ABERDEEN, S.D. – Despite their strongest offensive output since 2016 with 511 yards of total offense, Concordia-St. Paul (0-8 NSIC, 0-3 North) couldn't keep pace with host Northern State (5-3 NSIC, 2-1 North) in a 49-20 loss at Dacotah Bank Stadium on a warm, calm Saturday evening.
 
The Golden Bears return to Sea Foam Stadium, hosting University of Mary (1-7 NSIC, 1-2 North) with a noon kickoff next Saturday. It will be Concordia's first game against a team with a losing record in the 2022 season.
 
Concordia knew it would have its hands full against one of the top defenses in the country, and the Golden Bear offensive front rose to the challenge. Facing the nation's number two run defense (58.1 yards per game), the Golden Bears rolled up 151 rushing yards on 30 attempts, averaging 5.0 per carry.
 
The offensive line also did well to protect in the passing game against a Wolves defense that was fourth in the nation with 4.14 sacks per game and fifth nationally with 9.7 tackles for loss per contest. Tonight, CSP wasn't sacked and was only tackled for loss three times by the Wolves.
 
Concordia amassed a season-high 511 yards of total offense against the 12^th-ranked total defense in the nation, with the Wolves allowing just over half of that total per game entering play (259.6). The last time CSP topped 500 yards of total offense was on September 17, 2016 with 511 yards in a 52-49 loss to Minnesota Duluth.
 
But Northern State built their margin on six long touchdown passes combining for 302 yards (42, 50, 73, 20, 80, 37) with three of them coming on 3^rd-and-6 or longer, along with a seventh long touchdown, a 57-yard run on third-and-short in the fourth quarter for their only rushing touchdown of the game.
 
CSP sophomore quarterback Conner Cordts had his second career 300-yard passing performance with a career-high 310 yards on 22-47 passing with two touchdowns, adding 8-34 rushing with another score on the ground for a three-touchdown day and 344 yards of total offense.
 
Sophomore running back Jaylin Richardson topped 100 combined yards for the fourth time this year, rushing for 66 yards on nine carries (7.3) and adding 3-53 receiving, with a long run of 27 and long catch of 25 yards.
 
Defensively, sixth-year senior safety Rhett Sheehan came up with three second half turnovers, a pair of interceptions and a fumble recovery and junior linebacker Andrew Egnarski had 10 tackles and a forced fumble.
 
The game started on a positive note for the Golden Bears, who promptly produced a 3-and-out on the Wolves' opening possession. A strong punt return by senior Joey Farley of 17 yards gave CSP strong field position at the 50-yard line.
 
From there, CSP wasted no time as Cordts went deep to sophomore wide receiver Drew Enke for a 36-yard connection to the NSU 14-yard line. But the red zone trip came up empty, with CSP turning the ball over two plays later.
 
Enke finished the game with four catches for a season-high 83 yards.
 
Concordia's defense came up with another key early game stop despite issuing a pair of first downs on the drive, forcing NSU to stall and punt just past midfield.
 
After CSP was forced to punt on the ensuing drive, the Wolves executed a 3^rd-and-7 from the CSP 42 with a deep touchdown strike down the right sideline to break a scoreless tie with 5:55 to play in the first quarter.
 
The Wolves continued to step on the gas, recovering the ensuing onside kick and scoring on another third down conversion, this one a 50-yard catch-and-run touchdown for a 14-0 lead just under a minute and a half later.
 
The first quarter came to a close after CSP committed its second turnover, this time an NSU interception.
 
Despite two turnovers and losing an onside kick in the first quarter, the Golden Bears kept clawing. After another CSP defensive stop of NSU, Cordts connected on another deep pass, this time to junior Nathan Gimza, who out-muscled the NSU defensive back near the goal line. On the next play, Cordts scored on a QB sneak to cut the gap to 14-7.
 
Gimza finished with four catches for 75 yards.
 
Trailing by just a touchdown, CSP forced another NSU 3-and-out with Farley coming up with another solid punt return, bringing it back 13 yards to the NSU 40-yard line but the game-tying attempt stalled at midfield.
 
