ST. PAUL, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul football (2-5, 2-4 NSIC) dropped a heartbreaker on Saturday afternoon, with MSU Moorhead (3-4, 3-3 NSIC) scoring the game-winning touchdown with 12 seconds left in a 34-31 Dragon victory over the Golden Bears on an overcast afternoon at Sea Foam Stadium.

Concordia kicker Jeff Isotalo-McGuire hit the go-ahead field goal from 25 yards out to give the Golden Bears a 31-28 lead with 1:51 to play. MSUM quarterback Jack Strand engineered a game-winning drive in the 2-minute offense, though, converting on 4th-and-3 from the MSUM 32, 4th-and-10 from the CSP 49, and a 3rd-and-1 from the CSP 24 that pushed the ball into the red zone at the 15-yard line with 20 seconds left. On the next play, Strand was pressured and forced from the pocket to his right, where he delivered a strike to the back of the end zone to Brady Perryman for a 15-yard touchdown with 12 seconds to play.

Strand finished 35-55 for 357 yards and five touchdowns, with four of his five scores coming in the final 18-plus minutes of the contest, and three of them to Perryman who had 10 catches for 113 yards for the Dragons.

Today's game was a contrasting matchup in style, as Concordia entered play with one of the top offensive lines in the country, allowing just four sacks all season (8th, DII) while also ranking sixth in fewest tackles for loss allowed (3.50/game), blocking for a run game averaging 166 yards per game and led by the nation's 11th-leading rusher, Jaylin Richardson, averaging over 100 yards per game entering play.

On the other side is Strand and the Dragon passing offense ranking second in the country in passing yards (341.3/game) with Strand leading the nation in completions (34.8/game).

While Strand delivered on his statistical benchmarks, so did Richardson running behind the CSP offensive line, gashing the Dragons for a career-high 198 yards on 36 carries while adding a big fourth quarter 30-yard catch out of the backfield. He had a career-high 228 all-purpose yards and scored a pair of first-quarter rushing touchdowns.

Late in the third quarter, Concordia had the major advantage, too, leading 21-7. Although MSUM scored with three and a half to play in the quarter, CSP led 21-14 after three and had 29:53 of time of possession in the game's first 45 minutes, a near 2-to-1 advantage, while rushing for 199 yards and holding Strand and the Dragons to 183 through the air.

In the fourth, Strand took over, completing 16-25 for 174 yards and three touchdowns.

But despite the big quarter from Strand, the Golden Bears still maintained the upper hand. After the Dragons tied the game at 21 early in the fourth, Concordia responded with sophomore quarterback Jackson Compton connecting with senior wide receiver Drew Enke for a 39-yard catch-and-run touchdown for a 28-21 lead with 11:36 left.

Strand and the Dragons responded with a three-and-a-half minute touchdown drive to tie the game with just under eight minutes to go.

Concordia took over and went back to its clock-draining ways, running 14 plays, moving 77 yards and taking off nearly six minutes and all three MSUM timeouts. But CSP would settle for a short 25-yard field goal from Isotalo-McGuire with 1:51 to go despite having 1st-and-goal from the MSUM 3 yard line.

Compton, making his third career start, completed 17-29 for 213 yards and two touchdowns, both to Enke, who had seven catches for 111 yards. Compton also had 30 rushing yards in the game, and the only sack he took came in the closing seconds in desperation mode.

Jaylon Washington produced a 100-yard all-purpose day with 111, including five catches for 31 yards and 86 yards on five kickoff returns with a 33-yarder in the fourth quarter that set-up Enke's 39-yard score.

Defensively, three Golden Bears registered four tackles each: defensive lineman Lucas Becker and linebackers Brayden Hilgemann and Carter Otto. Becker added a tackle for loss and a pass breakup while Otto had a half tackle for loss and a breakup. Isaiah Wray added three tackles, 1.5 for loss and 1.5 sacks along with a quarterback hurry.

Marquis Coleman also added a strip sack of Strand on 3rd-and-8 in the second quarter, but a facemask after the fumble recovery kept the Dragon drive alive en route to their first touchdown of the day.

In the final tally, Concordia held a 436-370 edge in total offense fueled by a massive advantage in the run game as CSP rushed for 223 yards on 51 team attempts while holding MSUM to 11 attempts for 13 yards.

Concordia was 11-19 on third down and a perfect 5-5 on fourth while MSUM was 8-16 on third and 3-3 on fourth.

The Golden Bears would hold a final 38:31 to 21:29 margin in time of possession.