Game 3 Preview: Concordia at St. John's

GAME 3: Concordia (2-0) at St. John's (2-0)

DATE: September 20, 2014
LOCATION: Collegeville, Minn. (Clemens Stadium)
GAME TIME: 1 p.m.
RADIO: 1660-AM in the F-M area

Live Video: St. John's Stretch Internet

Live Stats: St. John's Stretch Internet

Live Audio: MN Sports Network

Cobbers vs. Johnnies Series History:
Series started: 1923
Johnnies lead overall series: 42-32-6
Johnnies lead in Collegeville: 22-13-4
Series Synopsis: The teams have split the last four games in the series with the road squad getting the win in each of those contests. Before the away dominant four-game stretch, St. John's had claimed 16 of the previous 20 contests. Concordia's lone wins during that stretch (the other was a tie) came last year and then in 2008 and 2004 at SJU...CC head coach Terry Horan is 4-9 against the Johnnies.

Cobber vs. Johnnie Complete Series History (pdf)

Cobber Football in the Fargo-Moorhead Media:

- Fargo Forum Feature:
Dominic Fraboni: Unique Last Name Leads To Teasing

- WDAY-TV
Cobbers Look For Third Staight Win Over Johnnies

50th Anniversary NAIA Championship Look Back: 1964 Game 2
This year will be a season-long celebration of the 50th anniversa ry of the 1964 NAIA National Championship Team. That team was honored with the Murray Warmath Legendary Team Award given out by the Minnesota Chapter of the National Football Foundation earlier this spring and we will be remembering the games and players from the '64 season all during 2014.  

The second game of the 1964 season (the '64 season started a week later than this year so we are going with the game closest to this week's date for this feature) was the annual cross-town rivalry game between the Cobbers and Dragons. In 1964 MSU Moorhead was known as Minnesota State College - or MSC for short. 

  Here is the game report by Paul Sandager that appeared in the Concordian the next week:

Last Year: Concordia 24 at St. John's 14
Last year the Cobbers jumped out to an early 14-0 lead and downed St. John's 24-14 in   Collegeville. 

It marked the first time since the Cobbers had beaten SJU in back-to-back seasons since 1980-81.

Concordia received the opening kick and then marched 61 yards in three plays for the first score of the game. The two big plays came on hook ups from Griffin Neal to Jon Baune. Neal connected with Baune on the first play of the game for a 25-yard gain and then finished off the short drive with a 35-yard TD pass to Baune.

The Cobbers then forced a 3-and-out and Neal proceeded to march the Cobbers down the field for the second score. Concordia drove the ball 63 yards in six plays and took a 14-0 lead with 10:28 left in the first quarter. The second score was set up by a 38-yard pass from Neal to Mark Whiting and Cooper Gauldin finished off the drive with a 1-yard run.

The final TD of the game for Concordia came late in the first half after the Cobbers got control of the ball with 5:43 left in the second quarter. CC methodically marched the ball down the field and Neal connected on his second scoring pass of the day when he found junior Brandon Zylstra in the back of the end zone. For Zylstra it marked the fourth straight game he has scored at least one TD.

The second half belonged to the Concordia defense as they held St. John's to one touchdown which came on a "short field". The Cobber "Black Shirts" picked off a pair of passes in the final two quarters of play. With the game hanging in the balance in the third quarter, CC held the SJU offense to just 55 total yards and forced a key turnover after the Johnnies had the ball down to the Cobber 19-yard line.

Concordia held a 427-328 edge in total offensive yards. The Cobbers also had a decided 241-86 margin in rushing yards. The biggest statistical advantage on the day came in time of possession. CC was able to use the rushing yard advantage to grind out 36:44 in time of possession.

MIAC Play of the Week:
For the second straight week the Cobber combination of offensive line, Griffin Neal and Jon Baune pulled together to win the MIAC Play of the Week. Last week's winner came early in the fourth quarter with the Cobbers facing a 4th-and-8 situation from the Buena Vista 34-yard line. The line held the BVU pass rush, Neal lofted another "spot on" strike down the field and Baune hauled in another high-traffic, acrobatic catch.

Concordia has owned the MIAC Play of the Week honors in the past two years. The Cobbers have claimed the MIAC POW award in seven of the 10 weeks the feature has been awarded.

