2002 Cobber Football vs St. John's

| Cobber Home | Help Us Recruit |

Oct. 26 - Concordia - 9 vs. St. John's - 34

Concordia (5-3, 5-1) played #6 St. John's (7-1, 6-0) close for one half, but succumbed to the Johnnies' powerful offensive attack in the second half, dropping their first MIAC game of the season 34-9.

St. John's jumped on the scoreboard first, taking the opening kickoff and immediately putting seven points on the board on a 23-yard pass from Ross Denne to Lee Clintsman with just 1:04 ticked off the clock. The Cobber defense solidified, though, giving the offense a chance to get into the game. The Cobbers got on the scoreboard early in the second quarter, taking advantage of a St. John's fumble and converting on a 22-yard field goal by Brian Halverson (Fr., Fargo, N.Dak.) with 12:00 minutes left in the first half. Concordia forced St. John's to punt, and on the next drive marched 67 yards on 11 plays, scoring on a 1-yard run by Jeremy Hinderks (Jr., Renville, Minn.) with 5:26 left in the half, giving the Cobbers a 9-7 lead. The teams exchanged possessions before St. John's got the ball back with 1:51 to go. They put together a 9-play, 59-yard drive, and scored on a 6-yard pass from Denne to Blake Elliott with just 13 seconds remaining. This gave the Johnnies the momentum, and a 14-9 halftime lead.

The second half was dominated by St. John's, and they added on 20 more points to earn a 34-9 victory. Elliott caught his second touchdown pass of the game, from 16 yards out, with 3:33 left in the third quarter, and the Johnnies picked up two rushing touchdowns in the final quarter, first a 7-yard run by Josh Nelson with 14:20 remaining, and then a 1-yard run by Kent Crowley with 6:22 left to close out the scoring.

The two teams played to a draw in the first half, both picking up 10 first downs and notching exactly 174 yards of total offense. St. John's lit up the second half, however, outgaining the Cobbers 288-105 and picking up 14 first downs to the Cobbers' 5. The Johnnies rushed for just 20 yards in the first half, but exploded for 170 in the second half, while the Cobbers followed up their 123 first-half rushing yards with just 30 in the second half. Turnovers were also a factor, with the Cobbers coughing the ball up five times, all on interceptions, while the Johnnies lost the ball only once, on a first-half fumble.

Leading the way offensively for the Johnnies was quarterback Ross Denne, completing 21 of 32 passes for 272 yards and 3 touchdowns. Elliott led the receiving corps with 9 catches for 88 yards and 2 touchdowns. Crowley led the rushing game with 127 yards on 19 carries, scoring one touchdown. On the defensive side, Jeremy Hood picked up 11 tackles, including 4 for a loss and 2.5 sacks. Jeremy Goltz picked up 3 interceptions and Jason Pflipsen picked off two passes of his own.

For the Cobbers, Ryan Hebrink (Jr., Sacred Heart, Minn.) passed for 126 yards, completing 10 of his 25 passes, but was picked off five times. Bobby Clark (Jr., Seeley Lake, Mont.) led the offense, rushing for 103 yards on 18 carries. Defensively, Derek Fischer (Jr., Olivia, Minn.) led the team with 9 tackles, including one for a loss. Brian Westby (Sr., Spicer, Minn.) picked up the Cobbers' only sack of the game.

The Cobbers are still in the thick of the playoff race, just one game out in the MIAC with two weeks to play. The top three teams in the league still need to finish out their games, with St. John's hosting St. Thomas next weekend and Concordia facing St. Thomas in the final week, so the final standings are far from set. Up next for the Cobbers is a trip to St. Olaf next Saturday at 1:00.

