Box Score Nov. 13, 2010 - It was Senior Day for Concordia University Chicago's football team, and the 15 seniors gave themselves and the Cougar faithful a final great game to remember. A 24-point second quarter put the Cougars in control, and they outlasted the Aurora Spartans in a wild fourth quarter by a final score of 52-45.
The win enabled the Cougars to equal last season's best-ever mark of 8-2. In addition, Concordia finished 6-1 in Northern Athletics Conference play, second place behind Benedictine University.
Things did not begin well for the Cougars as they fell behind 12-0 in the first quarter. Dan Heinz opened the scoring on a four-yard run on Aurora's first drive. Then, after an interception in the end zone halted Concordia's ensuing drive, the Spartans worked a bit of trickery. Wide receiver Evan Hackbarth took a lateral and heaved the ball deep downfield to a wide-open Jordan Peterson. The play covered 80 yards, and the Spartans were up by two scores midway through the first quarter.
Concordia came back as Khyree Copeland (Jacksonville, FL/Potter's House Academy) scored the first of his two touchdowns on the day. The score was helped out by a pass interference call in the end zone.
Aurora had missed the extra points on both of their touchdowns but wound up getting the two points back on a safety early in the second quarter. A snap from center went over the head of Mike Marotta (Brookfield, IL/Riverside-Brookfield) and rolled into the end zone. Marotta elected to kick the ball over the back line rather than risk the Spartans recovering for a touchdown.
The Cougars were forced to kick to the Spartans after the safety, but an errant pitch back resulted in Curtis Underwood (Fort Lauderdale, FL/Pope John Paul II) recovering the ball at the Aurora 45. It took just two plays for Concordia to strike. Following a five-yard run by Copeland, Marotta hit Jamal Thomas (Weirsdale, FL/Lake Weir) on a short screen, and Thomas weaved his way through the defense for a 40-yard score and a 14-14 tie.
An interception by Matt Rolf (Rochester, MI/Lutheran Northwest) continued to shift the momentum in Concordia's direction. Rolf returned the pick to the Spartans' 21. The Cougars could not move the ball on the next three plays, but Andrew Shine (Carol Stream, IL/Glenbard North) came on to drill a career-long 39-yard field goal to give Concordia its first lead of the day at 17-14.
A third straight takeaway added even more energy to the Cougars' sideline. Underwood intercepted Aurora's Jim Bevell at the 15-yard line and returned the ball 41 yards. A personal foul at the end of the play put the ball at Aurora's 29 and, this time, the Cougars needed just one play to score. That came on Marotta's strike to Mike Egebrecht (Wheeling, IL/Buffalo Grove), making the score Cougars 24, Spartans 14.
The Cougars were not finished scoring for the half however. They stopped Aurora on three-and-out, using their last timeout to get the ball back. Following a short punt, Marotta drove the Cougars 53 yards, aided by a circus catch by Nate Bahr (Nashotah, WI/Lake Country Lutheran) at the three-yard line along the right sideline. Two plays later, Marotta hit Egebrecht on a short slant, and the Cougars had scored 24 unanswered points to take a 31-14 lead at the half.
The 20-minute break did not slow either team's offense down. Aurora took the opening kick of the second half and put up a touchdown in the first 58 seconds. Matthew Gillette's 68-yard kick return started the Spartans in Cougar territory, and Bevell's pass to Ryan Mizgate from 30 yards out made it a 10-point game.
Concordia answered by marching 58 yards on their first possession of the half. Copeland accounted for 32 of the yards on five carries, but it was Thomas running out of the Wildcat Formation once again that put the points on the board. The five-yard scamper was Thomas' third rushing touchdown in the last two games.
Aurora's combination of Bevell and Hackbarth attacked the secondary on the next drive. The pair combined for pass plays of 17 and 22 yards before hooking up on a 14-yard pass in the left corner of the end zone. The Spartans were within 38-28 at the end of three quarters.
A fumble recovery by Aurora's Derek Cooper made things tense as the Spartans put together a 16-play, 74-yard drive. Aurora drove to the four before Concordia stopped them on a couple of incompletions. Ryan Subick came on to hit a 21-yard field goal, making the score Concordia 38, Aurora 31 with 9:37 remaining.
Copeland took over on Concordia's next drive and ate up yards and clock. The senior back ran nine times on the 13-play drive, accumulating 46 yards including the five-yarder that seemingly gave the Cougars a comfortable 14-point lead with 2:35 to play.
Aurora came back quickly, aided by a 20-yard pass play and a Cougar personal foul. That led to a Bevell 18-yard strike to Hackbarth, cutting the lead back to seven points on a drive that took just 30 seconds.
Bahr recovered the onside kick, and the Cougars forced the Spartans to burn their final two timeouts. However, Aurora forced Concordia into a fourth-and-four at the 42-yard line, setting the stage for the surprise call of the game.
Instead of punting, the Cougars elected to go for it. They went back to the bubble screen to Thomas, and the sophomore found room down the right sideline and raced to the end zone for a 52-38 lead with 1:23 still on the clock.
Aurora was not finished yet as they came back on a Bevell eight-yard pass to Peterson with 19 seconds remaining. They attempted an onside kick, but the ball did not go the required 10 yards. Concordia took possession and just needed to take a knee to end a very exciting day of football.
Copeland rushed for 180 yards on 35 carries, and he finished 2010 with a new single-season record of 1,566 rushing yards and 3,957 yards for his career. Marotta hit on 19 of 29 passes for 266 yards and the four touchdowns; he threw for 2,796 yards on the season (191-322) with 31 touchdowns against just eight interceptions.
The Cougars racked up 484 yards on 218 rushing and 266 passing, but the Spartans accumulated 523 yards on 66 rushing and 457 rushing. Aurora's Bevell passed for 377 yards on 25-43 and four touchdowns with Hackbarth accounting for eight catches and 174 yards.
Concordia's 15 seniors end their careers with a 22-18 record over four years, 16-4 over the last two seasons.