MIAC Play of the Week - Week 2

Pick 6 - 6 Items To Help You Take It To The House:
1. We will stay for the "opener" theme for the No.1 spot in the Pick 6 feature. This week it is the MIAC opener for the Cobbers. Concordia has won two straight conference openers but after that it is pretty much a .500 record. CC is 3-3 in their last six league starters. That six-game stretch also contains a 1-3 mark against St. John's when the Cobbers opened the MIAC against SJU from 2008-12. Head coach Terry Horan is 7-6 in his previous 13 MIAC openers.

2. Concordia has beaten St. John's for two straight years. The last time the Cobbers beat the Johnnies for at least three straight games came back in the 1960 season. The 30-14 win at home in '60 finished off a streak of five straight wins for CC vs. SJU - which is the longest winning streak for the Cobbers in the series history.   

3. Expect another close game between the Cobbers and Johnnies on Saturday. In the past 10 seasons, nine of the games have been determined by 12 points or less. Several recent games have also come down to the final series of the game. Don't ask the CobberSID staff how some of those have turned out.    

4. Saturday's game features the top rushing offense in the MIAC this season against the top rated rushing defense in the league. And for MIAC traditionalists - it might not be who you think. This year the St. John's ground game is averaging 321.5 yards on the ground and has posted 300-plus rushing yardage totals in their first two wins of the year. SJU is ranked eighth in the nation for rushing offense. The Cobbers are allowing a scant 43.0 rushing yards per game this year and neither opponent has put up more than 60 yards on the ground. CC is ranked 10th in Division III in rushing defense.      

5. St. John's sophomore running back Sam Sura is currently ranked second in Division III in rushing yards per game. He is averaging 224.5 rushing yards per game and last week was named the MIAC Co-Offensive Player of the Week after putting up 281 rushing yards against Wis.-Eau Claire.

6. Concordia has continued their trend of being one of the top teams in the country on fourth-down conversion rate. CC is 5-for-5 on fourth downs this year and currently leads the nation in that statistical category. Last year the Cobbers were third in Division III in fourth-down conversions. CC was 15-for-21 on fourth down in 2013 and is 35-for-45 (77.8%) in the past two-plus seasons.

Scouting the Johnnies

St. John's was picked to finish fourth in the annual MIAC preseason coaches' poll. The Jonnies finished 5-3 last year and were fourth place in the final MIAC standings.

St. John's return three key MIAC All-Conference players from last season. Wide receiver Josh Bungum led the MIAC with 84 receptions in 2013 and was fourth with 790 receiving yards. On the defensive side of the ball, linebacker Andrew Rose led the team with 85 total tackles and 43 solo tackles while lineman Matt Workman finished second in the MIAC in both tackles for a loss (9.5) and sacks (4). 

The Johnnies have relied heavily on the run in their first two games of the season and have put up over 300 yards of rushing in back-to-back games for the first time since 1977. SJU has run the ball 123 times this season as opposed to only putting the ball in the air on 36 occasions.

St. John's also excels on special teams. Sophomore kicker Alexi Johnson broke SJU's record for most field goals by a freshman (11) last fall. He also tied for the most field goals in an SJU season and entered the season tied for sixth in school history. This year he is 7-for-7 on extra point attempts and 3-for-4 in field goal attempts.

Cobber SID Picks To Click:

This year we are adding a new feature to the Gameday preview. We will choose one offensive player and one defensive player who we think will have a chance to have a big game on Saturday. It will give the fans a chance to watch the "key" players on either side of the ball. It will hopefully give an insight into what the keys to success might be.

Offense - #48 Ben Wagner, Sr. K 
Just when you thought we weren't going to mention Cobber kicker Ben Wagner, he pops up in our "Picks to Click". Wagner is a perfect 2-for-2 in field goal attempts this season and has made five straight field goals in a streak dating back to last year. We are also using history for this pick as we think the game will come down to the final possession of the game. The CobberSID is going with a remake of the 2004 thriller when Cobber kicker Brian Halverson hit a 30-yard field goal with 24-seconds left to give CC a 21-20 win in Collegeville. Wagner has never hit a game-winning field goal in the final minutes of play in his career and we think that streak will end on Saturday.      

Defense - #49 Levi Hintermeister, Jr., LB
Levi Hintermeister has been the anchor of the Concordia linebacking corps for the past two seasons. He led the Cobbers in tackles in 2013 and was named to th All-MIAC Second Team. He is fourth on the team in tackles this season and is still waiting for his breakout game. Last year he had six tackles against the Johnnies. With the renewed commitment to the running game by the Johnnies, Hintermeister will have a chance to shine on Saturday. 

Coach Horan Preview Interview: