RIVER FOREST, ILL. – For the first time in the 2024 season, the Concordia University Chicago football team took the home turf as they matched up with the Manchester University Spartans for the first time since 1987. The Cougars would walk away today with a long list of firsts from the 28-27 victory, marking the first CUC victory of the season, the first CUC victory over Manchester, the first home opener win since 2018, and the first Head Coach victory for Coach Chase Hankins.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Colton Bosch (Coopersville, Mich.) was the lone passer for the Cougars with 17 completions on 30 attempts for 194 total yards. Bosch threw for three touchdowns on the day, connecting with the same receiver each time.
• Jayce Levy (Davenport, Iowa) picked up the three receiving touchdowns from Bosch with seven total receptions for a total of 75 yards.
• Devin Bledsoe (St. Charles, Mo.) led the receivers in yardage with 86 yards on six receptions, including a 39 yard grab.
• Joron Brown (St. Joseph, Mich.) led on the ground for the Cougars with one rushing touchdown on 26 attempts for a gain of 130 yards.
• Marvin Rushing (Detroit, Mich.) worked on the defensive end, picking up six total tackles and one forced fumble, which was recovered by Louis Mobley (Indianapolis, Ind.) who also tacked on two tackles.
• Isaac Young (Jackson, Mich.) led defensively for the Cougars with seven total tackles, four of which were solo.

HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST QUARTER
The Cougars won the coin toss to start the game and deferred, resulting in Manchester having the first drive of the game. With a huge 62 yard run from the Spartans on the first play of the day, the Cougars were forced to play lockdown defense to not allow the Spartans to score first. An incomplete pass, a rush for no yards, and a rush for loss would force the Spartans to attempt a 19 yard field goal, which would be unsuccessful and give the Cougars the ball on their own nine yard line. Despite back-to-back runs for Brown for a total of 21 yards, the Cougars would find themselves plagued by penalties and forced to punt.

The Spartans would start their drive on their own half of the field, but would make their way into the redzone on just seven snaps, but a forced fumble from Rushing would hand the ball over to the Cougars. With less than three minutes to play in the opening quarter, the Cougars would work to advance the ball after a four-yard rush through the left side for Brown paired with a one-yard pass to Henry Jones IV (Atlanta, Ga.) would bring up third and five at the CUC 36 yard line, but a short middle pass to Wesley Jackson (Robinson, Ill.) would give the Cougars a fresh set of downs as the opening quarter expired.

SECOND QUARTER
With the score still blank and a fresh set of downs for the Cougars, a third and 12 situation would force a short middle pass to Bledsoe, but fall just short and leave the Cougars with two yards to go on fourth down. Attempting to get the push needed for the first down, a rush up the middle from Brown would fall just short and hand the ball over to the Spartans at their own 29 yard line. With another handful of flags thrown against the Cougars, the Spartans would be able to get close enough for a field goal attempt, where they would redeem the missed attempt from the first quarter and take the lead over the Cougars 3-0. Sitting in a deficit for the first time in the game, the Cougars would start their drive at their own 25 yard line where an eight yard gain from Jones paired with a two yard rush from Brown would pick up the first down. A 12 yard reception for Levy up the middle would pick up another fresh set of downs while two consecutive runs would officially move the Cougars to the other half of the field. A short dump to Levy would send him on the move while a huge last second block from Jailynn Franklin (New Orleans, La.) would free up the path and clear the way for Levy to find the endzone, officially putting the Cougars on the board and ahead of the Spartans.
 

The Spartans would try to counter the Cougar touchdown with a 45 yard pass that would bring them to the CUC ten yard line, but lock down defense yet again from the Cougars would force another field goal from the Spartans, keeping the Cougars on top 7-6 heading into the halftime break.

THIRD QUARTER
On the second half kickoff, a reception from Levy would get things started. Rushes from Brown and Bosch would pick up a fresh set of downs, while receptions from Bledsoe and Levy would add two more first-downs and bring the ball onto Manchester's half of the field. Sneaking through some defenders and getting a pass off,

With Manchester giving the Cougars some free yardage on penalties, the Cougars would get within five yards of the endzone where a short dump to Levy would secure the Cougars their second touchdown of the day. Another successful PAT from Ryan Auer (Newark, Ohio) would bump the Cougars up 14-6 with ten minutes to play in the quarter.
 

