SEWARD, Neb. – Two teams looking to bounce back from conference losses will meet inside Bulldog Stadium on Saturday. Concordia University, Nebraska will use the occasion to celebrate its homecoming. Concordia and Mount Marty are getting set for their sixth all-time series matchup. As part of the halftime festivities, Concordia Athletics will acknowledge 2026 Hall of Fame inductees and alumni award winners.
While the Bulldogs (1-1) fell at Hastings, 38-27, Head Coach John Michaletti’s Lancers made a strong push that came up just short in a 35-33 loss at Northwestern. Prior to the close defeat, Mount Marty flexed its muscles with high-scoring outputs in wins over Clarke University (Iowa) and Briar Cliff. Mount Marty stands at 2-1 overall (1-1 GPAC).
NOTE: Fans are encouraged to wear Bulldog Blue on Homecoming Saturday.
GAME INFO – Homecoming
Concordia (1-1, 1-1 GPAC) vs. Mount Marty (2-1, 1-1 GPAC)
Saturday, Sept. 19 | 1 p.m.
Bulldog Stadium | Seward, Neb.
Webcast: GPAC Network
Live Stats: PrestoStats
Radio: 104.9 Max Country
Commentators: Parker Cyza and Ross Wurdeman
Tickets: Hudl Ticketing (also sold on site)
STATISTICAL BREAKDOWN
Team Statistics
*2026 national rankings out of 96 NAIA football programs that have reported statistics this season.
Concordia
Offensive PPG: 52.0 (T-5th)
Defensive PPG: 22.5 (T-31st)
Total Offense: 567.5 (3rd)
Pass Offense: 428.5 (2nd)
Rush Offense: 139.0 (44th)
Total Defense: 347.5 (42nd)
Pass Defense: 186.5 (35th)
Rush Defense: 161.0 (50th)
Turnover +/-: +1
Mount Marty
Offensive PPG: 45.7 (11th)
Defensive PPG: 25.3 (T-37th)
Total Offense: 501.0 (12th)
Pass Offense: 344.7 (6th)
Rush Offense: 156.3 (37th)
Total Defense: 361.3 (47th)
Pass Defense: 265.3 (77th)
Rush Defense: 96.0 (21st)
Turnover +/-: +2
2026 INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Concordia
Head Coach: Patrick Daberkow (48-42, 10th season)
Passing: Gideon Stark – 61/94 (.649), 853 yards, 12 td, 0 int, 179.7 effic.
Rushing: Dylan Mika – 6 rushes, 112 yards, 18.7 avg, 1 td
Receiving: Adam Van Cleave – 17 receptions, 248 yards, 14.6 avg, 3 td
Defense: Deegan Barnes – 14 tackles, 5 tfl, 3 sacks, 1 pbu, 1 ff
Mount Marty
Head Coach: John Michaletti (18-39, 6th season)
Passing: Rugby Ryken – 66/94 (.702), 996 yards, 12 td, 2 int, 197.1 effic.
Rushing: Jordan Anderson – 46 rushes, 178 yards, 3.9 avg, 2 td
Receiving: Moshe Richmond – 19 receptions, 419 yards, 22.1 avg, 5 td
Defense: Brock Lubbers – 17 tackles, 3.5 tfl, 2 sacks, 3 pbu, 2 ff, 1 fr
2026 SCHEDULE/RESULTS
Concordia (1-0, 1-0 GPAC)
8/29 vs. Waldorf, W, 77-7
9/12 at Hastings, 1 p.m.
9/19 vs. Mount Marty, 1 p.m. (Homecoming)
9/26 vs. Dordt, 1 p.m.
10/3 at Northwestern, 1:30 p.m.
10/10 at Dakota Wesleyan, 1:30 p.m.
10/24 at Morningside, 1 p.m.
10/31 vs. Doane, 1 p.m.
11/7 at Briar Cliff, 1 p.m.
