High Octane First Half Fuels Win

NORTHFIELD, Minn. (11/16/19)---For the past several weeks the Cobber defense has taken center stage as Concordia won two straight games including a victory at No.4-ranked St. John's.

On Saturday it was the offense's turn to flex its muscles and step into the spotlight as the Cobbers rolled to a 54-21 win at Carleton in the 2019 season finale.

Concordia racked up 548 yards on offense and scored a season-high 54 points as they won their fifth conference game of the season.

The Cobbers finish the year with a 5-3 record in MIAC play and ties for fourth place in the final league standings. It marks the seventh time in the past eight years that Concordia has won at least five conference games. CC finishes the year with a 5-5 overall record.

Concordia's offense wasted little time in establishing its dominant ways. The Cobbers scored on all six possessions they had in the first half and four of those touchdown drives were for at least 50 yards. During that stretch Concordia had an 11-play, 80-yard scoring drive and a 6-play, 90-yard touchdown set.

The Cobbers had 375 yards of total offense in the first half and held the ball for 21:11 of the 30 minutes as they built a 41-7 halftime lead.

Concordia finished the game with 548 yards of total offense which is the second highest total of the season. CC ran for 420 yards and had 35:18 in time of possession.

Junior Sean McGuire used the most of his first collegiate start. Filling in for the injured Blake Kragnes, McGuire accounted four of the eight touchdowns and racked up a total of 301 yards of total offense.

McGuire ran the ball 24 times for a career-high 173 yards and was 4-for-5 for 128 passing yards. He rushed for one score and threw for three others.

Senior Matt Bye almost matched McGuire's TD output. The wide receiver caught a pair of touchdown passes and ran for another. He scored all three TDs in the second quarter. Bye ran 56 yards around the right end for his first score at the 13:31 mark and then caught a 34-yard TD pass with 9:29 to play in the period. He finished off his trifecta with a 42-yard scoring catch in the final seconds of the first half.

Bye finished with 59 rushing yards and 76 receiving yards.

Junior Nick Wilson caught his first collegiate TD pass when he hauled in a 35-yard strike in the left corner of the end zone midway through the third quarter.

Logan Hatfield accounted for the other Cobber score on the day. He racked up his fourth TD of the season when he went over from two yards out late in the second quarter.
Hatfield finished the day with 74 rushing yards on 10 carries. He led the Cobbers in rushing for the season with 635 rushing yards on 135 carries.

The Black Shirt defense also provided several highlights for the day. Will Berning had one of the two interceptions on the day and Erik Manning had one of the four sacks for the afternoon.

Berning was also one of four players who led the team in tackles. Berning, along with Sam Entzion, Sam Michel and Gabe Enderle all had six total tackles for the game.

Senior Alex Berg finished off his mammoth punting season with another huge game. He only had to punt twice in the game – both in the second half – but had a 75-yard monster which is a career long and ties the school record for longest punt in a game.

Berg finished the day by averaging 56.5 yards on his two punts. He ends the year with a record-setting 45.0 yards per punt average. That mark breaks the old school record for highest punting average in a single season which was 40.4 yards per punt set in 1998 by Clayton Horgen.

CONCORDIA vs. CARLETON HIGHLIGHTS
 

Saturday recaps sponsored by Bufffalo Wild Wings: Grab your friends and get to B-Dubs on Sunday nights for College Nights at 9 p.m. 50% off 1 food item with ID and $3 apps at the Buffalo Wild Wings located on Hwy 10 in Moorhead.