Game Day Preview
The Headline: SHOWDOWN IN "MO"-TOWN

The Inside Scoop:
GAME NOTES: A funny thing happened on the way to Terry Horan’s second complete season at the helm of the Cobber football team – he found himself right in the middle of the race for the MIAC championship. The Cobbers are off to their best start in the MIAC since the 1997 season when they also started the season 5-0. The team that snapped the streak at five during that season was St. John’s, when the Johnnies won 20-12 in Moorhead on October 18th. Today’s game will go a VERY long way in determining who will take home the title and the automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs. Both teams are undefeated in conference play, and after today, both will only have two games remaining in their conference schedule. Concordia will finish with a game at St. Olaf on November 2nd and then against St. Thomas on November 8th at 5:00pm in the Metrodome. The Johnnies finish by hosting St. Thomas on November 2nd and then playing Bethel on November 9th in the Metrodome. Both the Johnnies and Cobbers control their own postseason destiny. Throw in once-beaten St. Thomas in the mix, and you have three teams that could all win the MIAC crown by winning their last three games...Today’s game will be all about defense – if the Cobber defense can stop the prodigious Johnnie offensive attack, and if the Concordia offense can score on the equally-tough St. John’s defense…Concordia leads the conference in yards allowed per game (196.8) and rushing yards per game (48.2). St. John’s is second in yards allowed per game (213.6) and passing yards per game (144.6). Both teams are second in the categories that they are not leading so points will be at a premium for the afternoon…St. John’s is currently ranked sixth in the nation in the latest D3football.com poll. ..St. John’s coach John Gagliardi needs only 14 more wins to become the all-time winningest coach in college football history.

THE COACHES: Concordia coach Terry Horan (Concordia '89) is in his second season and is 10-7 overall. St. John's coach John Gagliardi (Colorado College '49) is in his 54th season (50th at St. John's) and is 394-113-11 overall (369-106-10 at St. John's). He needs 14 more victories to surpass long-time Grambling head coach Eddie Robinson, and become the all-time winningest coach in collegiate football history.

RADIO: The game can be heard live on KVOX-AM 1280 in the Fargo-Moorhead and surrounding area. Longtime Cobber play-by-play broadcaster Larry Knutsen will be joined by former Concordia player Chris Ohm for the live broadcast. The game can also be heard live over the internet through the Concordia College athletics website. The web address is located at: http://www.cord.edu/dept/sports/soundfb.html. The 2002 football season marks the seventh year that Cobber football games have been broadcast over the internet, the longest span of any school in the MIAC.

The Schedules and Standings:
2002 Concordia Schedule:
9/7    at MSU-Moorhead       L 17-41
9/14   Gustavus              W 20-14
9/21   at Bethel             W 35-14
9/28   Carleton              W 51-7
10/5   at Hamline            W 40-7
10/12 Augsburg              W 38-13
10/19 at UW-Stout           L 21-27
10/26 Saint John’s          1 p.m.
11/2   at St. Olaf           1 p.m.
11/8   St. Thomas @ Metrodome 5 p.m.

2002 Saint John's Schedule:
9/7    at UW-Eau Claire      L 21-28 OT
9/14   Hamline               W 56-0
9/21   UW-Whitewater         W 42-18
9/28   St. Olaf              W 59-20
10/5   at Gustavus Adolphus W 20-7
10/12 Carleton              W 49-7
10/19 at Augsburg           W 35-7
10/26 at Concordia-Moorhead 1 p.m.
11/2   St. Thomas            1 p.m.
11/8   at Bethel @ Metrodome 8 p.m.

Current MIAC Standings:
                         MIAC Overall
Saint John’s 5-0   6-1
Concordia     5-0   5-2
St. Thomas    4-1   4-3
Bethel        3-2   3-4
Gustavus      3-3   4-3
St. Olaf      3-3   4-3
Augsburg      1-4   2-5
Hamline       0-5   1-6
Carleton      0-6   0-7

Other Games Around the League:
Augsburg @ St. Thomas 1:00pm
Gustavus @ Hamline 1:00pm
Carleton @ Bethel 1:00pm
St. Olaf @ Macalester (non-conference) 1:00pm

The Statistics:
MIAC CONFERENCE-ONLY PER-GAME RANKINGS (5 games): Total offense -- Concordia 5th (362.6); St. John's 2nd (462.2); Passing offense -- Concordia 8th (141.4); St. John's 2nd (284.8); Rushing offense -- Concordia 1st (221.2); St. John's 4th (177.4); Scoring offense -- Concordia 3rd (36.8); St. John's 1st (43.8); Total defense -- Concordia 1st (196.8); St. John's 2nd (213.6); Passing defense -- Concordia 2nd (148.6); St. John's 1st (144.6); Rushing defense -- Concordia 1st (48.2); St. John's 2nd (69.0); Scoring defense -- Concordia 2nd (11.0); St. John's 1st (8.2).

