Carthage Defeats Concordia (Wis.), 20-3, on Sept. 17
The Carthage College football team (3-0, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) completed its non-conference schedule on Saturday, Sept. 17 with a 20-3 win over Concordia University (Wis., 0-3) at Art Keller Field in Kenosha, Wis.
Carthage led, 7-3, at halftime. Concordia (Wis.) took a 3-0 lead at 2:03 first quarter on a 32-yard field goal by David Gonzalez at 2:03. The Red Men took their 7-3 lead with 38 seconds remaining in the first period when quarterback T.J. Trepanier (Jr., Winthrop Harbor, Ill./Zion-Benton Township) hooked up with Mike Koeneman (Sr., Barrington, Ill./Palatine-Fremd) on an 18-yard touchdown pass that capped a five-play, 68-yard scoring drive.
Carthage's Kurt Krause (Sr., Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) kicked a 36-yard field goal at 10:30 third quarter to put the Red Men up, 10-3. Krause booted another field goal, this one a 23-yarder at 14:58 fourth period to make it a 13-3 game. Carthage closed out the scoring with a 14-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Pete Djurickovic (Jr., Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Kenosha-Bradford) to Koeneman at 10:31 in the fourth for the final, 20-3 margin.
The Red Men rolled up 315 total offensive yards, 239 rushing and 76 passing, while the Falcons totaled just 189 yards, 22 on the ground and 167 in the air. Concordia (Wis.) did have big edge in time-of-possession, 34:10 to 25:50. Djurickovic rushed for 90 yards on 19 carries, while completing four-of-eight passes for 35 yards. Reggie Miller (So., Downers Grove, Ill./South) ran for 59 yards on 11 carries, quarterback T.J. Trepanier rushed for 51 yards on seven carries. Mike Koeneman caught four passes for 46 yards.
Concordia (Wis.) quarterback Patrick Czerwiec completed 15-of-28 passes for 120 yards but also threw three interceptions. Red Men cornerback Brian Hipchen (Sr., Palatine, Ill./Fremd) had a team-high eight tackles (7 solo, 1 assisted), along with one interception. Outside linebacker Brandon Mecozzi (Jr., Kenosha, Wis./Bradford) had seven solo tackles and intercepted a pass.
"Concordia is a good team" said Carthage coach Tim Rucks, "which I'm not sure anyone believed coming in. They are so much improved over last year. I thought we held our composure really well when the game was in question, and I liked our composure at halftime. We didn't get rattled, and we played like winners. We played with some confidence and some maturity. Our defense also played a very sound game, and Brad Fortney really brought his game today. He just plays with a reckless abandon. I haven't really thought about North Central yet in two weeks, but it's Homecoming, and it's pre-season favorite North Central. It's obviously going to be huge game."
Following an off-week, Carthage opens CCIW-play by entertaining defending-conference-champion North Central College in a 1 p.m. Homecoming game on Saturday, Oct. 1 at Art Keller Field.
