RIVER FOREST, Ill. --- The season officially hit the midway point on Saturday afternoon for the Concordia University Chicago football team, as the Cougars played host to the Eureka College Red Devils. The Cougars held tough, but the team was unable to capitalize on good field position on a couple of occasions, falling to Eureka by a final score of 27-13. The game also served as the mental health awareness game for Concordia kicking off College Football Mental Health Week.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
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Troy Pratley finished 16-26 throwing the football with a touchdown pass. He also rushed for a touchdown.
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E'derian Sykes averaged nine yards per rush and finished with over 100 all-purpose yards for the second straight contest.
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Martin Egbo led the defense with nine total tackles, including two for a loss.
CUC got the ball to open the game and turned the ball over on downs in their own territory when the Red Devils sniffed out a rush on fourth and two. Eureka then capitalized on the good field position, covering 37 yards in six plays. Noah Berlett capped off the drive with an 18-yard pass just over the CUC defender to Pierce Bradford in the right corner of the end zone for the first score of the game. CUC blocked the extra point attempt, keeping the score at 6-0.
The Cougars answered with a long ten-play drive that was capped off with a touchdown early in the second quarter. CUC opened up the passing game on the drive, completing multiple long passes, including a 28-yard pass from Pratley to
Christian Covington. Concordia capped off the over four-minute drive with a 14-yard pass from Pratley to
DeAndre Daniels to tie the game at six. CUC missed the extra point attempt wide left, keeping the score even.
Eureka grabbed the lead back in the later stages of the second quarter. The drive included four plays of over 15 yards for the Red Devils, with the drive being capped off by a one-yard touchdown run by Ben Bernabei. The extra point was put through giving Eureka a 13-6 lead.
The Red Devils then extended the lead to two scores by scoring a touchdown on the opening drive of the second half. The drive took five plays and included a fourth and two conversion for a 19-yard touchdown, giving Eureka a 20-6 lead.
Concordia fought back, getting a touchdown just a short time later. A 29-yard rush by Pratley and a 25-yard pass to Covington got CUC deep in Eureka territory. Pratley then punched in the score on a one-yard rush. The
Ryan Auer extra point pulled the Cougars within 20-13.
Eureka tacked on a final score on the day with 6:24 to go in the fourth, and CUC was unable to rally, falling by a final score of 27-13.
The Cougars will return to action next Saturday, October 8
th for homecoming weekend. Opening kickoff is pushed back to 2:15pm to help fit all the homecoming celebrations in. Links to coverage can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
