Nov. 7, 2015 - The Concordia-Chicago football team hit the road today for the first time in four weeks, traveling to Wisconsin Lutheran College in Milwaukee. It was a crisp and sunny day for football, and the two teams treated the fans to a game mostly dominated by the offensesw. However, host WLC's passing game, combined with three CUC turnovers, decided the game in the end as the Warriors defeated the Cougars by a final score of 35-13.

The Warriors drove down the field on their first possession, making a big fourth-and-11 conversion along the way. However, A.J. Seidler (West Chicago, IL/H.S.) made a big tackle on a third down moments later. The Warriors opted to go for the field goal, and the kicker missed to the right from 36 yards out.

Concordia-Chicago put the first points on the scoreboard moments later. After picking up a first down, Rob Granquist (Powers, MI/North Central) threw deep down the left sideline. Leroy Bridges (Chicago, IL/Perspectives Math & Science) shook off his coverage, caught the ball and outraced the rest of the defenders to the end zone. The extra point by Zach Slusher (Park City, UT/H.S.) put the Cougars up 7-0 midway through the first quarter. 

Wisconisn Lutheran came back on the ensuing drive as they marched 65 yards, Alex Foster hauling in a 13-yard pass from Gino DeGeorge. However, the Warriors' kicker hit the upright on the extra point, and the Cougars maintained a slim 7-6 lead.

Late in the first quarter, the Cougars were moving the ball again, and Jakari Cammon (Oak Park, IL/Oak Park-River Forest) picked up a first down in WLC territory with a 28-yard run. However, on the first play of the second quarter, Granquist was sacked on a fourth down, and the Warriors began to turn around the momentum. Three straight completions moved the ball inside the red zone, and quarterback Gino DeGeorge eventually scored on a six-yard scramble to put the hosts in the lead at 13-7.

A turnover foiled the Cougars' next drive as they were threatening again. One play after Granquist's completion to Ryan Allison (Parkland, FL/Stoneman Douglas) gave CUC a first down at the WLC 46, the ball was knocked loose at the end of the next carry and ruled a fumble before the rusher was down. Again, the Wariors went the opposite way quickly and scored on a two-yard run by Jared Bruemmer. The Warriors added the two-point conversion to increase their lead to 21-7.

The Cougars came back with one of their most impressive scoring drives of the season, covering a total of 91 yards on 18 plays. Granquist completed passes of 22 and 19 yards to Rashad Lofton (Detroit, MI/Romulus) on the drive, the latter on a fourth-and-19 that kept the drive alive at the nine-yard line. On the next play, Cammon took a handoff and was pushed back as he attempted to go around the left side. The speedy back reversed course, picked up a block on the outside and raced untouched into the end zone. The extra point missed, but the Cougars were still within one score at 21-13.

The key score of the game came in the final two minutes of the half as the Warriors covered 71 yards. Anthony Rodriguez completed five of five passes including a 23-yarder to Foster. With 20 seconds remaining, Rodriguez found Mitch Skarban from six yards out to give the home team a 28-13 lead at the half.

In the third quarter. the CUC defense looked to get the team back in the game with a couple of big stops including an interception by Zac Winter (Park City, UT/H.S.), but the Cougars were unable to close the gap. Their best drive of the second half was ended on an interception after picking p a first down inside the Warriors' 40. The only scoring of the second half came early in the fourth when Skarban caught a 27-yard pass in the corner of the end zone to cap a 46-yard drive.

The final stats showed the Warriors with the edge in total yards, 476 to 420. The Warriors gained 376 yards through the air on 32 of 42 passing. The Cougars' 420 yards came by 269 passing (19-35) and 151 rushing. Cammon rushed for 119 yards on 20 carries, an average of six yards per carry. Granquist, who saw his first action in a month, completed 18 passes for 246 yards; his favorite receivers were Bridges and Lofton who caught five passes each.

Defensively, Nick Hostetler (Bozeman, MT/H.S.) made 10 tackles (seven solo) including 1.5 for minus-yardage. Sang Lee (Tucson, AZ/Canyon Del Oro)  and Seidler made nine tackles each. 

Concordia-Chicago will conclude the 2015 season next Saturday, Nov. 14 with a game at Rockford University. Kickoff is scheduled for noon.