ST. PAUL, Minn. - This Saturday at noon, the final two unbeaten teams in the NSIC South Division will square off at Sea Foam Stadium as Concordia-St. Paul (2-0 NSIC, 2-0 South) hosts #3 Minnesota State (2-0 NSIC, 2-0 South). As part of the game, Concordia will honor its inaugural 1969 football team's 50th anniversary.

1969 INAUGURAL TEAM: 50TH ANNIVERSARY
Concordia-St. Paul is proud to honor its inaugural 1969 Concordia College Comets team this Saturday. The team will feature 26 of its 36 members in attendance to be honored at halftime. Two team members, Sam Stein and the Rev. Dr. Darrell D. Golnitz will also be part of the pregame honorary captains lineup, along with 1981 graduate Stan Tischer. Original footage of the 1969 Comets has been digitized and prepared to play on the UltimateX Max XL high definition big screen in the stadium, with highlights rolling during pregame and the team's preseason intro video during halftime.

The 1969 Comets won their first-ever game 40-0 against Golden Valley Lutheran and finished the first year with a 4-4 overall record and followed that up with a 6-2 mark in year two. With a 10-6 record through two seasons, the Comets racked up at least 30 points nine times - all victories! The inaugural team was led by Mike Bailey's 859 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns while Al Brogaard had five interceptions.

They were coached by John Chiapuzio who held an 18-15 career record with the program from 1969 to 1972.

WEATHER OUTLOOK
Fans should be prepared for the weather, as the forecast (as of Thursday afternoon) shows scattered thunderstorms with a 40 percent chance throughout the day. The high is 76 degrees with a 10-to-20 mile per hour wind out of the south.

FOLLOW ONLINE
All Concordia football games, home and away, will be streamed online as part of the NSIC's league-wide agreement with Presto Sports (formerly Stretch Internet). All CSP football games can be viewed in Concordia's online video portal.
 
Home games will be produced by UltimateX Displays, complete with a 15-foot by 8-foot MAX XL LED screen in the stadium that will replicate the webcast production in the stadium including numerous replays.
 
The broadcast is complete with the play-by-play call from Dan Flanagan, the voice of the Golden Bears since 2008. The St. Paul native is a graduate of Fordham University in New York, where he studied broadcasting including working as the voice of multiple Rams sports teams including basketball and football.
 
Games can also be followed with live stats and by keeping track of the NSIC live scoreboard.
 
COACH CURRIER SHOW ON CSP BEARS PODCAST
[ listen online ] The Coaches Show with Shannon Currier hosted by Wally Langfellow of Minnesota Score returns for a second season in 2019. The show airs in the MSP radio market on 1440 AM KYCR following the Minnesota high school football game of the week, typically on Friday night in the 9 p.m. hour of each week. The show is also distributed via the CSP Bears Podcast and is available on most podcast subscription services such as Apple iTunes, Spotify, Google Play Music, Stitcher, Tune-In and more.
 
This week's guests include sophomores Shaq Johnson and Jake Portz.
 
Subscribe to the CSP Bears Podcast, which will also return for a second year this fall. This year, the podcast will be co-hosted by CSP baseball alumni Andrew Shotwell and Alex LaPorte and will continue to tell the story of CSP athletics in an interesting and engaging way to help people get behind the scenes of various people associated with Concordia – including Comets and Golden Bears!

CSP MAKES FROGTOWN RADIO DEBUT IN ST PAUL
[ listen online ] 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. 
 
DOWNLOAD THE CSP BEARS FAN APP
Also back for a second year is the CSP Bears fan app, provided by From Now On. The app features a customizable experience, users can select their favorite sports teams and select their affiliation (fan, student, alumni, etc) to receive tailored notifications. The app provides easy to follow live stats along with links to watch games live on their device. Keep up with the latest with the new 'news' feature which combines stories from cspbears.com with the social streams from CSP athletics.

WEEK THREE GAME CAPTAINS
CSP head coach Shannon Currier will have rotating team captains each week for the second year in a row. 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 (3x) and senior quarterback Maxon Hutton (3x) on offense and juniors Chris Garrett (3x) and Dylan Wood on defense.

