ST. PAUL, Minn. – Concordia-St. Paul (2-4, 1-4 NSIC) committed a pair of costly turnovers in the second half as they were unable to hold on to a 21-20 lead, falling 35-28 to Sioux Falls (3-3, 3-3 NSIC) on homecoming at Sea Foam Stadium on a cool fall Saturday afternoon.
 
Concordia will hit the road for the next two weeks with back-to-back games against the Beavers, first at Minot State next Saturday followed by a trip to #14 Bemidji State in two weeks.
 
The Golden Bears were once again powered by their ground game as junior running back Jaylin Richardson produced his second-straight 150-plus yard rushing effort, carrying 23 times for 162 yards and his second three-touchdown performance of the season.
 
Concordia appeared poised to claim its third win of the season, leading 21-20 and driving into the red zone, converting a 3^rd-and-4 from the USF 19-yard line, but the Cougars popped the ball loose on the tackle at the 7-yard line, with Connor Aldrich of USF recovering to stop the scoring drive with 51 seconds to play in the third quarter.
 
The USF offense, which had been dormant since getting out to a 20-7 lead midway through the second quarter in accumulating just 53 yards on 18 plays on three scoreless drives since going up by 13, went to work. USF marched 93 yards on six plays in just over two minutes, scoring from 11-yards out and executing the 2-point conversion for a 28-21 lead with 13:46 to play in the contest.
 
Two plays later, the Cougars made it a 2-touchdown lead with 12:45 to go as Aldrich struck again, taking an interception back 50 yards for a touchdown. Aldrich proved to be one of the most impactful players in the game despite not making a tackle, recovering the fumble at the USF 7-yard line and securing a defensive touchdown in a span of just over three minutes of game time.
 
The Golden Bears would strike again, producing the game's third 90-plus yard scoring drive despite being pinned at their own 5-yard line with 5:13 left in the game. Junior quarterback Conner Cordts completed passes of 12 yards to Drew Enke, 42 yards to Peter Udoibok and 38 yards to Enke to the USF 2-yard line, with Richardson punching in his third touchdown from a yard out.
 
But with no timeouts remaining and just 1:48 to play, the game came down to an onside kick, with senior Payton Eue getting an exceptional bounce that was secured by USF receiver Carter Slykhuis on a tough play for the visiting Cougars. Slykhius had a big day for USF, coming down with 11 catches on 11 targets for 134 yards and a touchdown.
 
Enke had a solid day for CSP with four catches for 69 yards, while Rene Zaldivar and Troy Ellison turned in 4-49 and 4-45 outings, respectively. Ellison had a 36-yard grab down the sideline in the first quarter that set-up Richardson's first rushing touchdown, a 2-yard plunge on the next play. Ellison also had a 5-yard rushing touchdown of his own.
 
Cordts finished the game completing 15-23 for 215 yards, adding 8-17 rushing. He was not sacked behind an offensive line that produced 184 yards in the run game at a 5.8 average on 32 attempts.
 
USF's run game countered with 201 yards at a 5.3 average while USF quarterback Camden Dean completed 16-26 for 230 yards and two touchdowns, adding 10-73 rushing. Backup Adam Mullen contributed by completing 3-5 for 42 yards and a score, but was intercepted by Abe Schwinn to set-up a CSP 37-yard touchdown drive in the third quarter, putting the Golden Bears ahead 21-20 on Richardson's second score from eight yards out.
 
The Golden Bear special teams also excelled with the performance of punter Parker Dahlman, who averaged 49.5 yards on four punts with a long of 58 yards and all four punts placed inside the 20 yard line, and Payton Eue sent two of his four kickoffs for touchbacks as CSP edged USF with a 7-yard advantage in starting field position (29-22).
 
The Golden Bear defense was led by safety Cyrus McClure's nine tackles, adding a pass breakup while Jawon Carr had seven tackles. Redshirt freshman Ben Rehl had six tackles including one for loss and a pass breakup while Schwinn added six tackles to go with his second interception of the season.