Arrow points upward heading into homecoming

By Jacob Knabel on Oct. 23, 2019 in Football

SEWARD, Neb. – A battle between two teams allowing fewer than 15 points per game will kick off at 1 p.m. inside Bulldog Stadium on Saturday. It will be homecoming on the Concordia University campus as Briar Cliff comes to town. Both sides are coming off GPAC victories last week. Head coach Patrick Daberkow’s squad hopes to keep the positive vibes flowing fresh off a stunningly dominant performance at Hastings.

There had not been an indication of the wipeout that was coming at Lloyd Wilson Field. After seeing fourth quarter leads slip away versus Doane and at Buena Vista University, the Bulldogs left no doubt in pummeling the rival Broncos. Concordia held an advantage of 443-186 in total yardage and did not allow Hastings to reach the red zone even once in the 44-0 demolition. Sophomore receiver Cayden Beran broke out with 10 receptions for 193 yards and two touchdowns.

Head coach Dennis Wagner’s Chargers were similarly dominant from a defensive perspective in last week’s 20-10 triumph in Sioux City, Iowa. Briar Cliff stifled Doane to the tune of just 181 total yards (2.9 per play). The Chargers mustered only 259 yards themselves, but got some help via Markel Roby’s 32-yard interception return for a touchdown. Briar Cliff has won three in a row, including two over conference foes.

GAME INFO
Briar Cliff (3-1, 2-0 GPAC) at (Concordia (1-2, 1-1 GPAC)
Saturday, Sept. 28 | 1 p.m.
Bulldog Stadium | Seward, Neb.
Webcast/Live Stats: Concordia Sports Network
Radio: 104.9 Max Country
Commentators: Tyler Cavalli and Roger Fitzke

STATISTICAL BREAKDOWN

Team Statistics
*2019 national rank in parentheses

Concordia
Offensive PPG: 26.0 (T-37th out of 93)
Defensive PPG: 14.7 (T-16th)
Total Offense: 367.3 (40th)
Pass Offense: 277.7 (15th)
Rush Offense: 89.7 (71st)
Total Defense: 313.0 (29th)
Pass Defense: 231.0 (69th)
Rush Defense: 82.0 (10th)
Turnover +/-: +3 (T-19th) 

Briar Cliff
Offensive PPG: 22.5 (T-56th)
Defensive PPG: 9.3 (T-3rd)
Total Offense: 299.8 (68th)
Pass Offense: 182.8 (55th)
Rush Offense: 117.0 (T-61st)
Total Defense: 165.0 (1st)
Pass Defense: 91.8 (2nd)
Rush Defense: 73.3 (5th)
Turnover +/-: +3 (T-19th) 

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Concordia
Head Coach: Patrick Daberkow (10-13, 3rd season)
Passing: Jake Kemp – 49/74 (.662), 606 yards, 3 td, 1 int, 145.7 effic.
Rushing: Ryan Durdon – 59 rushes, 167 yards, 2.8 avg, 2 td; 5 catches, 40 yards
Receiving: Cayden Beran – 21 catches, 322 yards, 15.3 avg, 2 td
Defense: Lane Napier – 30 tackles, 3 tfl’s, 0.5 sack, 2 ff, fr

Briar Cliff
Head Coach: Dennis Wagner (9-17, 3rd season at Briar Cliff)
Passing: Jonathan Santos – 43/64 (.672), 550 yards, 2 td, 1 int, 146.6 effic.
Rushing: Jordan Williams – 39 rushes, 193 yards, 4.9 avg, 1 td
Receiving: Khamren Davenport – 24 catches, 254 yards, 10.6 avg, 2 td
Defense: Robert Robinson – 26 tackles, 9 tfl’s, 4.5 sacks, 1 int

SCHEDULE/RESULTS

Concordia (1-2, 1-1)
9/7 vs. Doane, L, 10-17
9/14 at Buena Vista, L, 24-27
9/21 at Hastings, W, 44-0
9/28 vs. Briar Cliff, 1 p.m.
10/5 at Jamestown, 1 p.m.
10/12 vs. Dakota Wesleyan, 1 p.m.
10/19 vs. (11) Northwestern, 1 p.m.
10/26 at (24) Dordt, 1 p.m.
11/2 vs. Midland, 1 p.m.
11/9 at (1) Morningside, 1 p.m.

