(Ann Arbor, MI) – Concordia football hosted #9 Saint Francis on Saturday afternoon in the NAIA Game of the Week. The #13 Cardinals came into the game 2-0 on the year after a 16-14 victory over #2 Marian last week while the Cougars entered 1-0. CUAA jumped out to an early 21-0 advantage, but the Cougars eventually erased the entire lead. In the final minute of the game, a 36-yard field goal by Luis Gomez secured the victory.
Peter Morrison passed for 118 yards and a touchdown. Keviontae Brown paced the running game with 117 rushing yards and a touchdown. Dorian Edmond added 27 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Luke Wilson led receivers with 62 yards and a touchdown.
On defense Aaron Rahn, Casey Rauch, Collin Vaughn, Mark Wilson and Ryan Fish all tied for the team lead with 8 tackles apiece. Rahn added an interception and a forced fumble in the game.
Concordia received the ball to begin the game with Donovan Johnson breaking a 35-yard return. Peter Morrison methodically led the Cardinals down the field, eventually finding Luke Wilson on a seam over the middle for a 30-yard touchdown. Both teams traded defensive stops for the remainder of the 1st quarter.
The Cardinal defense made a 4th-down stop in the 2nd quarter with Alex Hinojosa and Hunter Maynard stopping a run to force a turnover on downs. Peter Morrison eventually led a 12-play, 77-yard scoring drive. Keviontae Brown broke a 27-yard run to move the offense into the redzone and Dorian Edmond made a 10-yard run to the outside for a 14-0 lead.
Aaron Rahn made an interception on the Cougars' next possession to give the ball back to the Concordia offense. The Cardinals capitalized with a 3-yard run to the left by Keviontae Brown, taking a 21-0 lead. Saint Francis did manage to break the shutout with a one yard rushing touchdown by Will Homan before halftime, but CUAA headed to the locker room up 21-7. "This was our best start to a game this seasion," said Schumacher. "St. Francis is a great team. They know how to battle and compete. We knew they would respond."
Saint Francis scored on their opening drive of the 3rd quarter on an 11 play 77 yard drive to tighten the game. Cougars quarterback found Dylan Hunley on a 25 yard toss. The Cougars forced a three-and-out and leading to a 20 yard rushing touchdown by Crable to tie the game 21-21. Both teams continued to trade defensive stops with Andrew Wade and Collin Vaughn combined for a third-down sack on the Cougars' last third-quarter possession.
Concordia got the ball on the Saint Francis 47-yard line to begin the 4th quarter and drove down to the 11-yard line, but a field goal attempt was blocked. Saint Francis drove into CUAA territory on the next series, but a critical forced fumble by Gerald McHenry was recovered by Conner Long gaving the ball back to the Cardinals.
As the fourth quarter wound down both defenses forced three-and-outs. Concordia got the ball with 2:48 left to play and a 24-yard catch by Parker Graham moved the team into Cougar territory. With 35 seconds remaining, Luis Gomez kicked a critical 36-yard field goal to put CUAA ahead. "Luis schowed some real toughness knocking the field goal through after the first one was blocked," said Coach Schumacher.
Concordia's defense had to make one final stop as Saint Francis moved quickly into Cardinal territory. With 4 seconds remaining, the Cougars' 40-yard field goal attempt went wide left. CUAA was able to kneel out the clock and secure the victory.
Coach Schumacher credited the team's resolve after the win. "Our guys responded when they (USF) tied it up. Our defensive stepped up to force some turnovers. Gerald made two huge plays from his corner spot. These guys have a special belief in each other."
Concordia moves to 3-0 overall and will travel to Taylor on March 20. Kickoff is at 7pm.