INDIVIDUAL TEAM LEADERS RANKINGS CONFERENCE-ONLY GAMES (5 games): Rushing -- Concordia Ryan Hebrink 5th 73.6 ypg; St. John's Kent Crowley 6th 70.8 ypg; Passing Avg/Game -- Concordia Ryan Hebrink 7th 117.8 ypg; St. John's Ross Denne 4th 205.2 ypg; Total Offense -- Concordia Ryan Hebrink 6th 191.4 ypg; St. John's Ross Denne 3rd 212 ypg; All Purpose -- Concordia Robert Clark 5th 146.2 ypg; St. John's Blake Elliott 3rd 155.8 ypg; Interceptions -- Concordia Josh Vickerman 2nd .75 int/g; St. John's Jason Pflipsen 1st 1 int/g; Pass Efficiency -- Concordia Ryan Hebrink 3rd 161.4 rating; St. John's Ross Denne 4th 157.2 rating; Punt Returns -- Concordia Bobby Clark 4th 14.9 ypr; St. John's Blake Elliott 2nd 18 ypr; Kick Off Returns -- Concordia Bobby Clark 3rd 23.5 ypr; St. John's Blake Elliott 7th 19.8 ypr; Punting -- Concordia Scott Belseth 8th 33.4 yds; St. John's Charlie Carr 2nd 36.4 yds; Scoring -- Concordia Bobby Clark 6th 9.6 ppg; St. John's Kent Crowley 2nd 10.8 ppg. Kickers Scoring -- Concordia Brian Halverson 3rd 5.32 ppg; St. John's Brandon Keller 2nd 5.4 ppg; Field Goals -- Concordia Brian Halverson 1st .4 fg/g; Field Goal Percent -- Concordia Brian Halverson 2nd 50%; PAT Kicking Percent -- Concordia Brian Halverson 7th 83.3%; St. John's Brandon Keller 1st 93.1%; Tackles -- Concordia Josh Dietz 23rd 4.2avg/g; St. John's Cam McCambridge 6th 6.2 avg/g; Sacks -- Concordia Barry Bennett 4th 4.5 total; St. John's Jeremy Hood 3rd 5 total; Tackles for Loss -- Concordia Barry Bennett 4th 34 yds; St. John's Jeremy Hood 3rd 43 yds.

The News From Last Week:
CONCORDIA 21 @ UW-STOUT 27: Concordia knew they were in for a tough game, going up against the University of Wisconsin at Stout, who had the top-rated rushing defense in the nation, but the Cobbers fought hard, coming up just short in a 27-21 defeat.

The Cobbers jumped on the scoreboard first, on their first possession of the game, on a 24-yard passing strike from Ryan Hebrink (Jr., Sacred Heart, Minn.) to Bobby Clark (Jr., Seeley Lake, Mont.) with 11:45 left in the first quarter. UW-Stout responded on the very next drive, scoring just 46 seconds later on a 26-yard pass from Adam Moiles to Dan Austin. Then both defenses settled in, playing over a quarter of scoreless ball, before the Blue Devils jumped in front on a 43-yard pass from Moiles to Matt Sprester with 4:56 to go in the first half. They followed it up with a 19-yard touchdown run by Luke Bundgaard with 2:13 left, taking a 21-7 lead into halftime.

Concordia didn't give in, though, and the defense came out solid again in the second half, holding the Blue Devils scoreless in the third quarter. The Cobbers got back within seven points with 7:40 remaining in the third quarter, on a 25-yard pass from Hebrink to Clark, their second scoring hookup of the game. UW-Stout then went to work on the ground, grinding out field position and connected on two Evan Larsen field goals in the final quarter, from 35 and 30 yards out, giving the Blue Devils a 27-14 lead with 5:59 left in the game. The Cobbers struck back on the next drive, though, with Ed Oehlers (So., North Branch, Minn.) punching the ball in from two yards out with 4:34 remaining, cutting the lead to 27-21. The Cobbers had two more chances, but gave up the ball on a fumble and an interception, and the game ended 27-21 in favor of the Blue Devils.

ST. JOHN'S 35 @ AUGSBURG 7: The ninth ranked SJU football team scored three second quarter and two fourth quarter touchdowns to defeat Augsburg 35-7 on Saturday, Oct. 19, in Minneapolis.