11/14 vs. Midland, 1 p.m. (Senior Day)
Mount Marty (2-1, 1-1 GPAC)
8/29 vs. Clarke, W, 55-6
9/5 vs. Briar Cliff, W, 49-35
9/12 at Northwestern, L, 33-35
9/19 at Concordia, 1 p.m.
9/26 vs. Morningside, 1 p.m.
10/3 at Doane, 1 p.m.
10/10 at Hastings, 7 p.m.
10/17 vs. Midland, 1 p.m.
10/24 vs. Dordt, 1 p.m.
11/7 at Waldorf, 3 p.m.
11/14 vs. Dakota Wesleyan, 1 p.m.
In the rankings
Concordia rose as high as No. 17 last season in the official NAIA coaches’ polls before settling as a “receiving votes” team to end 2025. The Bulldogs also concluded 2024 at No. 18 in the poll. Concordia began the 2026 season listed in the “receiving votes” category of the poll. The Bulldogs did not receive votes in the NAIA poll released on Monday, Sept. 14.
Concordia
GPAC preseason: 4th
Massey Ratings: 34th
Mount Marty
GPAC preseason: 7th
Massey Ratings: 39th
Team 100
The 2026 season marks the 100th in the history of Concordia University, Nebraska Football. On record, the first official season was 1925 when Professor Walter Hellwege presided over the Concordia Teachers College gridiron squad as its first ever head coach. In the time since then, there have been three years without football, including 1926 and 1927 and 1943 (during World War II). In program history, Concordia has won conference championships in 1929, 1931, 1944, 1945, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1960, 1970, 1981 and 2001. The championship team of ’01 remains the lone NAIA playoff qualifier in program annals. In December 2016, Patrick Daberkow became the 10th head coach in program history.
Coach Daberkow + staff
Patrick Daberkow’s history at Concordia dates back to his first season as a Bulldog football player in 2003. This is Daberkow’s 19th season as part of the program’s staff – 10th as head coach. He served as defensive coordinator for seven years before being named head coach in December 2016. Daberkow assumed offensive play calling duties in 2022 before turning that role over to Greg Nelson, former Lincoln Lutheran head coach, in 2023. Meanwhile, his full-time staff includes Defensive Coordinator Corby Osten, Special Teams Coordinator Trent Laune and Assistant Coach Grady Koch (who specializes in coaching the offensive line, among other duties). Former Nebraska Wesleyan assistant Kevin Crume is in his fourth season at Concordia. The graduate assistants are Tanner Ingle and Grant Huss. Daberkow owns a career coaching record of 48-42. His 48 wins are the fourth most among all head coaches in program history. The top three are Courtney Meyer (70), Larry Oetting (63) and Herb Meyer (62).
Stark continues rewrite of single-game record book
In back-to-back games to begin the 2026 season, quarterback Gideon Stark has broken a program single game record. His eight touchdown passes versus Waldorf and 465 passing yards last week at Hastings set new Concordia standards for a single game. The 465 passing yards eclipsed the previous record of 458 achieved by DJ McGarvie in 2022. It marked the fourth time that a Bulldog quarterback has surpassed 400 passing yards in a game (all occurring since 2018). Already this season, Stark has thrown for 853 yards and 12 touchdowns. On a per game basis, Stark leads the NAIA in both categories – passing yards (426.5) and passing touchdowns (six/game). In 21 career collegiate games, Stark has completed 268-of-489 (.548) passes) for 3,429 yards and 34 touchdowns (against 12 interceptions). Stark is on the verge of cracking the program’s all-time top five for passing yards and touchdowns (ranking sixth in both entering Saturday’s game). Gideon continues a long line of family members to have attended Concordia as student-athletes, joining his father Paul (football), mother Kim (volleyball) and extended family, Ken Robbins (football), Nathan Robbins (football) and Stephen Robbins (football). In addition, Gideon’s older sisters, Kara and Shelby, both played volleyball at Concordia. Current freshman Tayden Robbins is a cousin.
