(Ann Arbor, MI) – Concordia football hosted rival Siena Heights on Saturday afternoon as the university celebrated Homecoming. The #5 Cardinals came in 3-0 overall while the Saints entered 2-2. After the first half was tied 10-10, CUAA pulled away in the second half for a 20-10 win.
Gavin Brooks passed for 197 yards in the contest. Keirell Jackson ran for 62 yards and a touchdown. Seeger DeGayner had 87 receiving yards on the day.
On defense, Hunter Maynard led the team with 14 total tackles and 3 sacks. Aaron Rahn had 10 tackles on the day. Casey Rauch finished third with 8 tackles. Gerald McHenry had an interception while adding 4 tackles.
Concordia kicked off to Siena Heights to begin the game. The Saints put together a 12-play, 46-yard drive that lasted for 7:11, but the Cardinal defense held them to a missed field goal. Gavin Brooks led Concordia on a 9-play, 51-yard drive on their opening drive that led to a 37-yard field goal by Kevin Wierzbicki. Both teams exchanged defensive stops for the rest of the first quarter.
After the Cardinals made a stop on defense to begin the 2nd quarter, the team made their first touchdown drive on the day. Gavin Brooks lofted a 69-yard pass to Seeger DeGayner who worked his way down to the 1-yard line and Keirell Jackson punched in a 1-yard touchdown.
Siena Heights battled back with a touchdown drive to trim the Concordia lead to 10-7. With one second remaining in the half, the Saints tacked on a field goal to tie the contest 10-10 heading to halftime.
Concordia special teams made a big impact on the opening kickoff of the 3rd quarter. Parker Graham received the opening kick and returned it 92 yards for a touchdown, juking out the kicker at the end of the run.
Siena Heights drove into Cardinal territory on the next series, but the defense forced a turnover when Casey Rauch punched the ball out which was recovered by Andrew Foerster. Both teams traded stops but the Cardinals eventually added a 32-yard field goal from Kevin Wierzbicki to go up 20-10 after the 3rd quarter.
The Concordia defense made a key play to begin the 4th quarter when Gerald McHenry jumped in front of a Siena Heights receiver and made an interception in the endzone. The Cardinals had to make a stand in the final minutes as the Saints drove into the redzone. Siena Heights threw to the endzone on a 4th-and-5 but the pass fell incomplete, allowing Concordia to run out the clock and claim the victory.
Concordia will remain at home next Saturday, October 16 when they host Taylor at 1pm.
