WAYNE, Neb. - On a sunny, warm mid-November afternoon, the Concordia-St. Paul football team (2-9, 2-8 NSIC) closed out the 2024 season with a 21-0 loss at Wayne State (7-4, 6-4 NSIC) at Bob Cunningham Field at Memorial Stadium in WSC's annual Egg Bowl Game.

Senior linebacker Brayden Hilgemann was named the 2024 Egg Bowl Most Valuable Player for the Golden Bears while Akeem Knox earned the nod for host Wayne State.

Hilgemann led all players in the game with 11 tackles, finishing the season with a team-high 68 tackles. Knox rushed for 162 yards on 30 carries with a touchdown.

Concordia wide receiver Troy Ellison topped a career milestone with a 47-yard reception in the third quarter, topping 1,000 career receiving yards. He finished the game with a pair of catches for 58 yards and added three passing yards, completing one of his two attempts while also being sacked on a third pass play.

Leading the team's offense all season, senior running back Jaylin Richardson was bottled up by Wayne State's defense, held to a season-low 20 rushing yards on 11 carries, but clinched the NSIC rushing title by a wide margin as he rushed for 1,090 yards in 10 conference games. Including CSP's non-conference game, Richardson concluded one of the top rushing seasons in the nation with 1,157 yards and 13 rushing touchdowns, adding 15-136 receiving with another score for 14 total touchdowns on the campaign.

Richardson concludes his career with 2,920 rushing yards, 80 receptions for 699 yards, 3,832 all-purpose yards and 28 total touchdowns. He is Concordia's sixth all-time leading rusher for career, and his season total is the sixth-most in a season in Concordia's 25 years of Division II football.

It was a defensive struggle in western Nebraska with a steady wind that impacted both offenses. Concordia's defense held the host Wildcats to 8-15 passing for 81 yards, but the Wildcats were able to run for 291 yards on 56 rushing attempts. Conversely, CSP's typically strong team rushing attack was held to 21 yards on 15 team attempts but the Golden Bears out-passed their opponent by more than 100 yards as sophomore quarterback Jackson Compton completed 16-32 for 179 yards and did not turn the ball over, taking only one sack in the game. He target 12 different players in the pass game, completing passes to different options.

Concordia held Wayne State to three points in the first quarter, and appeared poised to do the same in the second, as well. But on 3rd-and-goal from the CSP 1-yard line, WSC quarterback Nick Bohn fumbled the snap, but it was recovered by Wildcat teammate Kendrick Watkins-Hogue for a touchdown with eight seconds left in the half, pushing the score to 13-0.

The Golden Bears fumbled the ensuing kickoff return at its own 31-yard line, turning it over to Wayne State. However, CSP defensive linemen Drake Teal and Islee Cassidy teamed up for a sack to end the half on a high note for the defense.

The defense came out strong in the third quarter, too, picking up a 3-and-out to start the second half, and a short punt into the wind gave CSP solid field position at its own 38-yard line.

Concordia's offense then picked up some steam, as Compton converted a 3rd-and-8 with a 47-yard strike to Ellison into the red zone at the WSC 13. But a penalty on first down was followed by three incomplete passes, and a delay of game on fourth down turned a red zone attempt into a missed 41-yard field goal.

After a Wayne State touchdown and two-point conversion pushed it to a 21-0 margin, the Golden Bears went back on the march, advancing to the WSC red zone for its second consecutive drive. But on 4th-and-2 from the WSC 17-yard line, Ellison was sacked on a handoff around the end as he was looking downfield to throw.

The Wildcat run game was effective in the fourth quarter, although CSP picked up a turnover on downs with linebacker Caden Baarts and defensive end Ryan Martin teaming up for a tackle in the backfield for a loss of two on 4th-and-1 from the CSP 28.

Taking over trailing by three scores from their own 30 yard line and 11:14 to play, the Golden Bears went back to work, with Compton completing a 4th-and-9 pass to Peter Udoibok for a first down, and an 18-yard hookup to Julius Reynolds to convert a 3rd-and-10 to move to the WSC 5-yard line. CSP was unable to punch it in, however, coming up empty on downs from the 2-yard line, as CSP went 0-3 in the red zone on the day.

Udoibok led CSP with three catches, going for 24 yards. Drew Enke finished with a pair of catches for 30 yards. Enke finishes his career with 91 catches for 1,333 yards including career-best numbers as a senior with 38 catches for 550 yards. Udoibok wraps up his two-year career at CSP with 39 catches for 548 yards, with this year's 21 catches his career-high. 

Concordia punter Parker Dahlman closed out his record-breaking career with three punts and a 39.3 yard average including one inside the 20 and a long of 44. A year after setting the single-season punting average record of 43.7, Dahlman finishes his four-year run as CSP's punter with a career-record 40.8 average on 199 punts in 44 games. He produced his personal second-best average as a senior at 41.5 while the improved offensive production led him to a career-low in punt attempts with 38 as CSP punted fewer times each of his four years (68, 48, 45, 38).

While Hilgemann won the Egg Bowl MVP honors for CSP, Baarts also had a strong all-around effort statistically with six tackles, a half for loss on a 4th-down stand, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry.