moved to 1-1 on the year while the the Gusties
fell to 0-2. (See Box Score)
Moorhead State Gustavus St. Olaf Macalester Bethel St. Thomas
St. John's Augsburg Hamline Carleton
9/7/96 See Box Score also
Moorhead State hit early with a 61 yard touchdown run by Grover Moore on the second play of the game. After a good and long Cobber drive that came up short, the Dragons made it 14-0 on a 20-yard quarterback draw by Pat Elmes. A Dragon field goal with 7:10 left in the second quarter made it 17-0.
But the Cobbers scored on a 39 yard pass from Ethan Pole to Tory Langemo with 1:13 left in the first half. Concordia scored again on a 35 yard Greg Nielsen to Tory Langemo pass with 11:28 left in the third quarter and it looked like the game was back on.
The Dragons went back up 24-14 on a 22 yard Bobby Vetter run to open the fourth quarter. Then, with 12:26 left, Dragon Greg Hurt picked up an Eli Schuff fumble and returned it 64 yards for a TD and the 31-14 margin.
Although the Cobbers had 16 first downs to 13 by the Division II Dragons and out-passed the Dragons 148 to 12 yards, the Cobs gave up 332 rushing yards. Concordia gained just 104 yards on the ground, led by Eli Schuff's disappointing 19-for 48-yards day.
The Cobber quarterback battle did not have a decisive outcome. senior starter Neilson gained 24 yards on 6 carries and was 3 for 7 passing for 49 yards. Sophome Ethan Pole had 3 carried for 18 yards and was 10 of 17 passing for 99 yards.
Langemo ended the day with 4 catches for 85 yards.
The Cobber defense was led by Jason Caron's 12 tackles. Craig Gilbert added 9 and Shane Hanson had 8.
Starting cornerback Brian Barnick missed the MSU game with a bad ankle. Scott Smith started in his place. Barnick's status for the Gustavus game is unknown as of Sept. 8.
This game marked the 74th meeting between Concordia and Moorhead State. Concordia leads the series 43-19-12. The Cobbers are 5-7 in the 12 years this game has been dubbed the Crystal Bowl, sponsored by Crystal Sugar of Moorhead. The Cobbers won last year 10-7.
Concordia jumped out to a 24-0 lead at the half and cruised to a
31-6 win over Gustavus in St. Peter. The game was the MIAC
opener for both teams. The Cobbers
moved to 1-1 on the year while the the Gusties
fell to 0-2. (See Box Score)
The Cobber home opener is Sept. 21 against St. Olaf 1:00. The Cobbers beat the Oles 48-16 last year here. Concordia leads the series against St. Olaf 25-19-2.
Tory Langemo got the scoring off to an early start with a 69 yard TD on a pass from Ethan Pole with 10:47 left in the first quarter.
The Cobbers'305 yard ground attack was led by Eli
Schuff's 141 rushing yards on 29 carries, including a 46 yard run to
set up the Cobbers's second touchdown early in the second quarter. Senior
fullback Mike Flinn came off the bench to wrack
up 85 yards on 11 carries and Mike Halvorson
gained 60 on 13 carries, including that second
quarter TD on a 5 yards run.
Rookie Clayton Horgen hit a 42 yard field goal, the first of his career, to make it 17-0with 3:53 left in the second quarter. Then Flinn banged one in from 3 yards to make it 24-0 at the half.
Craig Gilbert led the Cobber defense with 12 tackles. The Cobbers held the Gusties to just 60 yards rushing on 22 carries and 233 yards total.
9/21/96
Concordia improved to 2-0 in the MIAC, 2-1 overall with a solid 20-7 win over St. Olaf in Moorhead today. The Oles fell to 0-2 in the MIAC, 1-2 overall.
The Cobbers opened a 20-0 lead at the half, led by 2 Eli Schuff touchdown runs and a third by quarterback Greg Nielsen. The Cobbers ran for 304 yards, led by Schuff's 104 yards on 24 carries. See box score and scoring summary. Schuff's season stats now show 293 rushing yards as he pursues a second MIAC rushing title.
9/16/96
Starting Linebacker Craig Gilbert out for season.
After leading the Cobbers with 12 tackles at Gustavus on Sept. 14, Craig Gilbert suffered a 4th quarter knee injury that will keep him out the rest of the 1996 season. Gilbert had 21 tackles in his first two games and will be hard to replace in the middle of the Cobber defense.
9/28/96 Cobbers Beat Macalester 34-7
The Cobbers beat Macalester 34-7 today to go to 3-0 in the MIAC, 3-1 overall. Mac fell to 1-2 in the MIAC, 2-2 overall. (See Box Score and Scoring Summary)
Concordia gave up a touchdown with 8:49 left in the first quarter
on a 34 yard pass from Nathan Eyde to Kris Lecours. The Cobbers responded
with 
the
first of three Tory Langemo touchdown receptions,
this one a 50 yarder at 6:40 of the first quarter from Ethan
Pole. The Cobbers trailed 7-6 after a missed PAT but Cobber fullback
Mike Halvorson scored to make it 12-7
early in the 2nd quarter.
Langemo caught a 21 yarder from Pole 3 minutes into the second half and then added an 87 yarder Greg Nielsen with 10:16 left in the game to make it 27-7 Cobbers. Sophomore Mike Rice made a diving 1-handed catch of a wet ball with 4:04 left on a pass from Troy Wanless to cap the scoring at 34-7.
Cobber halfback Eli Schuff ran for 139 yards on the day on 26 carries. He now has season stats of 432 yards on 98 carries. Halvorson added 52 yards on 9 carries. Langemo ended the game with 4 catches for 170 yards.
The Cobbers had 21 first downs to Macalester's 7. The Cobbers ran for 246 yards and passed for 210. Mac ran for 77 and passed for 77.
Next up for Concordia is undefeated Bethel, a 33-25 winner at Gustavus today. In other MIAC action, St. John's came from behind to beat Hamline 29-23, St. Thomas edged Carleton 55-54 on a missed Carleton 2-point conversion in the last minute, and St. Olaf beat Augsburg 30-27.
The Cobbers opened a 10-0 lead at the half and cruised to a 30-14 win over Augsburg here today. Concordia evened its record at 4-4, 4-3 in the MIAC. Augsburg fell to 1-6 in the MIAC, 2-6 overall.
Ethan Pole passed for one TD and 179 yards on 11-21 passing. Eli Schuff ran for 161 yards on 28 carries, a 5.8 yard average. Tory Langemo had 7 catches for 118 yards.
The Cobbers edged Hamline today 27-26 in St. Paul to move their MIAC
record to 5-3, 5-4 overall. Mike Halverson
scored the winning touchdown with 3:42 left on a 16 yard run. The Cobbers
jumped out to a 7-0 lead early 
on
Halverson's first TD of the day but then fell behind 17-14 at the half
and 20-14 at the end of the 3rd.
A Nathan Merseth TD catch tied the game at 20 but Hamline came back to make it 26-20 midway through the 4th quarter. Then came the Halverson run at the end of a Cobber drive and a Clayton Horgan PAT.
The Cobbers finish the season at the Metrodome Nov. 9th at 4:00 vs 
Carleton.