ST. PAUL, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul (1-7 NSIC, 0-3 North) dropped a 38-17 NSIC North Division game on Saturday afternoon to Northern State (6-2 NSIC, 2-1 North) at Sea Foam Stadium.

The Golden Bears will look to bounce back and snap a six game losing streak next Saturday at 2 p.m. at the University of Mary (2-6 NSIC, 1-2 North) at the MDU Resources Community Bowl in Bismarck, North Dakota.

After Northern State opened the scoring with a field goal early in the first quarter, Concordia embarked on a nearly seven minute drive in response, capped by an 8-yard touchdown run by Brian Lankford-Johnson for a 7-3 lead with 2:23 to play in the first quarter.

The Golden Bears were able to keep the NSU passing offense, one of the best in the country, off the field for most of the day, carrying a 36:03 to 23:57 time of possession advantage. The Wolves also possessed one of the best efficiency ratings, as quarterback Hunter Trautman entered play with a 24-2 TD-INT ratio and over 300 passing yards per game.

Concordia added another touchdown early in the second quarter, building momentum on sophomore quarterback Abe Schwartz connected with wide receiver Joey Farley for a six yard score and a 14-3 lead.

The Wolves countered and attempted to swipe the momentum in a wild second quarter, executing a fake punt after the defense produced a 3-and-out, with punter Payton Eue completed a pass over the middle to Brett Brenton for a 57-yard gain into the CSP red zone.

But junior safety Rhett Sheehan sapped the momentum, intercepting Trautman on the next play, the third INT for Sheehan as well as Trautman, picking it off in the end zone to end the threat.

The Wolves continued to try to swing the pendulum back in their favor, with Trautman finding Dewaylon Ingram for a short 3-yard touchdown midway through the quarter to inch closer, 14-10.

After the Golden Bears advanced to NSU territory and couldn't come up with a 4th-and-5 from the NSU 39 yard line, Trautman quickly went back to work, completing a 15-yard pass over the middle to Ingram, but freshman defensive backs McKinley Egland-Young, Cyrus McClure and Davaris Cheeks all converged, forcing and recovering the fumble at the CSP 46 yard line with under two minutes to play in the half.

The Golden Bears marched to the NSU 6-yard line where Sam Henson converted a 23-yard field goal to extend the lead back to 17-10 with under 30 seconds to play in the half.

The wild quarter wasn't over, as NSU returner Vance Barnes broke a 74-yard return on the ensuing kickoff to the CSP 11 yard line, where CSP defensive tackle Shawn Aarhus swatted away the Wolves' hopes of gaining momentum a third time in the quarter, blocking Eue's 28-yard field goal attempt as time expired.

The half was crucial for a depleted Golden Bear secondary, as the cornerback play of Egland-Young and Kahlil Robinson combined with safeties Sheehan, Cheeks and McClure helped the Golden Bears limit Trautman to 8-of-17 passing for just 69 yards with one TD and one INT.

Trautman and the Wolves finally broke through in the third quarter, though, as he completed five passes for 110 yards and a pair of touchdowns and the Wolves secured an interception for a touchdown for a 21-0 quarter, taking a 31-17 lead.

NSU would add another touchdown midway through the fourth quarter to pull away.

In the loss, Concordia topped 150 rushing yards for the second time this year, running a season-high 42 times for 156 yards led by Lankford-Johnson's 17 carries for 55 yards and a TD. Freshman Brandon Marenco added 10-51 including a long of 21 yards.

Schwartz had a steady performance under center, with career-highs 22-of-37 for 200 yards and 13 carries for 32 yards. He added a touchdown, was intercepted once and sacked three times.

He connected with Farley nine times in the game for 39 yards, as Farley had 57 yards after the catch while Isaiah Koran added five catches for 45 yards and Kevin Ventura-Cortes had 4-28 and 23 YAC on the day. Schwartz had a pair of 25-plus yard pass plays, as well, hitting Jaheim Arnold for 31 yards and Evan Peterson for 28.

Trautman finished the game 18-31 for 225 yards with three touchdowns, one interceptions and was sacked three times by an increasing amount of pressure by the CSP defensive front. He found Ingram six times for 87 yards and two scores, but CSP was able to bottle-up Dakota Larson to just two catches for 33 yards.

Concordia out-rushed the Wolves, holding NSU to 120 yards on the ground, with no one on the team rushing for more than Brenton's 36 yards.

McClure led the Golden Bear defense in tackles with nine, adding a forced fumble while Robinson and Sheehan each had five tackles, with Egland-Young contributing four.

Andrew Egnarski and Richard Ficociello each added sacks, leading the defense with 4.5 and 4.0 on the year, respectively.

The Golden Bears also out-paced NSU with 22 first downs to 21 and had a season-high 84 plays on the day to NSU's 59.