2004 Concordia Football Line Score
	Cobbers vs. Pipers Teams 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final Hamline 0 0 0 0 0 Concordia 7 14 7 14 42  Cobbers post first shutout since October 30, 1999.

Game 5: Hamline Pipers (1-2 MIAC, 2-2) at #13 Concordia College Cobbers (3-0 MIAC, 4-0) 
Location: Jake Christiansen Stadium - Moorhead, Minn.
Kickoff: 1:00 p.m.
Radio: Live on "The Fan" 1280AM in the F-M area. 
Internet: www.gocobbers.com
Tickets: Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students. All tickets are general admission. You can contact the Concordia athletic office at 218-299-4434 for advance ticket sales. Football tickets go on sale and the gates open at noon for 1 p.m. kickoffs. The stadium has a seating capacity of 7,000 and has ample room for standing. There has never been a sellout. 
Series: Concordia leads series, 46-13-0. The series started in 1936.
Last Week: Concordia beat Gustavus 42-27 (Recap). Hamline lost to St. John's 41-6 (Recap). 
Rankings: Concordia is currently ranked 13th in the latest Don Hansen Football Gazette poll. They are also 20th in the AFCA poll and 23rd in the D3football.com poll; Hamline is unranked.
Don Hansen Football Gazette - D3football.com - AFCA

10.7       Points Per Game                 33.0  26.7       Opponents points per game       13.0 43         FIRST DOWNS                       82  63         OPP. FIRST DOWNS                  45 407        RUSHING YARDAGE                  754  670        OPP. RUSHING YARDAGE             247 135.7      RUSHING YDS PER GAME           188.5 223.3      OPP. RUSHING YDS PER GAME       61.8  1          TDs Rushing                        9 10         OPP. TDs Rushing                   3  299        PASSING YARDAGE                  700  474        OPP PASSING YARDAGE              579 99.7       PASSING YDS PER GAME           175.0  158.0      OPP. PASSING YDS PER GAME      144.0  4          TDs Passing                        7  1          OPP. TDs Passing                   3 706        TOTAL OFFENSE                   1454  1144       OPP TOTAL OFFENSE                826 235.3      Average Per Game               363.5  381.3      Opp. Average Per Game          206.5 2-1        FUMBLES-LOST                     9-5  10-6       OPP. FUMBLES-LOST                7-6 15-132     PENALTIES-YARDS               14-105  23-227     OPP. PENALTIES-YARSS          15-140 30:46      TIME OF POSSESSION/GAME        30:44  28:27      OPP.TIME OF POSSESSION/GAME    26:45 10/51      3RD-DOWN CONVERSIONS           21/51  17/45      OPP. 3RD-DOWN CONVERSION       17/56 10/15      4TH-DOWN CONVERSIONS             2/5  3/5        OPP. 4TH-DOWN CONVERSIONS       3/11

Donavon Larson enters his fourth season as the Pipers head coach. Larson brings 37 years of coaching experience that will lead the Pipers to MIAC title contention. In his three previous seasons, Larson has compiled a 7-23 record.

Concordia took the opening kickoff and marched 73 yards in just five plays to take a 6-0 lead. Jeremy Hinderks scored the touchdown on a two-yard run. On the next Hamline possession, the snap on the punt was low and Josh Vickerman scooped up the loose ball and ran 15 yards for the score, putting the Cobbers up 12-0. On the next Hamline possession, Vickerman went to work again, this time intercepting a pass and returning it 42 yards for his second touchdown in less than a minute, giving the Cobbers a 19-0 lead. When the Cobber offense finally got to touch the ball again, they scored again, on another two-yard run by Hinderks, putting the Cobbers in front 26-0 after the first quarter.

The Cobbers scored twice more in the second quarter, first on a nine-yard run by quarterback Ryan Hebrink, and then on a 21-yard field goal by Brian Halverson with time running out in the half. The field goal gave the Cobbers a 36-0 halftime lead. Hamline got on the scoreboard early in the second half, on a 16-yard pass from Andy Gagnon to Dan Ryks to pull to within 36-7, but the Cobbers struck back on a 65-yard strike from Hebrink to Shawn Reile to lead 43-7. The Pipers pulled out a big play of their own to make the score 43-14 after three quarters, on a 50-yard pass from Gagnon to Jeff Hanger. The Cobber reserves scored twice in the final quarter, on a 60-yard pass from Jacob Odermann to Chad Worthington and on a four-yard run by Kevin Williamson to finish the scoring at 57-14.

The Cobber offense fired on all cylinders, amassing almost 600 yards of total offense, including 402 on the ground. 15 different Cobbers carried the ball, and eight had runs of 10 yards or more. Quarterback Ryan Hebrink led the way, gaining 122 yards on 10 carries. He also completed 3 of 10 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown. Shawn Reile led the receivers with 102 yards on two catches and a touchdown. For the Pipers, quarterback Andy Gagnon paced the team, completing 18 of 33  passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns. Receiver Dan Ryks caught 7 passes for 71 yards and a touchdown.

