Sept. 26, 2015 - Using a tried-and-true formula from week one, the Concordia-Chicago Cougars used the speed of the offense and special teams' units to earn a victory. This time, it was the Sabercats of Maranatha Baptist University who fell 42-21 to CUC on a sunny afternoon at Concordia Stadium in River Forest.

Both teams managed just a single first down on their initial possessions. However, after MBU was stopped on their second drive, the Cougars struck quickly. Rashad Lofton (Detroit, MI/Romulus) fielded a punt on the 12, angled left and slipped through a crowd of tacklers around the 35. Suddenly, Lofton was in the open with no one able to catch him. Eighty-eight yards later, Lofton was in the end zone with the Cougars' first points as well as a school-record longest punt return.

Late in the quarter, after Anthony Mazza (Ventnor, NJ/Atlantic City) sacked MBU quarterback Tanner Carrillo to end a potential tying touchdown drive, the Cougars upped the lead to 14-0. Cougar singal-caller Rob Granquist (Powers, MI/North Central) completed passes of 28 yards to Robert Padilla (Tucson, AZ/Canyon Del Oro) and 25 yards to Lofton. The Cougars reached the four from where Peyton Seidler (West Chicago, Il/H.S.) took a direct snap and ran untouched up the middle for the score.

The second quarter saw an increase in the pace of play. Maranatha reached the scoreboard on a 34-yard pass from Carrillo to Jowan Williams. Ryan Allison (Parkland, FL/Stoneman Douglas) returned the ensuing kickoff 78 yards, but the Cougars were turned away at the two. However, the defense had MBU hemmed in, and the Sabercats were forced to punt after just three plays. Concordia-Chicago needed just three plays, the third coming as Granquist hit Gideon Coble (Bellwood, IL/West Aurora) in the middle of the field. Coble slipped a tackle and outraced the defender to the end zone from 39 yards out for a 21-7 lead.

Maranatha struck again on a 35-yard Carrillo-to-Clayton Morrison pass (extra point missed), but CUC had a response once again. A 32-yard catch by Allison took the ball to the five, and Granquist's lob to Seidler covered the remaining yardage for the points. The Cougars added one more score before the half as Granquist hit Lofton for completions of 16 and 18 yards. From the 11, Granquist scrambled to evade a pass rush before spotting Lofton sprinting from right to left in the end zone. Granquist hit the speedy receiver in stride for the touchdown and a 35-13 lead at the half.

The Cougars received the second-half kickoff and made it a run of 21 unanswered points as Granquist and Lofton made good one more time, this one from 38 yards out. The combination was lethal to the visitors all day as Granquist completed 21 of 27 passes for 293 yards while Lofton hauled in seven passes for 135 yards.

The remainder of the game was played at a less frenetic pace. Only one more score was produced, that by Maranatha in the fourth quarter. Jonah Bueltel was on the receiving end of a 66-yard fly pattern down the left side. The Sabercats made good on the two-poiint conversion to account for the final score.

While both offenses were producing at an efficient level, the Cougars won the all-important turnover battle 4-0. A.J. Seidler (West Chicago, IL/H.S.) and Sean Larsen (Chicago, IL/Taft) came up with interceptions while Tim Bahr (Hartland, WI/Lake Country Lutheran) and Frank Grassini (Chicago, IL/St. Patrick) recovered fumbles. Grassini also had one of three CUC sacks, forcing a fumble on the play.

The Cougars (2-1) will begin Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play next Saturday, Oct. 3 when they host Concordia University Wisconsin. Kickoff for the annual Homecoming game will be 2:30 p.m.