Nov. 14, 2015 - Today's season finale for the Concordia-Chicago football team matched them against Rockford University at RU's Sam Greeley Field. The teams were on equal footing coming into the contest, looking to add onto two earlier wins from the non-conference portions of their schedules. Conditions were dry but windy, and that favored Rockford in the end as they ran for 351 yards and controlled the ball for 40 minutes in defeating CUC by a 26-7 score.

The Cougars received the opening kickoff and started their initial drive at the 35. CUC soon faced a fourth-and-two and decided to go for the first instead of punting into the wind. However, a short pass to the right side was dropped. The Regents took over, and the short field soon resulted in the game's first score. Trumaine Berry's power run from 13 yards out capped the four-play drive and put the hosts up 7-0.

Late in the first quarter, the CUC offense began to click. A 12-yard pass from Rob Granquist (Powers, MI/North Central) to Robert Padilla (Tucson, AZ/Canyon del Oro) and a 12-yard run by Jakari Cammon (Oak Park, IL/Oak Park-River Forest) advanced the Cougars to the Regents' 30-yard line. Moments later, CUC faced a third-and-four at the 24. but a bad snap sailed behind Granquist, and Rockford recovered to end the threat.. 

Concordia-Chicago's defense played the rest of the first half in "bend, don't break" mode as they made three stops on fourth down plays. First, Ivan Vixamar (Fort Lauderdale, FL/Westminster) and Rodolfo Payan (El Paso, TX/H.S.) teamed up to stop Berry a yard short of the marker. Later on, it was Frank Grassini's (Chicago, IL/St. Patrick) turn as he hauled down Joe Breeden a yard short. Finally, the pass defense held firm on third and fourth down incompletions in the red zone.

The latter stop gave CUC the ball at their own 12 with under five minutes to go in the half. Brent O'Halloran (Olivia, MN/BOLD) made a first down on a 12-yard run and Granquist added another on a key 11-yard scramble. Granquist also converted a key fourth down as he hit Ryan Allison (Parkland, FL/Stoneman Douglas) for 10 yards. The Cougars made it down to the 13 with time for one final play, but a pass was dropped at the goal line, and the teams marched to the locker room with the score remaining 7-0 in favor of the hosts.

The Cougars came out with fire to start the second half. A seven-yard sack on third down by Grassini halted Rockford's drive as they threatened to increase the lead. Following the punt and a penalty, the Cougars were backed up at their own six, but that was not going to stop them. Granquist hit Rashad Lofton (Detroit, MI/Romulus) for a pair of first downs to provide some breathing room. Moments later, from the 39, Granquist went deep and hit Leroy Bridges (Chicago, IL/Perspectives Math & Science Academy) on what was nearly a carbon copy of last week's reception versus Wisconsin Lutheran. The 61-yard catch and run, followed by Zach Slusher's (Park City, UT/H.S.) extra point knotted the score at 7-7 with just five minutes elapsed in the third quarter.

Just as it appeared that CUC had the momentum, Rockford took it back quickly. a 36-yard kickoff return set up the Regents at midfield. The Cougars looked to have stopped the Regents on three plays, but Rockford pulled off a fake punt and ran for 28 yards to get into the red zone. Two plays later, quarterback Adam O'Malley ran in from eight yards out. The extra point was missed, but Rockford had reclaimed the lead at 13-7.

On its next drive, Concordia-Chicago attempted to strike back as Granquist threw 18 yards to Lofton and moved into Rockford's territory. However, a second turnover off a bad snap would kill the drive.

Late in the third, Rockford took possession at their own 32 following a CUC punt. The Regents then ate up 7:40 of the clock in driving to a huge insurance score.  The Cougars nearly dodged this bullet as the Regents were facing a fourth-and-16 at the 29.  But RU receiver Mar Sean Vercher got free in the seam and hauled in the pass from O'Malley and evaded a few defenders on his way to the end zone. The score gave Rockford a 20-7 lead with less than 10 minutes remaining.

Faced with a must-score situation, the Cougars moved into the Regents' end of the field one more time. Granquist's 15-yard completion to Lofton gave the Cougars a first down at the 30. However, three plays produced just seven yards, and a fourth down pass to Allison fell incomplete. Rockford stuck in the dagger moments later as Chance Manning raced 54 yards to the end zone, breaking a couple of tackles.

The Regents amassed 435 yards of offense, 351 on the ground and 84 through the air. Manning rushed 30 times for 178 yards while Berry gained 90 yards on just eight carries. The Cougars totaled 325 yards on 116 net rushing and 209 passing. Granquist's passing yardage came on 23 of 39 while Cammon rushed for 75 yards on 16 carries.

Defensively, A.J. Seidler (West Chicago, IL/H.S.) made 11 tackles (seven solo) and finished as the team's leader for 2015 with 41 solo and 41 tackle assists. Grassini added eight tackles today, five solo including the sack.

Looking back at the season, CUC head coach Randy Awrey remarked, "It was a tough season and we did not accomplish some of our goals, but I will never fault the effort our players gave. Our guys kept working, preparing and battling every week, and I am proud of them for giving their all. I am especially thankful for our three seniors - O'Halloran, Joe Duszynski (DesPlaines, IL/Maine West) and Angelo Turco (Aurora, IL/Metea Valley). They all represented the team and the University with the highest of standards, and we wish them all the best. They will be missed."