ABERDEEN, S.D. - Concordia-St. Paul (1-3, 1-2 NSIC) couldn't keep pace with host Northern State (2-1, 2-1 NSIC) in a 31-10 road loss on Saturday afternoon at Dacotah Bank Stadium. 

Concordia returns home for the next two weeks, hosting Jamestown (0-3, 0-3 NSIC) to revive a series that has been dormant since 1972. The Golden Bears and Jimmies will play for the first time at the NCAA Division II level as Jamestown joined the NSIC for the 2025 season. 

The Golden Bears were able to put together a 326-yard day of total offense on the road including 18 first downs despite the 10-point output. CSP also won the turnover margin 1-0 and pushed the ball into the red zone on all three of its offensive possessions in the second half. 

However, Northern State rolled-up 516 yards of total offense with 30-246 rushing and completed 25-31 for 270 yards passing. 

Concordia had a slow start to the game, punting on three of its first four offensive possessions while Northern State had the opposite start in scoring touchdowns on three of its four first half possessions. Concordia's defense came through with a big red zone stop on downs in the second quarter to thwart a 12-play, 86-yard drive by the Wolves that ended with a 4th-and-3 run coming up a yard short at the CSP 4-yard line.

While CSP had the big momentum stop in the red zone in the second quarter with defensive end Howard Craft coming up with the tackle, in the fourth quarter it was linebacker Ben Rehl who made the big play with an interception at the CSP 25-yard line to stop another NSU potential scoring drive. 

Rehl finished with five tackles, an interception and a pass breakup while Mike King produced seven solo tackles and a pair of tackles for loss. Hudson Jean also added seven tackles for CSP's defense. 

Concordia's offense was sparked by a 21-32 performance by freshman Lincoln Graf, adding 183 yards and a touchdown while running a turnover-free offense. He completed passes to nine different targets on the day and targeted 12 different options in the pass game. Four players had at least three receptions and seven had multiple catches on the afternoon. 

Timothy Davis led the receivers with 42 yards on three catches while tight end EJ Stoffel hauled in three for 33 yards including a long of 29. Graf's lone touchdown strike was an 11-yarder in the fourth quarter to freshman Charlie Snoreck. 

On the ground, CSP averaged 6.2 per rushing attempt as the team produced 143 yards on 23 rushing attempts. Daniel Hornacek led the way with 10 carries for 52 yards and a long of 13. The team also received big contributions from Joel Lacy (3-27, long 22) and Nasir McKenzie (3-19, long 18) as all three backs popped at least a 13-yard run in the game. Wide receiver Troy Ellison had the team's long run of the day, a 41-yarder and his 4-16 receiving and seven kickoff return yards gave him a team-high 64 all-purpose yards. Hornacek also added 3-11 receiving and McKenzie had 2-23 through the air. 

While it was Graf to Snoreck for an 11-yard score in the fourth quarter to make it a 31-10 margin with 5:02 to go, CSP tagged its first points of the day when freshman Ryan Bendezu converted his first career field goal, a 44-yarder with 7:34 to play in the first quarter to make it a 7-3 contest. The Bendezu field goal came after a 7-play, 56-yard drive. 

Concordia was able to churn out drives of 9-69, 11-58 and 9-75 in the second half on its three possessions, totaling 202 yards on 29 offensive plays and reaching the red zone on all three drives. 

Junior punter Caden Carsen sent two of his three punts inside the 20 and averaged 38.3 yards on the day with a long of 41, and his day was over at halftime with the offense's second-half production. 

The Wolves were led by Hank Kraft's 11 carries for 104 yards and three catches for 51 yards with a pair of touchdowns with Wyatt Block adding 12-70 on the ground. Quarterback Brock Bargozzi led NSU's passing game with 17-20 for 197 yards and a pair of touchdowns along with 2-9 rushing and a rushing touchdown. Daniel Britt, the team's rushing quarterback, had 5-63 rushing and completed 8-11 for 73 yards with an interception. 

Northern State entered play with one of the nation's top tacklers, Jake Adams who had 37 tackles in two games. Today, he led Northern State with nine stops while Max Van Landingham had a pair of sacks for the Wolves.