutton. Olsgaard connected with senior Marcus Gustaveson with 41 seconds to play in the half, and the Golden Bear defense blanked the Augustana offense in the third quarter after the Vikings started the game strong offensively.

Olsgaard was solid in relief, completing 12-of-21 for 128 yards and a touchdown while adding 14-for-53 on the ground and a long of 19. Gustaveson led the receiving corps with four catches, adding 45 yards and his 19th career TD. He moved into ninth on the all-time receiving yards list with 1,795 career yards on 120 catches.

Late in the third quarter, freshman Darios Crawley-Reid broke loose for a 27-yard touchdown run to give Concordia a 17-14 lead. He had his second straight 100-yard rushing game with 11 carries for 102 yards and a long run of 59 yards that set up a first quarter field goal.

The teams traded three turnovers on four plays late in the third quarter, but it was CSP forcing two of the three to set up a 35-yard fourth quarter field goal by Danny Laudet, his second of the game and 15th of the season to give Concordia a 20-14 lead with 14:45 to play. Laudet also had a 45.5 punt average with a long of 60 in the contest.

Concordia would win the turnover battle in the game with three fumble recoveries against Augie's two interceptions.

With 5:20 to play, Augustana took over on its own 27 yard line and were able to convert a 3rd-and-3 near midfield, and once they reached the red zone, Augustana converted on 4th-and-1 from the CSP 9-yard line with 1:15 to play. The Vikings, who started the drive with 21 rushing attempts for 20 yards in the contest, continued to pound it on the ground. It took three plays, but Augie was able to bruise into the end zone, converting on 3rd-and-goal from the 2-yard line with 52 seconds to play.

The Vikings gained 26 yards on the ground on the final drive on eight rushing attempts, attempting to both grind the clock and pick up first downs in short yardage situations.

In the final tally, Concordia still maintained a dominant edge on the ground, rushing 37 times for 168 yards (4.5) while limiting the home team to 46 yards on 29 attempts (1.6). Jarod Epperson led Augie with 51 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

The Vikings made up for it in the passing game where Kyle Saddler completed 22-of-36 for 274 yards but was sacked three times and fumbled twice (losing one). Nickel Meyers led the Vikings with 8-103 receiving while Sean Engel had 4-87.

Concordia countered with 14-of-26 team passing for 162 yards including Hutton's first quarter action and a double-pass by Shaq Johnson for a 23 yard gain to Jake Tanner. Jabril Clewis added a team-high 49 receiving yards with a long of 36 to set up Gustaveson's second quarter touchdown.

The Golden Bears pressure was applied across the defensive front, but it was senior Jackson Dobbs who came through with a pair of sacks in a three play span late in the third quarter that was a game-changer. He also had 3.0 tackles for loss and six tackles. Sophomore Shawn Aarhus also added a sack while sophomore Gabe Nkumu led CSP with eight tackles with Jake Portz and Sheehan each adding six.