SEWARD, Neb. – On a pristine mid-November day inside Bulldog Stadium, Concordia University, Nebraska Football used a rugged second half defensive effort and a resilient rush offense to erase a 17-7 halftime deficit. A second half touchdown apiece from Jonny Puelz and Adam Van Cleave put the Bulldogs over the hump in what amounted to a 21-17 win over 19th-ranked Northwestern on senior day Saturday (Nov. 15). The Red Raiders managed a grand total of three first downs over the final 30 minutes as linebacker Dylan Meyer and the Concordia defense flexed their muscles.
Head Coach Patrick Daberkow’s squad has likely finished the 2025 season, barring an at-large playoff selection. At 7-3 (7-3 GPAC), the Bulldogs have placed third in the final GPAC standings.
“This is as fitting of a way as possible to send team 99 out,” Daberkow said. “I’m super proud of our guys. We are so thrilled about the result. We thought that the process was going to get us there … We’ve been having issues with getting to the quarterback in time. When we lost Carson (Fehlhafer), it was kind of a struggle. We have so many guys who have helped fill in and close the gap. We kind of finally figured it out today. Coach (Corby) Osten was mixing things up quite a bit. I felt like that was the most we’ve affected the quarterback all season.”
By halftime, Northwestern had piled up 236 yards of offense while finding the end zone twice via rushes by quarterback Colby Duncan. Meyer and his defensive teammates stiffened at just the right time. Concordia quarterback Gideon Stark and the offense did just enough, putting together separate touchdown drives that covered 61 yards on 10 plays and 63 yards on 10 plays. Leading 21-17, the Bulldogs made one final defensive stand and forced a turnover on downs to help seal the win.
Duncan shouldered a heavy load for the Red Raider offense and faced heavy fire. Meyer, a Chadron State College transfer, wreaked havoc with four sacks and a quarterback hurry. His final sack came in the fourth quarter – just after Concordia’s go-ahead touchdown – resulting in a three and out. Senior standouts Daylon Henson and Grant Huss notched 12 and 10 tackles, respectively, in their final games at Bulldog Stadium. Henson made a bone crunching hit on a third down play in the first quarter. A Northwestern fake field goal try was snuffed out on the next play.
The win one was a gritty one, especially considering how the first half played out. Said Meyer of the turnaround, “Our defensive coordinator said, when things go bad, you have to throw it out the window. You have to worry about right now. You can’t worry about what happened three plays ago … the locker room was ecstatic. One of our goals was to send these seniors away with a win, and we did that. It was such a good feeling.”
It was about ball control for the Bulldog offense. Van Cleave returned after missing last week’s game at No. 6 Dordt and rushed for 110 hard-earned yards and a touchdown on 30 carries. Stark finished 18-for-34 for 146 yards and two touchdowns (one passing and one rushing). On Concordia’s second touchdown drive of the game, the key play was a 33-yard pass from the receiver Puelz to Max Bartels for a first and goal at the 5. Bartels made six grabs for 69 yards.
The Bulldogs rushed for 98 yards in the second half against one of the NAIA’s stingiest defenses. Senior Seth Moore and his fellow offensive linemen have enjoyed a strong 2025. The big boys up front affectively replaced all five starters from the 2024 squad.
Said Moore postgame after posing in front of The Victory Bell with Stark and the rest of the offensive line, “We knew it was coming. We’ve all been here together for years now. Those guys who graduated last year are some of my best friends I’ll ever have. All of us this year knew it was our time. We were ready and weren’t afraid of the challenge. We were able to step up and have a good year.”
Before ending his comments, Moore also gave a shoutout to tight end Dustin Kapke, who was carted off the field late in the game. Players gathered for a prayer in support of Kapke, who may have some offseason recovery ahead of him. Kapke has teamed with Maddox Rickertsen for a solid tight end room.
In addition to lockdown defense after the break, punter Braxtyn Koch had one of his finest days at the collegiate level. He punted five times for an average of 45.2 yards per attempt. Three of his punts were downed inside the opponent’s 20. Peyton Atwood went 3-for-3 on PATs and Admir Mujkic handled kickoffs.
A total of 23 seniors were recognized prior to kickoff. As has become tradition in recent years, the seniors were presented with toolbelts. That group has helped the program to a combined 15 wins over the past two years. Under Daberkow, Concordia has won at least seven games in three of the past five years.
Said Daberkow, “This was a critical win for us. We needed to prove that we could beat this team. What we need to do in the offseason is to continue to grow the mindset and the expectation of winning and performing at a high level. It wasn’t an upset. Nobody in our locker room felt that way. It’s good to see us do what we knew we were capable of doing. I’m just rally happy for our seniors to go out with a win.”
The NAIA playoff selection show is scheduled for Sunday evening. Based on current rankings and projections, the Bulldogs were on the outside of the playoff picture, win or lose on Saturday. However, Concordia made a strong case to be included in the final NAIA top 25 for a second year in a row.