The four team captains are joined by this week's honorary game captains: Sam Stein and Rev. Dr. Darrell Golnitz from the inaugural 1969 team and Stan Tischer from the 1978 and 1979 Comets.

SERIES HISTORY: MINNESOTA STATE 11, CONCORDIA 2
Entering the 14th meeting between the programs, Minnesota State holds an 11-2 advantage and 8-game winning streak over Concordia. The Golden Bears have not scored more than 13 points against MSU in seven straight defeats and CSP has never held MSU under 21 points in the previous 13 meetings.

While one of CSP's wins over MSU was in St. Paul, that came at Griffin Stadium in 2005, a 35-21 win prior to MSU joining the NSIC. That year, CSP went on to win the NSIC and reach the Mineral Water Bowl.

In CSP's other win in 2010, the Golden Bears secured the victory with blocked field goal by sophomore Zach Moore, who went on to be drafted by the New England Patriots in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL Draft. Moore had 10.0 sacks in nine games that season, helping CSP to a 5-win turnaround, finishing 8-4 and reaching the Mineral Water Bowl for the third time in program history and first since 2005 - the only other time CSP defeated MSU.

Head coach Shannon Currier holds an 0-3 record against Minnesota State and is 0-1 at home against the Mavericks. In Currier's first term in 2000-to-2003, the all-time series had not yet started with the teams first meeting in 2004. Concordia is  0-5 against MSU at Sea Foam Stadium, and the Mavericks have been ranked at least #11 nationally in each of their five prior trips to Sea Foam.

LAST MEETING, 2018: MINNESOTA STATE 46, CSP 13
Facing the number two team in the country on the road, the Golden Bears found themselves unable to pull out of a second quarter tailspin that led to a 46-13 loss at Blakeslee Stadium.

The Mavericks' 32-0 second quarter included back-to-back safeties to not only add to its own point total, but also kept Concordia's offense off the field after a strong showing in the first quarter.

The Golden Bears opened the game's first 15 minutes by matching MSU's six first downs and had piled up 134 yards of total offense compared to 139 for MSU. In a key momentum shift, CSP had a drive stall at the MSU 33 yard line, and facing a stiff wind elected to punt. When punter/wide receiver Jake Shepley pinned MSU at its own two yard line, the Mavericks were able to convert a third and short. Two plays later, they struck with an 83-yard touchdown run by Justin Taormina.

The Golden Bears were able to get on the scoreboard late in the first quarter when Dom McKinzy connected with MJ Williams for a 16-yard score. Williams finished with four catches for 58 yards and Marcus Gustaveson added 3-for-58.

In MSU's decisive second quarter, the Mavericks scored on a 3rd-and-18 with a 27-yard passing TD from JD Ekowa to Jalen Sample and a 53-yard TD pass from Ekowa to Shane Zylstra. Then the two safeties, with MSU scoring touchdowns after each.

From the 7:35 mark of the second quarter to the 7:22 mark of the third, which spanned over 15 minutes of game clock, CSP had the ball for only one minute and 13 seconds and ran four offensive plays resulting in two safeties.

After the statistically even first quarter, the Golden Bears saw MSU rally for a 12-0 margin in second quarter first downs and a 270 to -14 margin in total offense.

Without the second quarter, MSU outscored CSP 14-13 in the other three quarters and had a 270-to-230 edge in total offense.

But the cumulative totals painted the 46-13 outcome, with MSU featuring 541 yards of offense to CSP's 216, 27-to-11 in first downs and 37:44 to 22:16 in time of possession.

The Concordia offense was led by Shaq Johnson who had 14 carries for 87 yards including a 2-yard TD run in the fourth quarter. Jake Portz led the defense with 12 tackles.

Taormina led MSU with 158 rushing yards on 13 carries while CSP held one of the league's best running backs, Nate Gunn, to 14 carries for 54 yards (3.9 avg) and a touchdown.

