RIVER FOREST, ILL. --- The Concordia University Chicago football team (1-2) opened up conference play against the Aurora University Spartans (2-1) Saturday afternoon. Turnovers and short drives plagued the Cougars, as the Spartans won 56-7.
Â
Inside The Box Score:
- Devin Bledsoe (St. Charles, Mo.)Â hauled in four receptions for a career-high 104 yards.
- Troy Pratley (St. Joseph, Mich.)Â picked up his first touchdown of the season on a 7-yard scamper.
- BJ Pitts (Waco, Texas) picked up his first career interception in the second quarter.
- Brandon Arredondo (Dalton, Ga.)Â led the Cougar's defense with nine tackles and recovered a blocked punt, which lead to the Cougar's lone score of the day.
- Six different Cougars recorded a reception, and eight players recorded a rush.
Â
The challenge for the Cougars was slowing down the Spartans' offense. Aurora came into the game averaging 45 points per game. Senior quarterback Josh Swanson had a career day with 325 passing yards and 6 touchdowns. Trey Madsen had seven receptions for 125 yards with two touchdowns.
Â
After the CUC defense forced a 3-and-out on the first drive of the game, quarterback
Finnian Allers (Atlanta, Ga.)Â threw an interception on the next play to Cameron Moore. The defense then forced a huge turnover on downs after an incompletion at the CUC 12.
Â
Aurora got on the board in the first quarter following a 14-yard touchdown reception from Jheqyay Chretin. The senior running back finished the game with 72 receiving yards, along with 33 rushing yards. The other score for Aurora in the quarter came on a 47-yard punt return by James Mautino.
Â
The Spartans' offense kicked it into gear at the start of the second quarter. They opened the quarter with three consecutive touchdowns all through the air. They would finish the quarter with 249 passing yards, and 331 total yards in the first half.
Â
Most of CUC's big plays came on the defensive side of the ball. Freshman defensive back
BJ Pitts (Waco, Texas) caused the only turnover of the game for Aurora. After a fumble, Pitts picked off Swanson and returned the ball to the CUC 10-yard line.
Â
Following their first drive, CUC punted the ball nine times before halftime. The offense had negative seven total yards, with only one first down. The Spartans scored four more times in the second quarter and went into the locker room up 35-0.
Â
CUC received the second-half kickoff and showed their fight on the ensuing drive. After starting at their own 25-yard line, the Cougars marched down to the Aurora 2-yard line.
Devin Bledsoe (St. Charles, Mo.)Â had two receptions for 57 yards on the drive, and finished the game with a career-high 104 receiving yards. Two costly Aurora penalties on third down kept the drive alive for CUC and put them within striking distance. On 1
st and goal, Aurora's Marcellus Romious picked off Allers at the goal line and returned it 100 yards for the score.
Â
The Cougar special team's unit stepped up to help the offense a few drives later.
Jelani Warner (East Chicago, Ind.)Â blocked a punt, and the ball was recovered by
Brandon Arredondo (Dalton, Ga.) on the Spartan 30-yard line.
Four plays later on fourth-and-3,
Troy Pratley (St. Joseph, Mich.) rushed it in from seven yards out for CUC's first score of the game. The point after by
Ryan Auer* made it a 49-7 ballgame.
Â
CUC turned the ball over two more times in the fourth quarter, for a total of five in the game. Aurora scored one more time on a 4-yard touchdown reception to Tyler Duncan with 11:47 left in the game. The score remained 56-7 until the final whistle.
Â
The Cougars hit the road for the first time this season on Saturday, September 24
th against the Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons. Kickoff from Thomasini Stadium is scheduled for 1 p.m. Coverage of the game and everything CUC football can be found at cucougars.com.
Â
Â
