VIDEO: Bulldogs sing Doxology in postgame locker room
SEWARD, Neb. – In the 71st all-time meeting between the two rivals, Doane gave the Concordia University, Nebraska Football team a first-half scare on a Halloween Saturday (Oct. 31) in Seward. The visitors adorned in pumpkin and black just couldn’t sustain the Bulldog big-play passing attack, led by Gideon Stark, and the shifty running of Dylan Mika. Concordia won by a count of 45-17 and triumphed for the sixth time in the past seven series matchups.
Head Coach Patrick Daberkow’s squad has made Bulldog Stadium a house of horrors for the Tigers, who have fallen in four consecutive trips to Seward. The Bulldogs evened up their record at 4-4 (4-4 GPAC).
“I love the outcome, but I felt like we had an opportunity in the second quarter to hammer things down, and we just missed that opportunity,” Daberkow said. “I would have liked to see us take advantage of that, but I'll take a win like that any day of the week. There's a lot of stuff we can still get better at, and we've got time to work on those things.”
When healthy, Concordia rolls out a frightening group of skill position players. The gunslinging Texan Stark found the likes of Adam Van Cleave and Jonny Puelz running free in the secondary. Stark opened the scoring in the first quarter with a 38-yard touchdown strike to Van Cleave and proceeded to throw second-half scoring tosses of 20 yards to Puelz, 55 yards to Van Cleave and 19 yards to Puelz. Stark’s 14 completions went for 273 yards as his career passing touchdown total moved to 41.
The passing game was complemented by Mika, who was spurred by a strong performance from the offensive line. Mika racked up a career-high 152 yards on 19 carries. The Aspen, Colo., native extended the Bulldog lead to 14-0 in the opening quarter when he carried across the goal line from three yards out. His final career of the day, a 19-yard touchdown run to ice the game, may have been his most impressive. On the play, Mika made two hard cuts to the left, leaving behind defenders in gravestones. He has piled up 486 rushing yards in his rookie season.
Said Mika afterwards, “(The run game) was so successful because I had full trust in my offensive line. We had a great game plan coming into this, and the offensive line knew their assignments. I just trusted them with all the blocks and hit the holes they made for me.”
Defensively, Concordia leaned upon a bend-but-don’t break model. On the strength of quarterback Cannon Crowder’s dual threat abilities, Doane pulled within 17-14 late in the first half. Crowder threw first-half touchdown passes of 32 yards to Kayd Houston and 43 yards to Trent DePompa. The Tigers missed a field goal late in the first half that would have knotted the score. Puelz’s first of two touchdowns then made it 24-14 at the break.
The Bulldogs managed to hold Doane scoreless on two of its red zone trips. On one such instance in the final quarter, the Tigers drove 83 yards on 17 plays, only to have a fourth-and-goal play broken up by safety Luke Penrod. Up front, Terry Sebek put forth a strong effort for Concordia, notching eight tackles (two for loss), 1.5 sacks and two quarterback hurries. While seeing increased playing time, corner Trey Whalen led the Bulldogs with 10 tackles.
Notably, Gabe Schmidt made the start at safety for the injured Treven Weddle. At one corner spot, Jett Farwell broke up three passes. Drake Trent added nine tackles and Kaden Thompson got into the backfield to make a pair of stops. The North Platte, Neb., native Thompson has been a steady performer in the secondary.
Said Thompson, “We battled. We came back strong, and their quarterback could run, so we had to figure out a way to stop that in order to come out with the win … I think we're on the upswing. We're always trying to get better and competing to be the best we can be.”
While Mika went over the century mark in the run game, Van Cleave did the same as a pass catcher, notching six receptions for 119 yards and two touchdowns. Puelz made four grabs for 84 yards and two scores and Jack Wesolowski pulled in two catches for 35 yards.
Concordia continues to make the most of the hand its dealt. Injuries have taken a toll on the offense, but the Bulldogs did welcome receiver Collin Fritton back to the field on Saturday. For the second game in row, Ethan Olson subbed in at right tackle. As for the freshmen, no one has made a larger impact than Mika, who has helped make up for the absence of star running back Carlos Collazo.
Said Daberkow, “We have such a hardworking freshman class. If everybody listening to me could come work out with our freshmen when they're lifting, it's a different environment. They really bring the juice. I'm super excited about the youth of our program. We have a ton of guys getting reps right now that we didn't think were going to get reps this early in their freshman year. We've had a lot of guys who have been ready, and other guys have stepped up when we've needed them.”
The Bulldogs will be on the road for the final time this season when they take on Briar Cliff (1-8, 1-7 GPAC) next Saturday in Sioux City, Iowa. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. CT from Memorial Field. Concordia has defeated the Chargers in 18 of the past 19 series matchups. In Saturday’s action, the Chargers were defeated by Hastings, 21-14.