SEWARD, Neb. – The 2019 Concordia University football season is in the books. While the record won’t show it, the Bulldogs believe they made strides from a year ago. In Saturday (Nov. 9)’s matchup with No. 1 Morningside, the home team dominated the second quarter and rode it to a 52-7 victory in Sioux City, Iowa. The defending NAIA national champion Mustangs (9-0, 8-0 GPAC) remained undefeated.
Head coach Patrick Daberkow’s squad concludes the year at 3-7 overall (3-6 GPAC). Concordia fell in each of its final four games of the fall.
This particular season finale will be mostly forgettable for the Bulldogs, whose seniors got one final chance to wear the navy and white. Morningside rattled off 35 points during the second quarter and built a commanding 42-0 halftime advantage. Unfortunately for Concordia, some season-long themes persisted. Morningside took advantage of short fields. Mustang quarterback Joe Doincheck piled up 339 passing yards and two touchdowns while star running back Arnijae Ponder ran for three scores.
On a positive note, the Bulldog defense competed. The Mustangs finished with 490 total yards, well below what their season average (602.3) entering the contest. Concordia also held a slight advantage in time of possession (30:58 to 29:02). A large chunk of that possession came on the Bulldogs’ lone scoring drive, which covered 81 yards on 15 plays and ate up 7:39. Cori Pumphrey carried the ball seven times in the series and capped it with a six-yard scoring rush for his first career touchdown.
While this game got out of hand, Concordia’s defense, led by a veteran linebacker core, gave it a shot on most Saturdays this fall. Plenty of seniors on the defensive side of the ball enjoyed stellar seasons. Senior linebacker Zac Walter paced the team at Morningside with 13 tackles, including a sack. Fellow senior backers Derek Tachovsky (seven tackles, one TFL) and Riley Bilstein (six tackles) were also among the top Bulldog tacklers. Meanwhile, defensive end Aaron Rudloff capped a monster senior year with five tackles in his final college game.
The stout Morningside defense limited the Bulldog offense to 126 total yards and an average of 2.2 yards per play. Senior Andrew Perea got his one and only start of the season at quarterback and went 7-of-16 for 66 yards (one interception). Pumphrey carried the ball 15 times for 48 yards. Pumphrey and Jonah Weyand got the bulk of the carries with Ryan Durdon again sidelined. Durdon missed the final two games of his career.
Morningside now looks ahead to next week’s clash with No. 5 Northwestern (9-0, 8-0 GPAC) in what is essentially the GPAC championship game. On the other hand, Concordia heads into another offseason unsatisfied with how this fall transpired. The 2020 season will be the final one as a Bulldog for All-American linebacker Lane Napier, who surpassed 100 tackles for the second year in a row.