Most passing yards in program history, single game
465 – Gideon Stark vs. Hastings, 2026
458 – DJ McGarvie vs. Dordt, 2022
455 – Andrew Perea vs. Northwestern, 2018
413 – DJ McGarvie vs. Northwestern, 2023
Most passing TDs in program history, single game
8 – Gideon Stark vs. Waldorf, 2026
5 – DJ McGarvie vs. Briar Cliff, 2024
5 – Phil Seevers vs. Doane, 1988
4 – achieved by eight different QBs
Van Cleave stars at Hastings
Named a 2025 Third Team All-American by Victory Sports Network, Adam Van Cleave was on the receiving end of two of Gideon Stark’s four touchdown passes at Hastings. The Columbus Lakeview High School product Van Cleave headlines a productive receiving group. Last week, Van Cleave snagged 12 catches for 149 yards and two scores, Collin Fritton made nine grabs for 143 yards and Jonny Puelz hauled in five receptions for 98 yards and a touchdown. Running back Calvin Sassaman also notched a receiving touchdown. In his career, Van Cleave has tallied 152 receptions for 1,826 yards and 14 touchdowns. On the program’s all-time lists, Van Cleave ranks fifth in receptions, seventh in receiving touchdowns and eighth in receiving yards. There are five Bulldogs with 2,000 career receiving yards in school history. The record remains 2,894 yards by Korrell Koehlmoos. Meanwhile, Puelz has collected 14 touchdown receptions since the start of the 2025 season. As for Fritton, he is making a significant impact after transferring from NCAA Division II Northern State University. Through two games, Fritton has reeled in 15 catches for 242 yards and a touchdown.
Running game put on back burner at Hastings
Early struggles in the run game and a five-touchdown deficit forced Concordia to take the air nearly exclusively. It meant that workhorse running back Carlos Collazo got only eight carries. The Marquette, Neb., native quickly made his way back from an ACL tear suffered in the middle of the 2025 season. At the time Collazo went down last season, he was leading all NAIA players in rushing yards per game (147.8). Collazo broke the school single game rushing record when he rumbled for 283 yards in the 52-43 win at Mount Marty last October. The Aurora High School product sports career tallies of 1,221 rushing yards and 17 rushing touchdowns on 212 attempts (5.8 yards per carry). Collazo earned Second Team All-GPAC honors in 2025 despite playing in only four games. Collazo is joined in the backfield by Calvin Sassaman, who rushed for 464 yards and three touchdowns last season. A freshman emerged versus Waldorf as Aspen, Colo., native Dylan Mika took his first collegiate carry 75 yards for a touchdown. Mika finished with 112 yards on six attempts in the Waldorf game.
Revamped o-line
After missing the season opener versus Waldorf, returning Second Team All-GPAC left tackle Derek Campbell returned to the lineup last week at Hastings. The rest of the starting group included left guard Layne Bugarske, center Joshua Luehr, right guard Carter Meier and right tackle Thomas Thomas. A graduate student from Geneva, Ill., Campbell is the lone returning starter up front. The four sacks allowed at Hastings were abnormal considering the Concordia o-line surrendered a grand total of seven sacks over the 2024 and 2025 seasons. The group is coached by Grady Koch, a former all-conference offensive lineman for the Bulldogs.
The specialists
The Bulldogs returned their kicker (Peyton Atwood), punter (Braxtyn Koch), long snapper (Max Wurdeman) and holder (Braylen Muhle), in addition to the game breaking kick returner Adam Van Cleave. Atwood, Koch and Wurdeman were each named Second Team All-GPAC honorees in 2025. Atwood owns school records for career PATs (132) and longest field goal (50). So far this season, Atwood is 11-for-12 on PATs and 0-for-1 on field goals. Atwood has converted 20-of-28 field goal tries in his career. At punter, Braxtyn Koch is in his third season at the position. He has averaged 37.4 yards on 107 career punts. Koch is the son of former Baltimore Ravens punter Sam Koch (a Seward native).
