Presented by Team Rehabilitation
(Southfield, MI) – Concordia football traveled to Lawrence Tech on Saturday evening for an MSFA contest under the lights. The game was tightly contested and chippy throughout with 23 combined penalties between the teams. After a close first half, the Cardinals pulled away in the second to survive LTU's upset bid and claim a 24-10 win.
Gavin Brooks threw for 183 yards and 2 touchdowns. James Carpenter rush for a team-leading 100 yards while Brandon Stewart added 74 yards and a TD. Logan Hay led all receivers with 59 yards and a touchdown.
On defense, Liam Karry and Marvitis Dupree tied for a team-high 9 tackles. Casey Rauch was second with 8 tackles. Colby Kohmescher had an interception and tied David Cagle with 7 tackles.
Concordia kicked off to Lawrence Tech to begin the game. The Blue Devils put together a scoring drive on their opening possession to take an early 7-0 lead. The Cardinals struggled to move the ball offensively, but the defense held strong with Colby Kohmescher making an interception. CUAA trailed 7-0 after the first quarter.
A partially blocked punt by Concordia special teams put the ball at the LTU 43 and Dejai Robinson booted a 40-yard field goal to get points on the board. Cardinal special teams came up big again on the next series by getting to the punter at the LTU 7-yard line. Gavin Brooks needed just one play to convert, rolling to his right and finding tight end Logan Hay in the back corner of the endzone.
Lawrence Tech made a late interception, but multiple penalties pushed them back out of scoring range. CUAA held a 10-7 lead at halftime.
Concordia received the ball in the third quarter and Gavin Brooks led an 8-play, 69-yard scoring drive. Brandon Stewart led a steady rushing attack and punched in a 1-yard rushing touchdown to extend the lead.
Lawrence Tech answered with a field goal, but the Cardinals countered with a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. After a play-action fake, Gavin Brooks fired to Harmon Devries for a 14-yard TD strike. Concordia stayed strong on defense with Casey Rauch forcing a fumble that was recovered by Gabe Whitmore. CUAA led 24-10 after the third quarter.
Casey Rauch added his own fumble recovery in the fourth quarter as Concordia looked to maintain their lead. A key fourth-down stop in the redzone by the Cardinal defense with 2:56 remaining helped to seal the game. A scoreless fourth quarter saw CUAA claim the victory and spoil LTU's homecoming.
Concordia will return home for a critical division clash with Marian next Saturday at 1pm.
