Bulldogs seek fifth straight win, travel to Northwestern on Saturday
Concordia University will look for its fifth straight win on Saturday with a 1 p.m. GPAC contest at Northwestern College. The Bulldogs enter the weekend with a 4-2 overall record to go along with a 3-1 mark in conference play. Northwestern College is 4-2 overall and 2-2 in GPAC play.
Concordia picked up a convincing 47-12 win over Briar Cliff University this past weekend for their fourth straight win. The Bulldogs have now put up 40+ points in two straight games, and the defense has continued to improve during the winning streak. Concordia forced four turnovers in last week’s win. Offensively, Concordia totaled 305 rushing yards in the victory. Concordia currently leads the GPAC with 215.3 rushing yards per game. Ryan Adams (El Dorado Hills, Calif.), who rushed for 116 yards and two scores last week, has 367 rushing yards and a team-best six rushing scores on the season. Quarterback Cohl Tufford (Richardson, Texas) continues to rank in the top 10 in the GPAC in total offense with 146.3 yards per game. Linebacker Kyle Little (Johnson, Neb.) earned GPAC Defensive Player-of-the-Week honors for his efforts in the win over BCU. The junior totaled 11 tackles and also returned an interception for a score.
Northwestern College opened the season with a 47-13 win over Southwestern College. The Raiders dropped two straight (21-10 to Morningside and 20-8 to Doane College) to open conference play but have been on a roll since. Northwestern has won three straight in convincing fashion (63-27 over Dakota State, 27-6 over Nebraska Wesleyan and 51-14 over then #24 Midland University) to enter Saturday’s contest with a 4-2 overall record. The Raiders are again receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25 Poll. Four different Northwestern players had rushing scores, and quarterback Davis Bloemendaal added a touchdown pass in last week’s rout of Midland University. The Raider defense limited Midland to just seven first downs in the contest. Northwestern allows just 16.8 points per game on the season while scoring over 34 points per game. Northwestern boasts the second best rushing attack in the conference with 213.5 rushing yards per game. Brandon Smith has rushed for 498 yards and a team-best seven touchdowns on the season. Bloemendaal has completed 47-of-82 passes on the year for 757 yards and six touchdowns.
Fans unable to make the trip to Orange City can catch a live broadcast of the game at the following link: http://www.nwcraiders.com/football
Concordia will return home on October 22 for a GPAC matchup with rival Nebraska Wesleyan. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Bulldog Stadium.