Briar Cliff (3-1, 2-0)
8/31 at Waldorf, L, 10-17
9/7 vs. Dakota State, W, 13-10
9/14 vs. Dakota Wesleyan, W, 47-0
9/21 vs. Doane, W, 20-0
9/28 at Concordia, 1 p.m.
10/5 at Midland, 1 p.m.
10/12 vs. (1) Morningside, 1 p.m.
10/26 vs. Hastings, 1 p.m.
11/2 vs. (10) Northwestern, 1 p.m.
11/9 at Dordt, 1 p.m.
11/16 at Jamestown, 1 p.m.

In the rankings
Concordia last cracked the NAIA top 25 national poll on Nov. 6, 2017 but then dropped out after falling in the 2017 finale. The Bulldogs have not yet received any votes in the 2019 polls. They were picked eighth among the 10 GPAC football schools by both the coaches and media in the preseason. Massey Ratings currently lists Concordia as the 62nd ranked team nationally in the NAIA (11 spot improvement from last week).

Briar Cliff did not receive votes in the NAIA poll this week despite its 3-1 record. The Chargers still have yet to crack the national poll in the existence of a program that began in 2003. Both the coaches and media pegged Briar Cliff at No. 5 in the GPAC preseason poll. Currently, it is listed at No. 39 nationally in the Massey Ratings.

Concordia
GPAC preseason: 8th (coaches); 8th (media)
NAIA coaches’ poll (Sept. 23): not ranked
Massey Ratings: 62nd

Briar Cliff
GPAC preseason: 5th (coaches); 5th (media)
NAIA coaches’ poll (Sept. 23): not ranked
Massey Ratings: 39th

GPAC Defensive Player of the Week Tachovsky leads star-studded linebackers
The linebacker crew has been worth talking about every week. All four starters (and several backups) are capable of making game changing plays. Last week it was senior inside linebacker Derek Tachovsky who emerged with a big day. As a result, the GPAC named the Wilber, Neb., native the conference’s defensive player of the week. In the rout of Hastings, Tachovsky collected seven tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks, an interception, a fumble recovery and a pass breakup. At outside backer, fellow senior Zac Walter picked off a pass and returned it 59 yards. That set up Ryan Durdon’s six-yard touchdown run on the next play. Meanwhile, All-American Lane Napier topped the team with eight tackles.

Career totals
Riley Bilstein – 78 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, 6 pass breakups (23 games)
Lane Napier – 269 tackles, 23.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, 5 pass breakups (23 games)
Derek Tachovsky – 145 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, 5 pass breakups (25 games)
Zac Walter – 126 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, 4 interceptions (23 games)

Beran raises eyebrows
Sophomore receiver Cayden Beran is the breakout star of the season to this point. He plenty of catches for the highlight reel last week as part of his monster day at Hastings. Beran burned the Broncos for 10 grabs for 193 yards and two touchdowns in one of the most prolific days ever for a Concordia receiver. The Hutto, Texas, native leads the Bulldogs this season with 21 receptions for 322 yards and two touchdowns. Among GPAC players, Beran ranks fourth in catches and fourth in receiving yards. If Beran is to keep up his rate of more than 100 receiving yards per game, he would become the first player in program history with 1,000 receiving yards in a single season. The current school record is 951 yards by Clarence Woods in 1988. Beran had zero catches to his name prior to this season, but now has turned in back-to-back games with more than 100 receiving yards.

Running game makes leap forward
While Jake Kemp and Cayden Beran teamed up on an aerial assault at Hastings, the Bulldogs made it a priority to get the running game on track. The passing attack helped open up running lanes for senior Ryan Durdon, who had his most productive day of the season. He ran for 87 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries. That outing bumped Durdon’s career rushing total to 2,235 yards as he continues to push for a top five spot on the program’s all-time list (see below). Coordinator Reggie Corbin also wants to get redshirt freshman back Jonah Weyand involved. Last week Weyand ran eight times for 31 yards and found the end zone for the first time in his career. A Crete High School product, Weyand suffered an ACL tear in the 2018 season opener and missed the remainder of the campaign.