After a scoreless first quarter, SJU senior Kent Crowley scored on a 27-yard run at 13:22 of the second quarter. The Auggies came right back as Yarzue Slowon caught a 12 yard touchdown pass from Dave Fransen to tie the game at 7-7. The Johnnies took the lead for good on their next possession as Crowley scored from three yards out. After an Augsburg interception, Crowley scored his third touchdown of the quarter with 58 seconds remaining on a 17-yard run.

The game remained 21-7 in favor of the Johnnies until the first play of the fourth quarter as senior Ross Denne, Avon, scored on a one-yard run. The final score of the game came at 5:22 of the fourth when sophomore Lee Clintsman, Maplewood, caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Denne. Sophomore kicker Brandon Keller made all five extra point attempts.

Overall, SJU dominated the stats page as SJU had 423 yards total offense compared to 194 for Augsburg. SJU rushed for 172 yards and passed for 251 yards. The Auggies were held to 35 yards rushing in the contest. Three Augsburg interceptions led to 21 SJU points.

Individually, Crowley rushed the ball 25 times for 131 yards and three touchdowns. Denne was 21-of-37 passing for 251 yards and one touchdown. Clintsman had five catches for 103 yards and junior Blake Elliott, Melrose, caught six passes for 29 yards.

Defensively, junior Cam McCambridge, Edina, had 14 total tackles, while senior Jason Pflipsen, Sartell, had four tackles, two interceptions, four pass deflections and a tackle of loss. Pflipsen now has seven interceptions on the season.

The History Lesson: St. John’s leads the Series 34-26-7.
SERIES NOTES: St. John's has won the last six games between the two teams, and owns a 9-0-2 record in the last 11 meetings...The last Cobber victory came back in 1990 when Concordia downed St. John's 30-28 en route to winning their 15th MIAC championship. The last time the game was played at Jake Christiansen stadium was in 1998 when the Johnnies shuout Concordia 21-0. In that year, St. John's went on to win the MIAC championship and lose to UW-Eau Claire in the qurterfinals of the NCAA playoffs...The winner of the Concordia/St. John's matchup has gone on to win the MIAC in 9 of the last 12 seasons.

LAST YEAR: Concordia drew first blood, but St. John's countered with 28 straight points and won a pivotal MIAC game 28-14. The Cobbers (3-5, 4-5) were unable to shut down the high powered Johnnie (7-1, 7-2) passing attack, allowing 392 yards and four touchdowns through the air.

Concordia opened the scoring in the first quarter when Robert Clark (So., Seeley Lake, Mont.) turned a harmless run into a 35 yard scoring scamper. The Johnnies finally got on the board with 1:08 to go in the period when Keating threw for his first TD, on a 38 yard strike to Drew Gibson.

After the missed extra point St. John's proceeded to rattle off 22 straight points before Concordia brought the game to within 14 with six minutes to go in the final quarter. Cobber quarterback Ryan Hebrink (So, Sacred Heart, Minn.) scrambled in from six yards out for the TD that kept Concordia's hopes for an upset alive.

After a Cobber defensive stop, the offense drove the ball to the Johnnie 10 yard line but turned the ball over on downs when Hebrink's fourth down pass to Jeff Hertel (Sr., Fargo, N.Dak.) fell just yards short. Keating then knelt down to kill the final 31 seconds of the game to bring St. John's to within one game of clinching a share of the title and the automatic NCAA playoff bid.

Clark led the Cobber rushing attack as he gained 85 yards on 11 carries. Hebrink ran for 51 yards and threw for 160. Hertel hauled in six catches for 77 yards.

