YANKTON, S.D. – This game was out to lunch and heavily medicated. To call it wild would be saying the least. Carlos Collazo ran for a school record 283 yards. There were 95 combined points. The two sides combined to run 173 plays. At one point, the Bulldogs led 31-7. Then they trailed 35-31. Later they rebuilt a 52-35 lead. The 19th-ranked Concordia University, Nebraska Football team ultimately won by a zany final score of 52-43 on Saturday (Oct. 4) over an ascending Mount Marty program that received votes in the latest NAIA coaches’ poll.
Head Coach Patrick Daberkow’s squad will return from Yankton, S.D., with a 4-0 record. The latest victory pushes the program win streak to nine, tying a Bulldog Football best during the GPAC era. As for Collazo, he took the ball for 39 bruising carries in his record-setting performance.
“That was a rollercoaster,” Daberkow said. “I told some of our guys that if we take care of the football today, I think we can win by multiple touchdowns. We didn’t do that, but this is life in the GPAC. Mount Marty is really good. I’m really pleased that we won this game. There have been years where we haven’t had the wherewithal to withstand a fumble recovery for a touchdown and an interception on the sideline. There were some things that happened in that third quarter that were really bizarre, and we found ourselves down in the fourth quarter. We didn’t flinch.”
Concordia appeared on its way to a comfortable win when it extended a 17-7 halftime lead to 31-7 as it came out of the break like gangbusters. Two separate 60-yard drives ended with Gideon Stark touchdown passes – one of five yards to Max Bartels and another of 14 yards to Jonny Puelz. That’s about the time the game went off the rails.
Mount Marty quarterback Rugby Ryken and the Lancer offense went to work. Mount Marty scored the contest’s next 28 points. First came an 81-yard touchdown drive, followed by a 43-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by Arthur Oliver, a 67-yard scoring jaunt and a 51-yard possession ending in a nine-yard touchdown toss from Ryken to Moshe Richmond. With 10:11 left, the Bulldogs found themselves in a 35-31 hole.
Stark rallied the troops for a snappy five-play, 96-yard drive that quickly put Concordia back in front. Stark hit Puelz for the go-ahead touchdown, covering 38 yards with 8:31 remaining. The legs of Collazo finally helped put it on ice. The Aurora High School product ran for fourth quarter scores from five and 29 yards out, respectively. The first of those scores was set up by a Jacob Rolen interception at the Mount Marty 31. The Lancers managed to put up one more too-little-too-late touchdown.
Collazo reached the school record on his final carry, the 29-yard touchdown burst. The Marquette, Neb., native routinely gashed Mount Marty’s defense with repeated paper cuts. Collazo’s rushing total (283) eclipsed the former school single game rushing record of 266 yards shared by Ryan Durdon (2017) and Randy Pospishil (1972). The revamped offensive line helped pave the way for Collazo and still has yet to surrender a sack in 2025. Collazo sat out the Waldorf game due to injury. His previous high for rushing yards in a game was 124 yards last season versus Waldorf.
Said Daberkow of the offensive outburst, “It’s something that we’re really proud of that we can win in the run game. We can hurt you with the pass game. Offensively, we’re starting to get our legs under us. It’ll be a fun thing to see us go down the stretch … We know a lot more about our guys. We’ve had two fourth quarter comeback wins this season.”
Most of the offensive fireworks came after halftime. The Bulldogs mounted a lead in the first half with the help of special teams touchdown less than three minutes after kickoff. The Mount Marty punter was unable to handle a low snap and then failed to retrieve the ball before Daylon Henson scooped it up and trotted into the end zone from inside the 15-yard line. It marked the second week in a row that Henson scored on a botched punt snap. Also on special teams, reigning GPAC Special Teams Player of the Week Peyton Atwood nailed a 34-yard field goal and converted all seven PATs. Punter Braxtyn Koch pinned the Lancers inside their 20 on two occasions.
After a slow start, Stark and the passing game came alive. Stark finished with 160 yards passing and four total touchdowns (three passing and one rushing). Puelz caught three balls for 54 yards and two touchdowns and tight end Maddox Rickertsen hauled in two receptions for 48 yards.
On the other side, Mount Marty (3-2, 2-2 GPAC) ran an astounding 105 plays. Ryken put the ball up 74 times and threw for 424 yards and four touchdowns. A long day on the field meant plenty of opportunities for tackles for Concordia defenders. Linebacker Dylan Meyer tallied 13 tackles, including 4.5 for loss. Meanwhile, Rolen tallied 12 tackles and three pass breakups to go with the pick, Grant Huss registered a sack and both Deegan Barnes and AJ Frazey forced a fumble. The anchor of the defense, Carson Fehlhafer made stop for loss, hurried the quarterback four times and blocked an extra point.
It was stressful and frustrating at times, but the Bulldogs haven’t suffered a defeat in more than 365 days. They have won all five series meetings with Mount Marty, who earlier this season knocked off then seventh-ranked Northwestern.
Said Daberkow, “Our guys did what we needed to do to get out of here with a win. We’re going to watch some ugly stuff on film and we’re going to be like, ‘Guys, what were we doing here?’ But right now, I’m really proud that we got a win and we’re undefeated. It’s October and that’s a fun thing to say.”
After two on the road, the Bulldogs will return to Bulldog Stadium for homecoming on Saturday, Oct. 11. Midland (2-3, 2-2 GPAC) will be in town for a 1 p.m. CT kickoff. The Warriors had a bye this week following a 19-18 home loss to Doane. In last season’s matchup in Fremont, Neb., Concordia blew out Midland, 45-13.