Cross another accomplishment off the Concordia football team’s list of goals.

The Cobbers defeated Menlo (Calif) 30-0 Friday night before an estimated 2,361 fans at the Fargodome to complete the school’s first undefeated regular season since they won the NAIA national title in 1981.

Concordia (10-0), ranked No. 6 in the American Football Coaches Association poll, will learn who its first round NCAA Division III playoff opponent will be on Sunday. The selections are scheduled to be broadcast at noon on ESPNews.

“It’s been an incredible season,” Cobber coach Terry Horan said. “I am extremely proud of how the kids prepared for the season. It’s a great accomplishment.”

Concordia opened the season with a convincing 30-7 win against crosstown rival Minnesota State Moorhead.
[Concordia QB Brian Schumacher races toward the end zone during the first quarter for the Cobbers’ first touchdown Friday against Menlo College (Calif.) at the Fargodome. Schumacher rushed for 68 yards. Ann Arbor Miller / The Forum]
Next was a 21-20 road victory against defending Division III national champion St. John’s that ended a 14-year drought against the Johnnies.

The Cobbers beat perennial Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference power Bethel the following week.

Concordia earned its first outright conference title since 1986 with a 50-6 win against St. Olaf last week.

“We just believe in each other more than we ever have,” senior cornerback Jordan Talge said.

Brian Schumacher gave the Cobbers a quick lead against Menlo with a 12-yard run less than four minutes into the game.

Schumacher crossed the goal line on a 5-yard run late in the second to put Concordia ahead 14-0.

The Cobbers, who average almost 400 total yards a game, had 167 in the first half.

Schumacher, one of the top passing signal-callers in the MIAC, was flustered all night by speedy, aggressive Menlo defense. He finished with 73 passing yards.

Concordia’s defense was even better.

The Oaks (2-7) were held to five rushing yards on 26 carries. A potent Menlo passing game, which entered the game averaging more than 270 yards a game, finished with 153.

“They have a good pass rush,” Oaks freshman quarterback Dustin Guglielmelli said. “They’ve probably got some linemen who should be Division I right now.”

Brian Halverson connected on a 38-yard field goal, and Ed Oehlers had a pair of touchdown runs in the second half to make it 30-0.

Andrew Passanante, who had three receptions for 49 yards, became the second player in Concordia history with 1,000 receiving yards in a single season on a 32-yard grab in the fourth quarter.

Horan, a former Cobber All-American, set the record with 1,132 in 1987.

“It’s nice to have him in the 1,000 yard Club,” Horan said. “It was getting lonely.”