Longest field goals in Concordia history, on record
50 – Petyon Atwood (2025)
47 – Kenny Zoeller (2011)
46 – Jess Boyd (2001)
46 – John Dumar (1980)
Linebackers lead the way
Veteran linebackers Deegan Barnes and Dylan Meyer have led the way when it comes to making plays in opposing teams’ backfields. On Hastings’ first possession of last week’s game, Barnes and fellow linebacker Drake Trent sandwiched the quarterback, causing a fumble that was recovered by Terry Sebek. On the season, Barnes has collected a team-high 14 tackles to go along with five tackles for loss and three sacks. Meanwhile, Meyer has registered four stops for the backfield. Meyer paced all GPAC players last season with 16.5 tackles for loss. A four-year contributor, Barnes has posted 155 tackles (15 TFLs) in 28 career games.
Defense looks for rebound
The defense will look for a rebound after conceding 569 yards of offense to Hastings. It was a contrast to the season opener when the Bulldogs allowed Waldorf just 126 total yards. Defensive Coordinator Corby Osten’s unit returned six starters from a 2025 defense that surrendered averages of 384.9 yards and 31.0 points per game. In addition to Deegan Barnes and Dylan Meyer, the returning starters are defensive linemen AJ Frazey and Terry Sebek and defensive backs Luke Penrod and Will Potratz. At Hastings, the rest of the starting group featured defensive lineman Nicholas Stueter, linebacker Drake Trent and defensive backs Jett Farwell, Kaden Thompson and Treven Weddle.
Around the league
Outside of the Concordia-Hastings game, last week saw Morningside pummel Doane, 70-10, Midland trounce Briar Cliff, 35-7, Dakota Wesleyan have its way with Waldorf, 40-21, and Northwestern hold off a rally from Mount Marty, 35-33. In the league standings, three GPAC teams sport 2-0 conference marks: Dakota Wesleyan, Midland and Northwestern. Dordt sits at 1-0 in league play. There are five more GPAC games coming up this Saturday. Headlining contests include Morningside at Dordt and Midland at Northwestern.
Series vs. Mount Marty
The series began in 2021, which marked the inaugural year of football at Mount Marty. In the first five matchups, Concordia won by respective scores of 38-7 (Yankton), 47-24 (Seward), 45-21 (Yankton), 31-27 (Seward) and 52-43 (Yankton). Last year’s affair was a wild one. The Bulldogs built a 31-7 lead only to fall behind 35-31. Concordia then put up three consecutive touchdowns and rode Carlos Collazo and his school record 283 rushing yards (and two touchdowns). Gideon Stark also threw for three scores, and Daylon Henson scored a touchdown on special teams. The most recent matchup in Seward (2024) was a nailbiter. Trailing by four, the Lancers were stopped on downs at the Concordia 17 in the game’s final minute.
Scouting Mount Marty
John Michaletti has presided over each of the first six seasons of Mount Marty football. Under Michaletti, the Lancers have posted records of 0-10 in 2021, 3-8 in 2022, 3-8 in 2023, 6-5 in 2024 and 4-7 in 2025. So far in 2026, Mount Marty is 2-1 while led by a prolific offense that is averaging 45.7 points per game. The triggerman is senior quarterback Rugby Ryken, who has piled up 5,158 passing yards and 55 passing touchdowns in his career. The team’s returning all-conference players, in addition to Ryken, include running back Kyle Hirsch, defensive linemen DJ Brown and Brycen Mitchell and defensive back Arthur Oliver. Senior linebacker Brock Lubbers has started strong with 17 tackles (3.5 for loss), three pass breakups, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. Last week, the Lancers entered the fourth quarter trailing at Northwestern, 35-20. Mount Marty scored two touchdowns in the final quarter and was a two-point conversion away from evening up. The Red Raiders survived, 35-33. Mount Marty appears capable of putting together its best season to date.