Concordia football records shutout in first game on new turf field

The Concordia Cobbers christened their new turf field in style Saturday.

The Cobbers scored three touchdowns in the first quarter en route to a 42-0 victory against Valley City State in nonconference college football at Jack Christiansen Stadium.

"It's probably the best first half I've seen around here in awhile and we were just clicking on all cylinders," said Cobbers head coach Terry Horan.

Saturday was the first time Concordia played a football game on its new FieldTurf, which was installed during the summer.

The Cobbers built a 35-0 lead by halftime. They limited the Vikings to two first downs and 54 yards on 29 plays in the first two quarters.

"They're a very good team," Valley City State head coach Dennis McCulloch said.

"They could do whatever they wanted. It's pretty hard when you don't shut something down."

Concordia rebounded from a season-opening setback at Dickinson State last weekend. The Cobbers allowed a freak 58-yard TD pass in the final minute in a 29-24 loss.

"We didn't really change anything, we just did it better than we did last week," said Cobbers defensive coordinator Scott Lucier. "Last week was a little bit of an eye opener for us. We had a lot of young kids who hadn't played yet and didn't know exactly how hard they had to play."

Concordia didn't leave anything to chance against the Vikings, scoring on its first five drives of the game. Junior quarterback Mike Dunham played a nearly flawless first half. He completed 10 of 11 passes for 172 yards and three touchdowns.

Dunham connected with freshman Mark Whiting for a 5-yard touchdown pass with 2 minutes to play in the second quarter to stake the Cobbers to a 35-0 lead. Earlier in the half, Dunham hit Bronson Shepherd for a 60-yard score and also found Zach Weller on a 7-yard TD pass.

"We definitely came out with more intensity than we did last week," Dunham said. "We were all fired up to play. ... You've got to be happy when you're up 35-0 at halftime."

The Cobbers defense held the Vikings to 133 yards on 62 plays for the game. Valley City State finished with minus-17 yards rushing on 26 attempts.

Concordia senior defensive end/outside linebacker Perry Patterson had a strong game, ending with a team-high eight tackles and had two sacks. Senior defensive end Aaron Schindler added three sacks.

"We came out here with a lot of fire and emotion," said Concordia senior safety Zach Debeltz. "It was really important to get all of our guy's confidence up. I'm sure we had some doubters after last week's performance."

The Cobbers (1-1) start their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference season next Saturday at St. John's.

"We're still young, we're still learning," Horan said. "It's a huge win for us going into the juggernaut next week."

Valley City State (1-1) opens its Dakota Athletic Conference schedule next Saturday at home against South Dakota Mines.

"Really what I want to take from it is to forget it," said McCulloch. "I really want to put it behind us as quickly as we can. We got a conference to get ready for and we just can't linger on this one."

Valley City State 0 0 0 0- 0

Concordia 21 14 0 7-42

CC-N. Johnson 2 run (Diaz kick)

CC-SaariBovre 2 run (Diaz kick)

CC-Shepherd 60 pass from Dunham (Diaz kick)

CC-Weller 7 pass from Dunham (Diaz kick)

CC-Whiting 5 pass from 5 pass from Dunham (Diaz kick)

CC-Bjornstad 23 pass from Schaefbauer (Diaz kick)

TEAM STATISTICS

VCSU CC

First downs 10 21

Rushes-yards 26-(-17) 49-248

Passing 150 214

Comp-Att-Int 19-36-0 13-21-0

Punts-Avg. 7-32.9 3-42.3

Fumbles-Lost 3-3 0-0

Penalties-Yards 3-25 8-67

Time of Possession 24:53 35:07

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: VCSU, Zinke 5-9, Derilus 2-2, Elliot 1-(-7), Kosel 8-(-10), Backstrom 10-(-11). CC, T. Johnson 10-93, SaariBovre 4-31, Jedinak 2-29, N. Johnson 6-23, Baune 6-21, K. Johnson 4-18, Dunham 5-17, Gilson 2-12, Wertish 3-6, Paur 2-2, Kolness 1-1, Erickson 1-(-1), Team 2-(-4).

PASSING: VCSU, Kosel 10-19-0 60 yards, Zinke 9-17-0 90. CC, Dunham 12-16-0 191, Erickson 0-4-0 0, Schaefbauer 1-1-0 23.

RECEIVING: VCSU, Elliot 5-72, Eliacin 3-17, Proctor 2-18, Pfeifer 2-17, Derilus 2-(-5), Bryant 1-18, Ostrom 1-9, Callahan 1-7, Davis 1-0, Backstrom 1-(-3).

Readers can reach Forum reporter Eric Peterson at (701) 241-5513.

Peterson's blogs can be found at www.areavoices.com