MANKATO, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul (3-3, 2-3 NSIC, 0-1 South) dropped its NSIC South Divison opener on a sunny, windy afternoon at Blakeslee Stadium, falling 49-7 to #5 Minnesota State (6-0, 5-0 NSIC, 2-0 South).
It was a tough draw for the Golden Bears, facing a nationally-ranked Mavericks squad on their home field in front of a rowdy homecoming crowd and matters were complicated further with the windy conditions.
Concordia will return home next Saturday, hosting Augustana (4-2, 3-2 NSIC, 1-1 South) for a noon kickoff at Sea Foam Stadium.
The Golden Bears got off to a positive start on the opening play as
Lincoln Graf connected with
Tony Edwards III for a 15-yard pickup, but a costly personal foul penalty turned a 3rd-and-4 into a 3rd-and-19 just a few plays later, leading to a short wind-aided punt, setting MSU up with field position near midfield.
It took MSU just four plays to find the end zone for the game's first lead.
Concordia's second possession started similar to the first, as Graf hooked up with
Vinny Churchwell for a 14-yard gain on 2nd-and-long to move the chains. But on the next play, Graf would be intercepted for the first time in his college career, snapping a string of 241 consecutive passes without an INT in 10 games to start his career.
It would be the sophomore signal-caller's only INT of the day, despite facing a Maverick defense that entered play with a Division II-leading 11 interceptions.
The Mavericks would again score quickly using the short 27-yard field position for a 14-0 lead
Graf had a decent passing day in a tough environment, completing 26-42 for 258 yards with one touchdown and one interception while taking three sacks.
He found
Manny Harris eight times for 78 yards while Edwards III averaged 22.7 per catch on his 3-68 receiving day. Graf's touchdown was a 20-yard ball to the back corner of the end zone to
Joel Lacy with 7:16 to play in the contest, allowing CSP to avoid the shutout. Harris also had 104 kickoff return yards for a 182 all-purpose day on 12 touches.
Lacy finished with 5-46 receiving, and the touchdown was his seventh of the year, fourth through the air.
The Mavericks built their victory on the ground, rushing for 313 yards on 44 carries as a team led by Sam Backer's 11 carries for 95 yards and two touchdowns. He added 2-12 receiving to surpass 100 combined yards. MSU had its five rushing touchdowns from four different players and 12 different players carried the ball for MSU.
Linebacker
Jonas Barros led CSP with 10 tackles and a half sack on defense, and
Kam Williams had eight tackles.
Marquis Coleman added six tackles including one for loss, while
Ben Rehl had five tackles and a pair of QB hurries.
Caden Carsen punted five times, averaging 39.8 with his 57-yard punt pinning MSU at the 4-yard line in the fourth quarter.
