RIVER FOREST, ILL. – The Concordia University Chicago football team took the home turf for one last time, closing out their season on their own terms. Despite some hard battles, the Cougars fell short 49-14.
BEFORE THE GAME
Prior to opening kickoff, the Cougars celebrated 11 seniors for their dedication and commitment to the CUC Football program over the years. These individuals were
Jayce Levy (Davenport, Iowa),
Devin Bledsoe (St. Charles, Mo.),
Troy Pratley (St. Joseph, Mich.),
Marvin Rushing (Detroit, Mich.),
Jordan Garcia (West Chicago, Ill.),
Ryan Auer (Newark, Ohio),
Travon Thomas (Wauchula, Fla.),
CJ Morris (Douglasville, Ga.),
Jailynn Franklin (New Orleans, La.), Kristian Duran
(Joliet, Ill.), and
Myron Spencer (Detroit, Mich.).
INSIDE THE BOX
- Colton Bosch (Coopersville, Mich.) led as the primary quarterback with 20 completions for a total of 235 yards.
- Randle Bills (Florrisant, Mo.) led in the air for the Cougars with nine receptions for a career-high 102 total yards.
- Avery Hearn (Matteson, Ill.) had the lone sack of the day with a six yard loss on top of three total tackles on the day.
- Rushing led the defense with a career-high 15 tackles while Jaeveon Hilton (Chicago, Ill.) added a career-high seven tackles.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST HALF
The Cougars won the coin toss on their home turf for the last time of the season and deferred, giving the Eagles a chance to strike first. The Eagles capitalized on this opportunity and scored on the second snap of the game to jump ahead 7-0. With a quick drive for the Cougars resulting in a
Dennis Vanderplow (Livonia, Mich.) punt to hand things back over to the Eagles. Benedictine would take over at their own 45-yard line. Despite consistent stops from the Concordia, the Benedictine offense would overpower and once again find the endzone. With the Cougars starting their drive at their own 26-yard line, they would grab their first fresh set of downs with a ten yard rush from
Joron Brown (St. Joseph, Mich.). Despite picking up an early first down, the Cougars would once again be forced to punt, setting up the Eagles for their next scoring opportunity, which they would take advantage of and take the 21-0 lead. Fighting from a hearty deficit in the first quarter the Cougars would put themselves in a scoring opportunity with a 59-yard pass from Bosch to Bills and bring them within the redzone.
Unable to move the ball any further down the field, the Cougars would rely on their special teams squad to attempt a 40-yard field goal, but would fall just short and keep the Cougars blank for the remainder of the quarter.
The Eagles would take advantage of the fresh quarter and extend their lead out to 28-0. With 13 minutes to go in the half, the Cougars would take over and immediately fall into a fourth and long and force a punt that would be returned by the Eagles for another touchdown. With the Cougars starting their drive at their own 25-yard line, a couple of short passes from Bosch paired with a four yard keeper up the middle would give the Cougars another first down. Sitting stagnant in the middle of the field, they would go for fourth and six, but come up short and turn the ball over on downs. The Eagles would find an opening in the field and drive up the middle for their last touchdown of the half, taking the 42-0 lead over the Cougars.
The remainder of the half would be charged by the Cougar defense, kicking things off with a sack from Hearn. The last four drives of the half would end in either a punt or a turnover on downs.
SECOND HALF
The Cougars started the second half with the ball at their own 25-yard line and immediately picked up a first down after a Bosch pass to Brown would start the drive. The Cougars would pick up their second consecutive first down after a short right pass to Bledsoe would put the ball on their own 47-yard line. The drive would fall stagnant and the Cougars would be forced to punt yet again and hand things over to the Eagles. The Eagles would start their drive at their own 29-yard line, but a penalty and some big tackles from Rushing, Hilton,
Jordan Lacey (Belleville, Ill.), and
Joshua Smith (Chicago, Ill.) would hold them in the midfield, but a few short bursts would give the Eagles the edge they need to put up their final points of the day and go ahead 49-0.
With Pratley in at the QB spot, a short dish to Bills would give the Cougars a small gain before rushes from Garcia and Pratley himself would give the Cougars a first down. A deep pass from Pratley to Bledsoe would move the chains 25 yards and put the Cougars in a scoring position. With another 10-yard Pratley rush for a first down, the Cougars would pick up their third first down on this drive, nearly matching their total first downs from the first half.
Continuing to march down the field, receptions from Garcia and Levy paired with rushes from Bosch would find the endzone for the first time of the day and officially put the Cougars on the board to close the third quarter.
The Eagles would start their drive at the CUC 40-yard line and hold them to a gain of three before forcing a turnover on downs and giving the Cougars the ball back with momentum on their side. A 13-yard pass to Bledsoe would give a first down before a 12-yard pass to
Blake Henson (Potosi, Mo.) would keep them marching down the field. Two consecutive catches from
Manuel Mendoza (Ceres, Calif.) would pick up two first downs and officially breach the redzone before a collective shove would push Bosch past the goal line and put another seven on the board, leaving the Cougars trailing 49-14.
Despite a few additionally opportunities on each side, the score would be finalized at 49-14, closing out the Cougar Football season. The Cougars closed the season 2-8 overall and 1-7 in conference. The Cougars would like to thank all family, friends, and fans for supporting throughout the season. To stay up to date on all things CUC Football, follow along on Instagram and X @cucfbfamily. Coverage for all sports can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
