Box Score
Sept. 10, 2011 - On a day when Concordia University Chicago welcomed four new inductees into the Cougar Athletic Hall of Fame, the Cougar football team produced a performance worthy of the occasion. Head coach Lonnie Pries, one of this year's inductees, saw his team control play on both sides of the ball and overcome a couple of early injuries in defeating the University of Chicago 28-10.
The Cougars were dominated by the Maroons in last year's contest 56-24, but Concordia came out with the intent that there would be no repeat. After stopping Chicago on the game's initial series, Concordia's offense got rolling immediately. Andrew Maddox (Gainesville, FL/P.K. Yonge) broke free for runs of 19 and 33 yards, and a facemask penalty at the end of the latter run gave the Cougars a first-and-goal at the Chicago seven. Two plays later, Jake Koehler (Belvidere, IL/Rockford Lutheran) found Jamal Thomas (Weirsdale, FL/Lake Weir) open on the left side for an eight-yard touchdown pass. The extra point by Danny Colapietro (Chicago, IL/Maine South) gave Concordia a 7-0 lead just 5:29 into the game.
The Maroons put together a commanding drive down the field late in the quarter, gaining a first down at the 22. However, Malcolm Godwin (Ocala, FL/Vanguard) came up with the defense's first takeaway of the season, intercepting Kevin Shelton's pass and returning it 19 yards to the 25.
Concordia marched to another touchdown following Godwin's pick as Koehler hit Savonte Hunt (Archer, FL/Buchholz) for 18 yards. Maddox followed with another long run of 29 yards, putting the Cougars deep in Maroons' territory. Eventually, the Cougars faced a third-and-goal from the 12, but Koehler hit Sherman Jones (Pensacola, FL/J.M. Tate) in the corner for the score. Colapietro's extra point made the score Cougars 14, Maroons 0.
While the Cougars had the edge on the scoreboard, their joyful mood was tempered by the fact that two starting offensive linemen were forced to leave the game. First, center Anthony Pennella (Elmhurst, IL/York Community) and later guard Tim Zbytniewski (Grafton, WI/Living Word Lutheran) were forced to leave the field; neither one would return to the game. Sophomore Jerry Kloese (Frankfort, IL/Chicago Christian) and freshman Martin Schlene (West Lafayette, IN/H.S.) took the place of the injured players and, while the Maroons stepped up their pass rush, the Cougars did a good job overall of continuing to execute the offense.
Chicago got on the scoreboard late in the half, marching 64 yards in seven plays. Ian Gaines provided the big play with a 27-yard run inside the five. Moments later, Vincent Cortina hit Dee Brizzolara alone on the left side of the end zone for the points. Jeff Sauer's PAT cut Concordia's lead in half at 14-7.
The Cougars still had 1:48 with which to work, and a 26-yard kick return by freshman James Washington (Montgomery, IL/Oswego East) got things rolling again. Koehler moved the offense effectively, completing first-down passes to Hunt, Jones and Thomas. On a first down from the 35, Koehler spied Thomas racing down the left sideline. He threw to the end zone where Thomas got separation from his defender at the last second and hauled in the rainbow from Koehler. The extra point boosted the Cougars' lead back up to 14 points at 21-7, and that would be the score as the teams returned to their locker rooms at the half.
Concordia took the second-half kickoff and looked to add to their lead, but a series of penalties stalled the drive. The score remained at 21-7 until 70 seconds remained in the quarter. Lee Sauer capped off a 47-yard drive with a field goal from 33 yards out to cut the hosts' lead to 21-10.
Chicago took possession early in the fourth quarter, looking to cut deeper into Concordia's lead. However, Jason Mielzynski (Chicago, IL/St. Laurence) recovered Gaines' fumble on the Cougar 43. Concordia then converted the turnover into points via the combination of Koehler and Thomas. The two hooked up for the third time in the game, this time from 18 yards out. The score came with 4:32 remaining and would turn out to be the backbreaker for Chicago.
The Cougars amassed 452 yards of offense to the Maroons' 280. Koehler finished 24 of 37 passing for 285 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Maddox rushed for 120 yards on only 11 carries, giving the sophomore his first 100-yard game at the college level. Thomas hauled in seven passes for 110 yards and three touchdowns.
Defensively, Marty Beckman (Parma, OH/Lutheran West) racked up 12 total tackles including 1.5 sacks. Chris Thompson (St. Louis, MO/Lutheran North) made 3.5 tackles for minus-nine yards as part of his eight-tackle effort.
Concordia (1-0) will enjoy a bye week before returning to the field Sept. 24 when they play at Adrian College in Michigan.