Following the Cougar touchdown, the Spartans struggled to get into a rhythm as three consecutive failed pass attempts would force a punt and give the Cougars the chance to stay hot on the offensive side of the ball. A sack and a penalty would put the Cougars in a tough spot as they looked at a third and 23 at their own ten yard line and force a punt from junior punter Dennis Vanderplow (Livonia, Mich.). After the punt, the Spartans would find their way into the redzone, but be unable to convert after a high snap would airmail the ball and give time for the Cougars to recover it and regain possession.
 

Needing to move down the field after being held up on their last possession, consistent rushes from Brown would pick up a first down, though still stuck on their own half of the field. An 11 yard rush from Jones would pick up another first down while an immediate 22 yard rush from Blake Henson (Potosi, Mo.) would finally move the ball to the other side of the field.
 

Starting the next set of downs on the Manchester 18 yard line, a six yard reception from Bledsoe would put the Cougars in the perfect position for Brown to grab a ball from Troy Pratley (St. Joseph, Mich.) and make the dash into the endzone and put the Cougars up 21-6.
 

Following the Cougar touchdown, the Spartans would make their way to the midfield, but let the clock run down and head into the final 15 minutes of the game.

FOURTH QUARTER
The Spartans would find their way into the redzone with a handful of opportunities to get into the endzone, but strong defense highlighted by two broken-up passes from Jonathan Aungst (Lovells, Mich.) would turn the ball back over the Cougars at their own three yard line.
 

Three quick plays from the Cougars would keep them in dangerous territory, so a Vanderplow punt would return possession to the Spartans at the CUC 33 yard line. With the Spartans infiltrating the CUC half of the field, a pass interference call against the Cougars would set up the Spartans to get their first touchdown of the day and cut the Cougar lead down to 21-13.

The Cougars would feed the ball to Henson and Jones would look to stack speed and agility as the Cougars would fight to find their way back from a deficit on downs. Unable to do so, the Cougars would be forced to punt and hand things back over to the Spartans. A wide open left-side run for the Spartans would end in the endzone and cut the Cougar lead down to 21-19. As Manchester struggled to get settled for the two-point conversion to attempt to tie the game, a delay-of-game call would set them back another few yards. Miscommunication from the Spartans would sent the kicking team on the field late and once again leave them unable to get settled before the play clock expired and pick up their second consecutive delay-of-game call before settling for the PAT and creeping within one of the Cougars. With the Cougars only ahead by one, the Spartans would step up the pressure and force an interception from Bosch and put themselves into a position to take the lead once again in the game. A 23 yard rush paired with a 22 yard dash off a pass would put the Spartan ahead 27-21 with six minutes to play.

With time winding down, the Cougars remained collected and a four yard rush from Bosch paired with a nine-yard pass to Levy would collect a first down. As the Cougars slowly started marching down the field, a deep pass to the left corner would find the hands of Bledsoe and put the Cougars at the opposite ten yard line. With an offside, pass interference, and unsportsmanlike conduct penalty stacking on each other the Cougars would decline the offside and pass interference, but accept the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty which would bring the Cougars to the five yard line.
 

A holding call against the Cougars would drop them back to the 15 yard line, but two rushes from Brown and a short middle pass to Levy would find the endzone and even the game at 27 apiece. Another successful PAT from Auer would send the Cougars ahead by one with under two minutes to play.
 

A scary situation for the Cougars would begin on the Manchester 30 yard line before a total of ten snaps for the Spartans would bring them down to the CUC ten yard line with 20 seconds to play. On the fourth and nine situation, the Spartans opted to attempt a potentially game winning field goal, but with the kick missing right, the Cougars would regain the ball at their own 20 where Bosch would take the knee and end the game victorious for the Cougars.

WHAT COACH HANKINS HAD TO SAY:
"It's such a gratifying feeling that the guys are listening to us and that they're taking what we have to say and they're executing on the field," Coach Hankins noted on the home opener win. "Even with that we made a million mistakes that we'll solve tomorrow, but nothing feels better than winning, so it's an incredible feeling. It's what we tell them: Galatians 6:9, The Narrow Path, everything that we do culturally is built towards having them experience hardship and doing what they've never done before by going through that hardship."
 

The Cougars will be back on home turf next weekend, on September 28^th as they kick off Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) play against Lakeland University. Kickoff is set for 1:00 pm. Coverage and updates can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.