Concordia all-time leading rushers
1. Cleve Wester (1982-85) – 3,731
2. Bryce Collins (2013-16) – 3,547
3. Gary Seevers (1953-56) – 3,257
4. Alex Alvarez (1999-03) – 2,959
5. JaMaine Lewis (2004-07) – 2,731
6. Ryan Durdon (2016-- ) – 2,235
7. Phillip Elder (2002-05) – 2,027
8. Jeff Towns (1978-79) – 1,930
9. Don Baker (1971-75) – 1,799

Defense returns to dominance in blowout of Hastings
With that aforementioned linebacker crew, Concordia has the makings of one of its best defenses in several years. While pitching their first shutout since 2016, the Bulldogs vaulted to 16th nationally in scoring defense with an average of 14.7 points allowed per game. The Concordia D has also notched 11 sacks, has forced seven turnovers and contributed a touchdown in the game at Buena Vista on Zac Walter’s 79-yard interception return. Walter has already logged 138 interception return yards (most in the nation). The statistics were especially gaudy last week. The Broncos averaged only 2.9 yards per play, converted 2-of-16 third downs and failed to reach the red zone the entire afternoon.

Kemp takes control
Jake Kemp is the guy at quarterback. The native of Decatur, Texas, has won the job with steady improvement since the passing game struggled mightily at the beginning of last season. Through three games, Kemp has been incredibly efficient, completing 66.2 percent of his passes. His 309 passing yards last week represented a career high. Kemp has a strong stable of receivers to throw the ball to with Art Anderson, Cayden Beran and Korrell Koehlmoos each capable of making big plays down the field. In fact, all three have a catch of at least 38 yards this season. Considering the lack of explosive passing offenses in school history, it’s fair to say the receiver unit ranks as one of the best ever seen in Seward. With the way the passing game is humming, Kemp could put the school single season record of 2,150 passing yards (Jarrod Pimentel in 2001) in jeopardy. Only once has a Bulldog quarterback surpassed 2,000 passing yards in a season.

Most passing yards, single game
1. Andrew Perea – 455 (vs. Northwestern, 2018)
2. Rod Giesselman – 334 (vs. Nebraska Wesleyan, 1970)
3. Jarrod Pimentel – 333 (vs. Nebraska Wesleyan, 2001)
4. Jarrod Pimentel – 329 (vs. Hastings, 2000)
5. Garrett Folchert – 315 (vs. Midland, 2015)
5. Jarrod Pimentel – 315 (vs. Northwestern, 2001)
6. Jake Kemp – 309 (at Hastings, 2019)

Offensive line adjusts without Hornung
Concordia has had to make a tweak to the offensive line with starting guard Keegan Hornung going down with an injury at Buena Vista. Senior Zach Miller has risen to the top of the depth chart in Hornung’s place. The rest of the offensive line has been pretty stable with Cole Baumgartner and Michael Brewer at the tackle spots, Evrett Shaw at another guard position and Johnny Robinson at center. The running game still has room for improvement, but continuity up front could be the key to getting Ryan Durdon loose for his first 100-yard rushing effort this season.

Pass defense tightens
The stat line almost looks like a misprint. Hastings quarterbacks combined to complete only 6-of-30 pass attempts with two interceptions last week. It was quite a contrast compared to the previous week when Buena Vista burned the Bulldogs for 385 yards through the air. Concordia entered this season knowing it had to get better in this area. The Bulldogs ended 2018 ranked 59th nationally with 234.5 passing yards per game allowed. Concordia has tried to strengthen the cornerback spots with Johnny Johnson and OJ Ferguson as the starters. It worked last week.

Series vs. Briar Cliff
Concordia owns a 13-3 record in the all-time series versus Briar Cliff. The first meeting took place in 2003 and resulted in a 30-3 Bulldog victory. Concordia had won 11 in a row over the Chargers until last season when Briar Cliff protected its home turf by a final score of 23-14. In that contest, the Bulldogs struggled to get much going offensively. A large chunk of their 252 total yards came on an 83-yard touchdown run by Ryan Durdon. Concordia held a 14-6 lead in the third quarter before the Chargers scored the final 17 points of the game. Briar Cliff has not won in Seward since 2005.

Scouting Briar Cliff
Briar Cliff’s fortunes have improved precipitously since Dennis Wagner was hired. Wagner weathered the storm through an 0-11 campaign in 2017 and the Chargers shot up to a 6-5 mark (school record for wins in a season) in 2018. At least so far, this 2019 edition of Briar Cliff football appears to be a defensive-oriented squad. None of its first four opponents have managed to score more than 17 points. The Chargers are ranked No. 1 in the NAIA in total defense having allowed a measly 165.0 yards per game. Defensive end Robert Robinson has been a terror coming off the edge. He’s already racked up 4.5 sacks and 9.0 tackles for loss. Concordia will also have to account for Markel Roby, who has a 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and a 32-yard interception return for a touchdown. Offensively, Briar Cliff is still waiting for a breakout. It has averaged only 2.9 yards per rush.