Doane College 26, Concordia University 14 (view stats)
Concordia dropped to 0-2 on the season with a 26-14 loss to Doane College on Saturday evening in Seward. Doane improved to 1-2 on the year with the win, while Concordia is still in search of its first win under new head coach Vance Winter.
The Bulldogs took advantage of an early Doane turnover to take a 7-0 lead. Concordia linebacker Jerrod Fleming recovered a fumble by Doane receiver Landon Freitag to give the Bulldogs great field position. Concordia moved 54 yards in seven plays, and quarterback Kyle Schmidt completed the drive with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Woods.
Doane quickly responded with an 11-play drive to tie the game. Running back Jaremy Puthoff had eight carries for 61 yards in the drive, and Michael Vargas had a 4-yard touchdown run for the Tigers.
In the second quarter, Doane took advantage of good field position to take the lead. The Tigers moved 31 yards on eight plays, and Andrew Nielsen booted a 35-yard field goal to give Doane a 10-7 lead.
After another Concordia punt, Doane added to its lead. Doane wide receiver Micah Marvin caught three passes, and a Concordia personal foul penalty put the Tigers back in field goal range. Nielsen connected on his second field goal of the game, this time from 36 yards, to give the Tigers a 13-7 lead.
With just under two minutes remaining in the first half, Concordia marched 67 yards to reclaim the lead at 14-13. The Bulldogs took advantage of two Doane penalties, and Schmidt found the end zone with a 1-yard touchdown run just before the half expired.
Doane scored the only points in the third quarter. With just under 10 minutes remaining in the quarter, the Tigers marched 65 yards in eight plays to take a 20-14 lead. Tiger quarterback Anthony Dunn went 6-of-6 passing in the drive, and he found Jeremi Saffold on a 6-yard touchdown pass to culminate the drive. Concordia drove the ball into Doane territory twice in the third quarter. However, the Bulldogs couldn’t convert two short yardage plays, and the Tigers held onto the lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Doane threatened to pull away early in the fourth. The Tigers moved the ball 66 yards and drove deep into Concordia territory. On 3rd and goal, Dunn’s pass was intercepted by Concordia’s Alex Neiderklein, giving the ball back to the Bulldogs with just over five minutes remaining in the game.
The Bulldog offense again moved the ball deep into Doane territory. However, the Doane defense held, and the Bulldogs turned the ball over on downs. The Tigers took advantage and put the game away with a 67-yard scoring drive. Michael Vargas scored his second touchdown of the game with an 11-yard scamper to make the final score 26-14.
Doane had 397 yards of total offense in the game compared to 277 for Concordia. The Tigers racked up 235 yards on the ground and added 162 yards through the air. Concordia had 157 passing yards and 120 rushing yards in the game. The Bulldogs had 10 penalties for 80 yards and went a combined 3-of-14 on third and fourth down conversions in the loss.
Individually for Concordia, Kyle Schmidt completed 23-of-39 passes for 157 yards and a touchdown. Darius Smith had a team-high 37 rushing yards, and Derrick Woods caught four passes for 52 yards and a touchdown. Daniel Crowe had 10.5 tackles, Ben Klein had 10 tackles and Alex Neiderklein 6.5 tackles and an interception for the Bulldogs defensively.
Anthony Dunn completed 20-of-24 passes for 162 yards with a touchdown and an interception to lead Doane offensively. Jaremy Puthoff had 13 carries for 92 yards, and Michael Vargas rushed 18 times for 51 yards and two touchdowns for the Tigers.
Concordia travels to Sioux City next week for a 1 p.m. contest against Briar Cliff University.
