Box Score Oct. 18, 2014 - The Concordia-Chicago Cougars began the second half of the season today looking to reverse their fortunes and gain a victory against the visiting Wisconsin Lutheran Warriors on a cold and wet day in River Forest. However, a 28-point first quarter by WLC put the home team into an immediate hole with turnovers even more costly than usual, and the final result would be a 59-15 win for the Warriors. The loss put CUC at 0-5 for the season, 0-3 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference.
The Cougars received the opening kickoff and picked up a couple of first downs as Acusio Bivona (Los Angeles, CA/Hamilton) completed a couple of third-down passes to Elijah Walker (Hobart, IN/H.S.). But the drive would stall at midfield, bringing up a punting situation. The snap from center sailed high over Brendan Shumaker's (Rockford, IL/Rockford Boylan) head and was picked up by WLC's Caleb Heinritz at the 18. Heinritz rambled the 18 yards to the end zone, and the Warriors led 7-0 despite not having run a play from scrimmage. A punt ended CUC's next drove, and the Warriors answered with a touchdown drive of 52 yards. The points came on a Gino DeGeorge 30-yard pass down the left side to Mitch Skarban. The hole grew deeper for the Cougars as an interception led to the next score, a DeGeorge two-yard run to cap a six-play drive.
Concordia looked to answer back on its next drive as a couple of third-down receptions by Ryan Allison (Parkland, FL/Stoneman Douglas) moved the chains. The Cougars eventually had to punt, but things looked better as the Warriors were pinned back on their own 14. However, an 11-yard completion gave WLC a bit of breathing room. On the next play, DeGeorge hit Mike King on a bubble screen, and King outraced his pursuit 75 yards to the end zone for a lightning score and a 28-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Early in the second quarter, the Cougars got on the board. The key play of the drive saw Bivona hit Christian Wilke (Spring, TX/Concordia Lutheran) down the middle of the field for a 52-yard gain. The Cougars came up short on a third down from the seven, so freshman Zach Slusher (Park City, UT/H.S.) came on to boot a 23-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 28-3. On the ensuing possession, the Cougars' defense registered a stop and forced the Warriors to punt. However, the first play on CUC's drive saw Dakota Eland intercept Bivona and return the pick 44 yards for the score and a 35-3 lead.
The Warriors scored twice more in the quarter on an Anthony Rodriguez six-yard run and a Matt Grams' field goal of 22 yards before CUC scored its first touchdown late in the half. Bivona hit Walker for gains of 16 and 15 yards. The Couagrs moved to the Warriors' 38 from where Bivona threw deep down the middle to the goal line. Rashad Lofton (Detroit, MI/Romulus) made a leaping catch despite being surrounded by a swarm of defenders for the six. The extra point failed, leaving the score WLC 45, CUC 9 as the half drew to a close. As the second half began, the Cougars hoped to build some more momentum as Josh Rosario (East Chicago, IN/Bishop Noll) recovered a Warriors' fumble. Concordia drove inside WLC's 10 following a couple of completions to Walker, including a 30-yarder, but the drive stalled inside the 10. Slusher attempted a field goal, but the Warriors got penetration up the middle and were able to block the kick. Later in the quarter, blanket coverage by Tyson Burch (Cooper City, FL/H.S.) resulted in the safety's second interception of the season. However, the Cougars took over inside their own five-yard line, and the Cougars' pass was picked off by Jestin Heimbruch who had a short path to the end zone for the Warriors' second pick-six of the game. The Cougars came back for their second touchdown drive of the day. A 23-yard pass to Lofton brought the Cougars to the three-yard line from where Tion Posey (Champaign, IL/Champaign Central) ran the ball in for his first score in a CUC uniform. The two-point conversion failed, leaving the score at 52-15 entering the fourth quarter.
The Warriors scored the only points of the final 15 minutes on a two-yard run by Tom LaLande. The score was set up after the Warriors recovered a fumble at the Cougars' 12-yard line.
The final stats showed a surprisingly large edge in time of possession to the Cougars, 36 minutes to 24. Wisconsin Lutheran amassed 391 yards of offense, 199 on the ground and 192 through the air. Concordia totaled 312 yards of offense despite a net minus-11 yards on the ground. Bivona threw for a career-high 323 yards on 28-49. Walker recorded 122 yards on nine catches.
Concordia will hit the road for three consecutive games, beginning with next Saturday's contest at Benedictine University.
