Out Of The Frying Pan And Into The Fire
ST. PAUL, Minn. (9/25/10)-- Concordia hopped out of the frying pan at nationally ranked St. John's last weekend and into the fire of No.4-ranked St. Thomas on Saturday. Feeling the burn of the MIAC schedule maker, the Cobbers gave up 28 second-quarter points to the Tommies in St. Paul and wound up losing 56-7.
The loss is the second straight to a top 20 team and drops Concordia's record to 1-3 overall and 0-2 in the MIAC. St. Thomas is now unbeaten in their last 10 home games and remains perfect on the year as they move to 4-0 in all games and 2-0 in league play.
In the gloomy second quarter, Concordia was outscored 28-0, was outgained 223-27 in total offensive yards and had the ball almost half as much time as the Tommies. The Cobbers fumbled twice in the quarter which led to a pair of UST touchdowns. CC was also 0-for-3 on third down conversions in the quarter and had to punt three times as opposed to 2-for-3 and zero punts for St. Thomas.
The Cobbers hung tight in the first quarter. The Tommies took the opening kick and marched 60 yards on 15 plays but their 25-yard field goal attempt was wide right and Concordia took over still tied at 0-0. The two times the Cobbers had the ball in the opening period resulted in "three-and-out" possessions which resulted in the St. Thomas offense posting a pair of scores and tiring out the CC defense. In all, the Tommies scored on five straight possessions in the first and second quarters.
By the time the first half was over Concordia trailed 35-0 and was 0-for-5 in third down conversions and had the ball for only 6:56 of the first 30:00 minutes.
Concordia regrouped in the second half as they were able to string some offensive drives together and wound up posting 134 yards in offense in the final 30 minutes.
The Cobbers lone touchdown of the game came with 4:15 to play in the game. Senior fullback Sean Brandenburg hammered his way over from two yards to put Concordia on the scoreboard. The TD plunge capped a three-rush series for Brandenburg that covered the final 16 yards to the end zone.
Brandenburg led the team in rushing for the afternoon as he finished with 22 yards on five carries. Junior Nate Schaefbauer and freshman Colin Erickson split the quarterback duties. Playing in replace of injured QB Michael, Dunham, the pair traded plays until the middle of the third quarter when Erickson left the game with an injury. Schaefbauer was 9-for-21 for 59 yards while Erickson went 7-for-9 for 84 yards.
Mike Starke led the CC receiving corps. He had a game-high six receptions for 42 yards.
St. Thomas was led by quarterback Dakota Tracy who was 13-for-18 for 181 yards and a pair of scores. Greg Morse also had two TD passes as he went 6-for-7 for 97 yards. Record setting receiver Fritz Waldvogel had six catches for 89 yards and hauled in one touchdown pass.
Cobber senior defensive back Zach Debeltz led all players with 11 total tackles. Connor Butenhoff had seven tackles including 2.0 for a loss and 1.0 sacks. Luke Hvidston came up with the lone CC interception of the day and Matt Bartella forced a fumble and then recovered it in the fourth quarter.
Concordia will return to the friendly confines of Jake Christiansen Stadium next Saturday. The Cobbers are 1-0 on the season at home and will host Gustavus in the annual Homecoming game on Saturday, Oct. 2 at 1 p.m.
