Nov. 19, 2011 - It was one of the more unusual victories ever for the Concordia football program, but it was a victory that closed out the program's third consecutive 8-2 season. The Cougars waited 10 weeks for their shot at Lake Forest College after their Sept. 3 game was stopped by lightning with the Foresters leading 28-26. This time, the Cougars dominated play by scoring 30 unanswered points en route to the 56-28 win.

In the Sept. 3 portion of the contest, Lake Forest had built a 28-26 lead by hitting on several big plays. Al Mitchell scored on an 80-yard run on LFC's first play from scrimmage. Pete Scaffidi was just 3-6 passing, but all three of his completions went for touchdowns including an 80-yard strike to Kevin Davis. The Cougars' points came from quarterback Jake Koehler (Belvidere, IL/Rockford Lutheran) who scored on a 15-yard run and threw touchdown passes to Savonte Hunt (Archer, FL/Buchholz), Jamal Thomas (Weirsdale, FL/Lake Weir) and Terrence Miller (Jacksonville, FL/Potter's House Academy).

When play resumed today, the Cougars were stopped on their drive and were forced to punt. However, Chris Decker (Ocala, FL/St. John Lutheran) intercepted Scaffidi's pass and set up the Cougar offense on the 10. The Foresters were able to keep the Cougars out of the end zone, but Danny Colapietro (Chicago, IL/Maine South) hit n a field goal from 25 yards out to put Concordia on top 29-28.

Lake Forest got the ball back with just 1:22 remaining in the half. Concordia was able to keep the visitors from mounting a drive with some tremendous pressure on Scaffidi by Chris Thompson (St. Louis, MO/Lutheran North) and Marty Beckman (Parma, OH/Lutheran West). The Foresters were held to a series of short-yardage plays and just managed to reach the 50 as the half ended with Concordia clinging to the one-point lead.

The Foresters received to start the second half but went three and out. The Cougars went to the ground game with Andrew Maddox (Gainesville, FL/P.K. Yonge) breaking loose on a 27-yard run down to the 10. Three plays later, Maddox took a handoff and weaved his way into the end zone from five yards out for a 36-28 lead.

Concordia's next drive started at midfield. Koehler immediately drove the Cougars deep into Foresters' territory with a 25-yard pass to Sherman Jones (Pensacola, FL/J.M. Tate). The drive eventually stalled, but Colapietro came to the rescue again. He was true on a career-long 45-yard field goal to put the Cougars up by 13.

Lake Forest looked to answer on their next possession, but Concordia's defense rose to the occasion. Beckman stripped Scaffidi from behind, and Matt Rolf (Rochester, MI/Lutheran Northwest) recovered at the LFC 45. Koehler hit Trent Yancy (Chicago, IL/Simeon) on a clutch 13-yard pass for a first down before scrambling for a 20-yard gain. Once again, the Foresters' defense stiffened, so Colapietro came on for his third field goal of the day, this one from 26 yards to make the score Concordia 42, Lake Forest 28.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Cougars were on the move again after Thompson broke up a pass on fourth down. It took just three plays for Koehler to find Thomas on the left side of the end zone from 33 yards out, Thomas going up strong to take the ball away from the defender.

The combination of Koehler and Thomas also accounted for Concordia's final score of the day and perhaps one of the prettiest scoring plays of the season. Scrambling to his right, Koehler heaved a rainbow down the right sideline. Thomas was able to maintain his concentration on the ball while getting separation from his defender. He eventually caught the ball about 40 yards downfield and raced the rest of the way to the end zone to complete a 77-yard scoring play. Colapietro's extra point put the final point of the day on the board with 4:59 remaining.

Concordia put up a whopping 648 yards of offense on 226 rushing and 422 passing. Koehler notched his third 100-yard rushing game of the season with 120 yards on 15 carries. He accounted for the Cougars' passing yardage on 26 of 39, and his five touchdown passes tied with three previous quarterbacks for the Concordia single-game record. Thomas was Koehler's favorite target with eight catches for 166 yards. Miller also went over the 100-yard mark in receptions, catching six balls for 104 yards.

Lake Forest amassed 345 yards on 137 rushing and 208 passing. Scaffidi was 15-32 passing while Mitchell led the ground game with 13 carries for 133 yards.