Two plays later, Northern State extended the lead with a 73-yard touchdown pass, a 21-7 advantage midway through the second quarter. They'd stop the Golden Bears, and put in another touchdown, scoring from 20-yards out on a pass play for a 28-7 lead with under three minutes to play before halftime.
 
With CSP winning the coin toss and electing to defer, and the Golden Bear offense getting the ball late in the second quarter, Cordts and the offense went to work, looking to create momentum heading into the break.
 
He connected with sophomore running back Jaylin Richardson for a 25-yard gain to move into NSU territory to the 39-yard line, and picked up a big 12-yard connection to sophomore Jack Munsterteiger on 4^th-and-8 to the 25-yard line. Another toss to Richardson for a 17-yard gain allowed CSP a 3^rd-down conversion into the red zone at the 8-yard line, setting up an 8-yard TD pass from Cordts to redshirt freshman Troy Ellison with 14 seconds to play.
 
The Golden Bears racked up 271 yards of total offense in the first half, led by Cordts who was 13-27 for 228 yards, adding a passing and a rushing touchdown while Richardson had 92 combined yards, rushing 8-39 and picking up 3-53 through the air. Cordts found Enke and Gimza twice apiece, 66 yards to Enke and 61 to Gimza.
 
But the Wolves' big-play ability saw them reach the end zone on passing plays of 42, 50, 73 and 20 yards for a 28-13 halftime lead over Concordia.
 
In the third quarter, Concordia wasn't able to keep the offensive momentum rolling, and the Wolves responded with a methodical drive spanning just under five minutes, going 88 yards on 14 plays before Sheehan intercepted a pass near the goal line, bringing it back 13 yards to give CSP possession at the 15-yard line midway through the third quarter and trailing by two scores.
 
Concordia continued to maintain its running game, with Richardson and junior running back Jaire Moore ripping off runs of 27 and 12 yards, respectively, to move into NSU territory. The Golden Bears advanced to the NSU 2-yard line, but on 4^th-and-goal from the two, the Wolves matched CSP with an interception to end a long drive. CSP had moved 83 yards on 12 plays over 4:45 of time, coming up empty on a second red zone trip.
 
Two plays later, the Wolves struck with another big play on third down, taking a 3^rd-and-10 from their own 20-yard line for an 80-yard touchdown for a 35-13 lead late in the third quarter.
 
In the fourth quarter, each team scored from 30-plus yards, with Cordts connecting with sophomore Jaheim Arnold for a 32-yard touchdown before another long NSU touchdown, their first rushing TD of the game with under five minutes to play.
 
Concordia's offense continued to compile yardage deep into the game, with backup sophomore quarterback Bryce Sievers completing 5-9 for 50 yards and adding 15 rushing yards on three scampers.
 
In all, CSP would tally 22 first downs despite going 4-15 on third downs against one of the country's best third down defenses, the Wolves entering play ranked 33^rd nationally at 31.4 percent. CSP also converted 2-5 on fourth downs against a stingy fourth-down defense (33.3%, 29^th).
 
The Golden Bears ended up with a 32:01 to 27:59 time of possession advantage and ran more plays (86) than NSU (70), with the Wolves averaging 9.46 yards per play for 611 yards of total offense.
 
Will Madler completed 20-38 for 403 yards and five touchdowns with one interception while backup Michael Bonds completed 1-2 for a 50-yard touchdown for the Wolves' passing game. Dominick Fiscelli was the top target with four catches for 157 yards and a pair of scores.
 
Four different Wolves rushed for at least 24 yards as NSU finished the day with 193 rushing yards.

On special teams, Farley finished with three punt returns for 35 yards and added 5-25 receiving while Gayflor Flomo averaged over 30 yards on three kickoff returns with a long of 55 yards and Moore added a 27-yard return as CSP had 154 combined return yards in the game. Sophomore punter Parker Dahlman added a 42.4 average on four punts with a pair inside the 20 and a long of 54 yards.