The Probable Starters:
St. John’s
Offense
Pos # Name               Yr Ht   Wt Hometown
C 53 Josh Dirlam        Sr 6-1 249 Eden Prairie MN
RG 70 Josh Pantzke       Sr 6-7 305 Rice MN
LG 64 Dan Kosel          Sr 6-0 250 St. Cloud MN
LT 78 Tom Engwall        Sr 6-6 275 Hutchinson MN
RT 71 Brent Vogt         Sr 6-0 230 Olivia MN
QB 17 Ross Denne         Sr 6-3 205 Avon MN
RB 32 Josh Nelson        Jr 6-0 200 Milaca MN
RB 28 Kent Crowley       Sr 6-0 210 Iona MN
TE 4 Isaac Flenner      So 6-2 210 Breckenridge MN
WR 2 Blake Elliott      Jr 6-1 210 Melrose MN
WR 39 Jed Riegelman      Jr 6-4 215 Red Wing MN
Defense
Pos # Name              Yr Ht   Wt Hometown
DE 47 Paul Schreiner    Jr 6-2 200 Cold Spring MN
DE 19 Jeremy Hood       Jr 6-2 230 Buffalo MN
DT 88 Kyle Imholte      So 6-4 235 Detroit Lakes MN
DT 59 Josh Miller       Sr 6-4 240 Mound MN
NT 77 Ryan Weinandt     Jr 6-0 235 Wabasha MN
OLB 37 Cam McCambridge   Jr 6-2 215 Edina MN
OLB 33 Paul Gans         So 6-0 205 Rice MN
CB   3 Ross Spanier      Sr 5-9 175 Sartell MN
CB 25 Jason Pflipsen    Sr 6-0 190 Sartell MN
FS 15 Jeremy Goltz      Jr 6-2 200 Tracy MN
SS   6 Cole Deibele      Jr 6-0 175 Sleepy Eye MN
Special Teams
Pos    # Name            Yr Ht   Wt Hometown
H      5 Mike Zauhar     Fr 6-0 170 Brainerd MN
KO/PK 1 Brandon Keller So 5-7 165 Bismarck ND
KR/PR 2 Blake Elliott   Jr 6-1 210 Melrose MN
P      9 Charlie Carr    Jr 6-1 180 St. Cloud MN
LS    54 Rich Carlbom    Jr 6-0 230 Harris MN
SS    14 Luke Schumer    So 6-4 210 St. Stephen MN

Concordia
Offense
Pos # Name               Yr Ht   Wt Hometown
C 58 Dustin Little      Sr 6-1 245 Billings MT
RG 68 John Holt          Sr 6-2 260 Grafton ND
LG 52 Mitch Maxwell      Jr 6-0 265 Marshall MN
LT 74 Nicholas Didier    So 6-3 250 Helena MT
RT 63 Ryan Johnson       Fr 6-3 255 St. Cloud MN
QB 10 Ryan Hebrink       Jr 6-3 205 Sacred Heart MN
FB 34 Jeremy Hinderks    Jr 6-2 235 Renville MN
RB 6 Robert Clark       Jr 5-9 190 Seeley Lake MT
RB 20 Jon Lewis          Jr 5-7 165 Princeton MN
RB 27 Travis Christensen So 5-11 215 Battle Lake MN
WR 80 Jake Olson         Sr 5-10 180 Crookston MN
WR 81 Shawn Reile        So 6-1 175 Moorhead MN
Defense
Pos # Name             Yr Ht   Wt Hometown
RE   2 Brian Westby     Sr. 6-1 250 Spicer MN
LE 98 Barry Bennett    Sr. 6-2 245 Long Prairie MN
LT 97 Andrew Campbell Jr. 6-4 255 Great Falls MT
NG 75 Derek Flann      Sr. 6-1 270 Lake Lillian MN
SLB 11 Derek Fischer    Jr. 5-10 205 Olivia MN
MLB 16 Doug Runke       So. 6-2 215 Willmar MN
WLB 43 Josh Dietz       So. 6-1 215 Glencoe MN
SCB 4 Josh Vickerman   Sr. 6-0 180 Alexandria MN
WCB 9 Jordan Talge     So. 5-11 180 Moorhead MN
FS 45 Shane Satterlee Sr. 6-2 190 Litchfield MN
SS 13 Scott Belseth    Sr. 6-0 205 Breckenridge MN
Special Teams
Pos    # Name            Yr Ht   Wt Hometown
H      9 Jordan Talge    So 5-11 180 Moorhead MN
KO    49 Jeff Jungers    Fr 5-11 175 Richfield MN
PK    38 Brian Halverson Fr 6-1 170 Fargo ND
KR/PR 6 Robert Clark    Jr 5-9 190 Seeley Lake MT
P     13 Scott Belseth   Sr 6-0 205 Breckenridge MN
SS/LS 44 Paul Evans      Jr 5-10 185 Willmar MN

This page is maintained by the Concordia Sports Information Office sid@cord.edu |