Box Score
Oct. 8, 2011 - Faced with a danger of losing their third straight game for the first time in three years, the Concordia Cougars scored a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns to slip past Wisconsin Lutheran College 29-17 at Raabe Stadium in Milwaukee this afternoon.
The Cougars' opening drive stalled at the Warriors' 34, but Ryan Kastner's (South Bend, IN/Clay) punt pinned the hosts on their own eight-yard line. Wisconsin Lutheran overcame the bad field possession and put together a 92-yard drive for the game's opening score. Zach Shaw hit Josh Stodola for 32 yards to start the drive and capped it with a 12-yard toss to Matt Lopata.
A 33-yard kick return by James Washington (Montgomery, IL/Oswego East) set the Cougars up near midfield to start the next drove. They needed just four plays to reach the end zone, that coming when Jake Koehler (Belvidere, IL/Rockford Lutheran) hit Jamal Thomas (Weirsdale, FL/Lake Weir) for the final 28 yards.
The Warriors looked to answer on their next drive as they held the ball for nearly eight minutes. However, the Cougar defense rose to the occasion by stuffing the Warriors on the two-yard line.
Just before halftime, the Warriors capitalized on a Cougars' mistake to take the lead. Kastner was unable to bring down a high snap as he was standing in the end zone in punt formation. With the defense bearing down on him. Kastner elected to kick the ball over the back line of the end zone for a safety rather than risk a potential six points on a fumble recovery.
Jason Mielzynski (Chicago, IL/St. Laurence) gave the Cougars a lift minutes into the second half, intercepting a Shaw pass and returning it to the 29. The offense was unable to move the ball, but Danny Colapietro (Chicago, IL/Maine South) came on to kick a career-long 45-yard field goal and give Concordia its first lead of the day at 10-9.
The lead lasted only momentarily as Jesse Muldrow scored on a 42-yard run. The Warriors were given excellent field position thanks to Donavin Tucker's 56-yard kickoff return and needed just two plays to score. The hosts added on a two-point conversion to go up by a 17-10 score.
Concordia did not score on its next possession as Colapietro missed a field goal from 38 yards out. However, they did not fail on their next drive. The Cougars went to the run with Kevin Hagens (St. Louis, MO/Lutheran North) gaining 29 yards on four carries. Koehler picked up a key first down when he threw six yards to Mike Mentz (Collinsville, IL/Metro-East Lutheran) on a fourth-and-five to the Warriors' 14. Two plays later, Koehler called his own number and scrambled for the score. However, the Cougars missed the extra point and went into the fourth quarter trailing 17-16.
The Cougars took the lead for good just two plays into the fourth as Sherman Jones (Pensacola, FL/J.M. Tate) scored from one yard out. The score was set up by Hagens' 10-yard run, Jones' 11-yard run and Koehler's 16-yard pass to Terrence Miller (Jacksonville, FL/Potter's House Academy). The two-point pass attempt failed, leading the score at Cougars 22, Warriors 17.
Concordia forced the hosts to punt moments later, and a personal foul on the punt return gave the Cougars good field position at the 38. This time, the combination of Koehler and Thomas got the Cougars into the end zone. Koehler hit Thomas for 40 yards on a third-and-13 and then found his wide receiver on a 23-yard route. Charlie Henke (Wauwatosa, WI/Milwaukee Lutheran) added the extra point to put the Cougars up 12.
Wisconsin Lutheran looked to counter, marching down to Concordia's 16. On fourth down, however, Jamel Gray (Pittsburg, FL/Orange Park) and Marty Beckman (Parma, OH/Lutheran West) sacked Shaw to end the threat. The hosts had one more possession, and that ended when Shaw threw incomplete on a fourth-and-long. The Cougars needed to snap the ball just once, and they walked off the field with victory number two on the season.
Wisconsin Lutheran won the total yards stat, amassing 372 (136 rushing, 236 passing) to Concordia's 335 (123 rushing, 212 passing). Koehler completed 16 of 28 passes with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Hagens rushed for 59 yards on 14 carries while Koehler added 57 yards on 11 carries.
Defensively, Mielzynski and Matt Rolf (Rochester, ,MI/Lutheran Northwest) recorded eight tackles each. Malcolm Godwin (Ocala, FL/Vanguard) and Chris Decker (Ocala, FL/St. John Lutheran) added seven each, and David Sodetz (Chicago, IL/Kennedy) recorded six tackles and two big pass break-ups, both coming in the end zone.
The Cougars return home to host Rockford College next Saturday, Oct. 15 at 1:00.
