MINOT, N.D. — Behind a 18-for-24 day from freshman quarterback Lincoln Graf, the Concordia-St. Paul football team (1-2, 1-1 NSIC) took down Minot State (0-3, 0-2 NSIC) 27-21 on a stormy Saturday afternoon at Herb Parker Stadium for Minot State's homecoming.
Graf threw for 275 yards and three touchdowns through the air, while the Golden Bear defense forced four turnovers to get CSP into the win column for the first time in 2025.
Garian Denson forced the first Beaver turnover of the day, picking off a Carson Chrisman pass at the Minot 28. The Golden Bear offense got to work from there, with a 5-play, 21-yard scoring drive to get on the board first. Minot State scored on the ensuing drive to tie the game at seven at the end of the first quarter.
Graf started the second quarter by completing a key third down pass to Timothy Davis for 19-yards. Parkees Harris capped the drive seven plays later, with a one-yard touchdown run to put the Golden Bears in front 14-7.
Minot answered once again, tying the game at 14, giving the ball back to the CSP offense with 2:43 to play in the half. On 1st and 20 from the CSP 42, Graf took a deep shot, completing a 48-yard pass over the middle of the field to Troy Ellison to put the Golden Bears on the Minot 10-yard line.
The freshman signal-caller capped the drive with a 10-yard strike to wide receiver Carter Zezulka to give the Golden Bears a 21-14 lead at the half.
The Concordia defense forced their third turnover of the day with 4:33 to play in the third. Aydin Buchanan punched the ball out of Minot running back Devan Daniels' arms at the Beaver 47, Marquis Coleman fell on it and the Golden Bears got the ball in Minot territory.
The score remained 21-14, until Minot put together an 11-play, 68-yard drive to tie the game at 21. Graf and the Golden Bear offense got the ball with the game tied and 5:36.
The game's pivotal drive started with a 43-yard strike from Graf to Ellison deep over the middle to get the ball to the Minot 31-yard line. Two plays later the duo hooked up again, again with Graf firing deeping down the middle and into the end zone to put the Golden Bears up 27-21.
The CSP defense held strong forcing an ill-advised Carson Chrisman pass, across his body into double coverage and the arms of Concordia defensive back, Dilan Williamson. Forcing the fourth turnover of the game and securing the Golden Bears first win of the year.
When it was all said and done, freshman quarterback Lincoln Graf put together an 18-for-24, 275-yard, 3 touchdown performance in his first career start. He added three rushes for 17 yards, finishing with 292 yards of total offense.
After misfiring on his first attempt of the day in the wet conditions, the Floridian completed his next 13 passes.
He had the most passing yards by a CSP quarterback since Conner Cordts' 304 yard performance against UMD in 2023. His 275 yards passing are also the most by a Concordia freshman in his first career start since James Peterson passed for 328 yards against Wayne State in 2010.
On defense, the Golden Bears forced four Beaver turnovers, while linebacker Ben Rehl racked up 17 total tackles, good for eighth-most in a game in CSP history and most since 2022. Hudson Jean added 11 tackles including 2.0 tackles for loss. Linebacker Mike King also added 10 tackles, and Melikai Red came up with a big sack at the end of the first half.
The defense had its hands full with a Minot State triple-option run-heavy attack as Minot State rushed for 317 yards on 58 attempts. But the CSP defense had nearly as many interceptions (2) as Minot completed passes (3) with the Beavers completing 3-7 for 74 yards as Graf out-passed Minot State by over 200 yards on the day.
Devan Daniels led Minot State with 21 carries for 166 yards, averaging 7.9 per carry, while Evan Lovett had 19 carries for 89 yards and all three Beaver touchdown runs.
Senior wideout Troy Ellison finished the day as CSP's leading receiver, hauling in four receptions for 139 yards and one touchdown. Redshirt freshman Timothy Davis caught three passes for 58 yards and Carter Zezulka had three receptions for 27 yards with two of those going for touchdowns.
Concordia's run game was effective enough to keep the passing lanes open for Graf as Parkees Harris had 18 carries for 39 yards and a touchdown and also supplied three catches for 14 yards out of the backfield.
On special teams, one of the nation's top punters Caden Carsen averaged 43.3 yards on three punts with a pair inside the 20 and allowed just 11 total punt return yards. Meanwhile, CSP returner Tony Edwards had a 32-yard kickoff return while averaging 27.5 yards on a pair of kick returns.
The win snaps a three game road losing streak in Minot, the Golden Bears are now 8-4 all time against the Beavers.
Concordia will look to build off the strong showing in Minot and pick up their second win of the season against Northern State next Saturday, Sept. 20 in Aberdeen, South Dakota. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m.