LAST WEEK: CONCORDIA 28, UPPER IOWA 23
The Golden Bears snapped a 10-game losing streak in road night games, rushing for 300 yards and four ground scores in a 28-23 win at Upper Iowa. It was CSP's first win in a road night contest since 2013, a 17-14 win at Bemidji State.

Concordia pulled out to a 28-10 lead early in the second half before Upper Iowa attempted to rally in front of a strong crowd on their home opener in Fayette.

UIU scored a pair of touchdowns and had the ball multiple times with a chance to take the lead late before the CSP defense secured back-to-back fourth down stops to seal the win.

Concordia reached the 300 rushing yard mark for the first time since hitting the total in back-to-back games in November, 2014.

Sophomore Shaq Johnson was a catalyst, rushing for 118 yards on 12 carries including a first half touchdown. He had long runs of 51 and 46 yards along with a 36 yard reception and a 25 yard kickoff return. By game's end, Johnson had totaled 179 all-purpose yards on 14 touches.

He was just one of four in CSP's deep backfield who reached the end zone, however, as senior Cole Kirchoff had CSP's first score of the game from three yards out to tie the game in the first quarter  prior to Johnson's late first quarter touchdown for the lead.

Freshman Darios Crawley-Reid, making his CSP debut, had a 10-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter and junior Lajuan Preston had a 17-yard touchdown in the middle of the third to put CSP ahead 28-10.

Preston also had a strong day, rushing for 72 yards on 12 carries (6.0 avg).

The run game was aided by quarterback Maxon Hutton with nine carries for 62 yards and a long of 18. The senior also completed 8-of-16 for 94 yards and a long of 36.

His top target was senior Jabril Clewis with three catches for 35 yards and a long of 18.

Defensively, sophomore linebacker Jake Portz was all over the field, leading the team with 18 tackles - second most in a game in school history and enough to earn NSIC Defensive Player of the Week honors.

He was a key part of a CSP defense that held Upper Iowa to 3.1 yards per rush on 35 carries (109 yards).

Junior defensive end Chris Garrett racked up 1.5 sacks and TFLs for the second straight game among his six total tackles and senior Kelly Pierce was second on the team with eight tackles, 1.0 for loss and a half sack.

Upper Iowa, playing from behind, found success through the air as Jake Schuman completed 27-of-44 for 239 yards and three touchdowns. He connected for all three scores with Alexander Stevens who had 7-81 receiving.

MEET THE MAVERICKS
Established as one of the top programs in the country, Minnesota State is coming off a season in which they earned a trip to the NCAA Semifinals. The Mavericks have ranked inside the top-five in the country all season, ranking #3 heading into the week. They were also picked at the top of the NSIC Overall and South Division in the preseason coaches poll.

The Mavericks improved to 2-0 last weekend as they bested the Augustana Vikings 27-7 at Blakeslee Stadium.

As a team, MSU is averaging 32.5 points and 550.0 yards of offense a game this season. The Mavericks are averaging 364 rushing yards a game, while allowing just 42.5 rushing yards a game.

Senior Nate Gunn leads the Maverick rushing attack with 380 yards and four touchdowns, while junior JD Ekowa has tallied 112 rushing yards. Ekowa has also thrown for 180 yards and a touchdown this season, while senior Ryan Schlichte has tallied 192 passing yards and two touchdown passes.

Senior Shane Zylstra is pacing the Maverick receiving corps with nine catches for 186 yards and three touchdowns. Senior Justin Arnold has tallied seven catches for 99 yards also.

The Maverick defense has allowed just 15.0 points and 338 yards of offense per game this season. Opposing teams own a 26% conversion rate on third down this season and have reached the red zone just three times. As a unit, MSU has notched eight sacks, while giving up just one.

Senior Zach Robertson is leading the MSU defense with 13 tackles, including 3.0 for a loss and 2.0 sacks. Junior Cole Schroedermeier has tallied 10 tackles and a pair of interceptions as well, while junior Jack Leius has tallied 11 tackles and an interception as well.

Sophomore kicker Luke Williams is 4-for-4 in field goal attempts including a pair of 36 yard field goals last weekend against Augustana.