Monster Rusher, Defensive Stand & Highlight Reel Game Winner = Season-Ending Win

NORTHFIELD, Minn. (11/15/25)--- A monster rushing game, a huge defensive goal line stand and an ESPN Sports Center Top 10 highlight catch were the key ingredients in Concordia's 31-24 win at Carleton in the final game of the 2025 season.

Mason Hughes rushed for a massive 230 yards, the Cobber Black Shirt defense stopped the Knights on four straight plays from inside the 6-yard line at the start of the fourth quarter and sophomore wide receiver Alejandro Sanchez went way up to outjump a Carleton defender and come down with the game-winning touchdown as Concordia won for the third time in the last four games.

The win helped Concordia join Carleton in a tie for third place in the final MIAC standings. The Cobbers end the year with a 7-3 in all games and a 6-3 mark in conference play.

The 230 rushing yards by Hughes is the second highest single-game total in Cobber history and most in an MIAC game. Brett Baune holds the single-game record for CC when he rushed for 258 yards against Buena Vista during the 2012 season.    

It marks the second straight season that Concordia has finished with seven wins and second consecutive year they have posted a Top 3 finish in MIAC play.

The game started off like it would be a 65-60 high-scoring offensive showcase as both teams put touchdowns on the board in the first 3-minutes of play.

The Cobbers went three-and-out on their first possession but then an Ezy Brown interception gave CC the ball back at the Carleton 3-yard line. Brown made his first college pick at the 48-yard line and returned it inside the Knights' 5-yard line.

Hughes ran the ball on back-to-back plays and gave CC a 6-0 lead on a 1-yard TD plunge. It would be the first of his two scores on the day.

Carleton responded by going 75 yards in two plays to tie the game at 7-7.

The Cobbers regained the 7-point advantage on a 34-yard pass play from quarterback Jersey Selzler to Jake Merseth. The TD catch was Merseth's first score of his college career.

The Knights responded by scoring the 17 of the 20 points to take a 24-17 lead at the 10:22 mark of the third quarter.

Concordia countered by scoring on the next possession when Hughes rattled off a 61-yard touchdown run. It was Hughes' second TD run of the season that went for over 60 yards.

Sanchez came up with his highlight reel catch at the start of the fourth quarter to stake CC to the 31-24 lead. He went up to grab the ball away from a Carleton defender at the goal line after Selzler chucked up a 30-yard jump ball.

The touchdown was Sanchez' third of the season and was Selzler's 12th of the season and it marked his second multiple TD pass game of the year.  

The very next possession set up the defensive stand of the game. Carleton drove the ball 60 yards in four plays and was staked to a 1st-and-goal at the 5-yard line. The Knights ran the ball three straight times and were stymied by the Cobber Black Shirts. JD Cea made tackles on first and third down and Kyle Mages came up big on second down.

The Knights kept their "big" offensive formation personnel in the game on fourth down and tried to throw out of the set, but the pass was incomplete and the score remained in Concordia's favor.

Both teams had two more possessions in the quarter but all four drives failed and CC was able to come away with the 7-point win.

Carleton held a 423-390 edge in total offensive yards. There was only one turnover in the game between the two teams and that was Brown's interception in the first quarter that set up CC's first score.

Concordia had 218 rushing yards with Hughes account for all the positive rushing yardage in the game. He was one of only two CC players to run the ball the entire contest.

Selzler finished the day by going 7-for-17 for 172 yards and two scores.

Sanchez led the Cobbers with three catches for 49 yards and Merseth had a team-high 71 receiving yards on two grabs.

The Cobber defense came away with four sack – all in the second half.

Ethan Larson had a pair of quarterback sacks and Tayte Lecy and Troy Hansen added one each.

Mages finished with a team-high 12.0 total tackles and also had one of the Cobbers' 13 combined tackles for a loss.

Cea came away with 11.0 tackles and 3.0 tackles for a loss.            

RUSHING KING
Hughes finished the season with 951 rushing yards in all games and 833 yards in conference games. Both totals are tops amongst all MIAC players. He also led the league in rushing attempts in overall (171) and league games (149) and his rushing touchdown totals in both categories were second in the conference.