CONCORDIA COLLEGE Cobbers (0-3-0/0-2-0)	vs.	#4 St. John's Johnnies (4-0-0/2-0-0)
	Game 3: Sept. 23, 2006 1 p.m. Jake Christiansen Stadium

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Courtesy of GoCobbers.com, Release: September 23, 2006

St. John's Box Score - Now Online!

GAMEDAY SCORING!

2nd

00:45 CC - Carl Hauser 35 yd field goal
4th

12:31 CC - KevinWilliamson 35 yd run (Hauser kick)
11:56 SJU - Gearman 87 yd pass from Lofboom

(Brian McKenna kick)
09:44 SJU - Mike Patnode 32 yd run (McKenna kick)
00:00 CC - TEAM safety

GAMEDAY RECAP

MOORHEAD, Minn. (09/23/06)-- For three quarters, fans wouldn't have known which team was ranked No.4 in the country and which was struggling for its first win of the season. For three quarters, Concordia's defense looked like they had found the magic from 2004 & 2005, stopping every St. John's attack and coming up with critical third down stops.

Unfortunately, the game is four quarters long and Concordia was unable to hold off the big-play Johnnies and fell 14-12 in Moorhead, Minn. in a game that had a little of everything.

The loss keeps the Cobbers winless on the season. CC is now 0-2 in the MIAC and 0-3 overall. The fourth-ranked Johnnies remain unbeaten. They up their overall record to 4-0 and push their conference mark to 2-0.

The Cobber offense went back to the old school CC attack. After not gaining 100 rushing yards in either of their first two games, Concordia racked up 234 yards on the ground. Unfortunately, they were never able to get their passing attack off the ground and finished with only 27 yards through the air. The 261 total yards was just shy of the Johnnies' 271 total offensive yards. St. John's entered the game averaging over 400 yards of total offense in their first three games. On Saturday, SJU had 83 rushing yards on 28 attempts and finished with 188 passing yards.

Cobber running back Cory Johnson led all rushers with 98 yards on 14 carries.

St. John's was led by the receiving prowess of Cobber killer Kyle Gearman. He finished with a game-high 114 receiving yards on four receptions and one game-changing touchdown.

Defensively, Concordia totaled four sacks and had five tackles for a loss. Tyler Ledyard had a game-high 2.0 sacks, while Brennen Lewis had a team-high eight tackles and one huge forced fumble. St. John's defensive tackle Nick Gunderson led all players with 13 tackles. Linemate Kevin McNamara had 12 tackles and 1.0 sack.

Fans were treated to a game-saving goal line stand, several game-changing fumbles, an interception in the end zone, a third down quick kick and a pair of backup quarterbacks who replaced veteran starters. All that added up to another dramatic Concordia/St. John's classic that came down to the final minute of play.

Last year the St. John's offense won the game in the final minute with a 74-yard desperation touchdown pass. On Saturday, the Johnnie defense made a goal line stand in the final minute to preserve the victory.

Trailing 14-10 with 4:00 remaining in the game, Concordia drove the ball to the St. John's 10-yard line with 3:00 to play. Two running plays pushed the ball to the one-yard line where it was third and goal. Concordia sophomore quarterback Jesse Nelson, who replaced starter Eric Rodel at the start of the fourth quarter, fumbled the snap on third down but recovered his own fumble at the two-yard line. On fourth down, Nelson tried to lead the vaunted Cobber option play to the left side, unfortunately all his options were taken away and he was forced into a two-yard loss to end the Cobbers' hopes.

SJU then ran off three plays and on fourth down had quarterback Michael Crees, who replaced starter Alex Kofoed at the start of the second quarter after Kofoed dislocated the thumb on his right hand, run the rest of the time off the clock before finally running out of the back of the end zone as time expired.

In the end, the Johnnies walked away with another head-shaking victory at Jake Christiansen Stadium.

Entering the game, Concordia had failed to score in the first half and had never led in a game in 2006. Their hard-nosed running track had never taken hold and the Cobbers were looking to find some rhythm against a Johnnie team coming off a 60-0 victory over Augsburg.

Concordia looked like the Cobbers of the past two years from the very first possession. They were able to drive the ball on the Johnnie defense using the option and suddenly started to put all the parts in sync.

After missing a field goal early in the second quarter, Cobber kicker Carl Hauser gave CC their first lead of the season with just 45 seconds remaining in the first half.

Concordia took the 3-0 lead into the break thanks in large part to a defense that stepped up and put forth their best effort of the year. At the break, Concordia held the Johnnie offense, which scored on their first eight possessions against the Auggies, scoreless and had only 72 yards of total offense. They had also sent Johnnie starting quarterback Kofoed to the sideline after Kofoed hit his hand against a Cobber helmet after following through on a pass attempt. For the first two quarters of play, Concordia's defense only gave up 51 passing yards.

That trend continued in the third quarter. CC held St. John's without a point and gave up only 18 yards on the ground in the period.

Concordia's offense drove for their fourth quarter score after Jesse Nelson stepped on for starting quarterback Eric Rodel after Rodel fumbled the ball at the end of the third quarter. In Nelson's first possession, he drove CC 80 yards on six plays and put Concordia up 10-0. The big blow was a 35-yard run by fullback Kevin Williams for the Cobbers' first TD of the game.

The tide officially changed on the very next play from scrimmage for the Johnnies. With Concordia still celebrating on the sidelines, SJU head coach John Gagliardi pulled one more trick from his bottomless bag and called for a halfback pass. The play caught the Cobber backfield stepping up to the line to stop the run and wide receiver Kyle Gearman had a clean run to the end zone from 80 yards out.

On the next possession Cobber halfback Cory Johnson wasn't able to corral the pitch on the option and SJU was able to recover at the Cobber 41-yard line. Two plays later Mike Patnode broke off a 32-yard run and suddenly St. John's was ahead for the first time in the game 14-10.

The end-game dramatics was set up by a Cobber punt that pinned St. John's inside its own 20-yard line. On third and ten, SJU's Craig Luberts had the ball knocked out of his hands by junior linebacker Brennen Lewis and CC defensive end Dustin Carlson was able to fall on the loose ball on the Johnnie 21-yard line.