Concordia has won the last 12 meetings between the two teams. The last time the Pipers prevailed was in 1991. The last time they won at “The Jake” was back in 1984…last year’s 57 points by the Cobbers was the third highest single game point total. The most points ever scored by a team in a single game is 64. That occurred in Concordia’s 64-14 win in 1955…the most points scored by both teams in a single game is 79. Concordia beat Hamline 41-38 in 1988…there have been 13 shutouts in the series - the Cobbers have shutout the Pipers 11 times in the series and Hamline has posted two blankings. The last time there was a shutout in the series was in 1998 when Concordia won 38-0...the last time the Cobbers were shutout in the series was in 1941 when the Pipers prevailed 7-0...the lowest scoring contest in the series was a 2-0 forfeit win for the Cobbers in 1982.

One of the keys for the Cobbers this year has been their ability to take care of the ball and not let the other team gain momentum by getting a "short" field. Concordia has only turned over the ball  four times in their first three MIAC games - all of which have been fumbles. Of those four fumbles, two have resulted in touchdowns for the opposing team. Last week the Gusties returned the fumble recovery for a TD and against Carleton, the Knights' possession after the fumble led directly to a TD. Also, all four of the Cobber fumbles have occurred in Concordia's own half of the field.

If Hamline is able to continue their thieving ways, and the Cobbers cough the ball up close to their own goalline, then Concordia could be in for a long afternoon. 

As a team, Concordia ranks seventh in total defense (206.5) and ninth in rushing defense (61.8). The Cobbers are also 22nd in average points allowed (13.0) and 28th in turnover margin (+1.5).

Hamline has four individuals among the national leaders. Punter Ryan Laube is 20th in punt average (39.3). The other three all come from the defensive side of the ball. Tyler Schultz is tied for 28th in interceptions per game (0.8) and tied for 29th in total tackles (12.0). Darryl Sledge and Jordan Below are tied for 20th in forced fumbles (0.5).

The only category that the Pipers show up in as a team is pass efficiency defense. Hamline is 28th, limiting opponent QB's to an 86.9 per game rating. 

Cobbers vs. Pipers News and Notes

Cobber News and Notes
And For My Next Trick, I'll Pull a Rabbit Out of My Hat!
- That's about all there is left to do for Concordia junior quarterback Brian Schumacher (Thompson, N.D.). Schumacher had one of the best games of any Cobber QB in school history on Saturday. In Concordia’s 42-27 win over Gustavus, he threw five touchdown passes and was 24-for-32 for 274 yards. The five touchdown passes in a single game is a modern day school record. After trailing at halftime 21-14, he came out in the second half and was a perfect 9-for-9 for 106 yards and three TD’s.

He was part of the offense that racked up 511 total yards. That is the most yards given up by a Gustavus team in an MIAC game since October 19, 2002. 

Schumacher has not thrown a single interception all season long.

Deadly Duo
- The Concordia receiving tandem of Andrew Passanante (Sr., Hawley, Minn.) and Shawn Reile (Sr., Moorhead, Minn.) both had over 100 receiving yards in the Cobbers’ win over Gustavus. That marks the first time that two Concordia receivers have finished the game with over 100 receiving yards since the opening game of the 2000 season. 

Passanante totaled 13 catches, 141 yards and two touchdowns. For his efforts he was named to the D3football.com Team of the Week. He currently leads the MIAC in receptions per game (6.67), total receptions (20) and receiving yards per game (81.7). 

Reile ended up hauling in nine balls for 105 yards and two TD’s. He is currently tied for second in the league in receptions per game (5.00), tied for second in total receptions (15) and third in receiving yards per game (67.7). 

And It Keeps Getting Better!
- The Cobbers are currently ranked 13th in the latest Don Hansen Football Gazette DIII poll. They are also 20th in the AFCA poll and 23rd in the D3football.com poll, marking the first time all year they have cracked the top 25 in all three of the major rankings. 

Concordia is the only unbeaten team left in the MIAC and their 4-0 start marks the best beginning to a season since the 1997 campaign when they went 6-0 to start the year. 

The longest winning streak to open a season in the past 20 years is eight games. The 1988 Concordia team went 8-0 at the beginning of the year and finished the season by winning the MIAC title. This is the best start for a Cobber team under current head coach Terry Horan.

Top Cobber Starts in the Past 40 Years:
1968: 4-0
1992: 4-0
1974: 5-0
1977: 5-0
1942: 6-0
1997: 6-0
1988: 8-0
1964: 10-0
1969: 10-0

Welcome New Hall of Fame Members
The Concordia Athletic Hall of Fame will induct five new members later this afternoon. Fred Hashley, ’73, Kris Gulsvig, ’77, Marybeth Stephan Storey, ’82, Roger Lindahl, ’84 and Kris Kuehl, ’92 will all receive the honor during the annual Hall of Fame banquet, which starts at 5:00pm in the Knutson Center. (Tickets can be purchased at the door!!)

Hashley won three straight MIAC heavyweight wrestling championships from ’71-73’ and was a three time All- Lutheran heavyweight champion.  Gulsvig was All-MIAC and NAIA All District 13 in basketball and baseball.  Stephan Storey was the point guard for the 1982 national championship women’s basketball team. Lindahl was named the MIAC Co-Most Valuable Player and was an All-America NAIA Division II honoree as an inside linebacker on the Cobber football team. Kuehl is the most prominent member of the quintet. She was a member of the U.S. Olympic Team that competed in Sydney and won the discus at the 2002 USA Track and Field Championships. She won the NCAA Division III national championship, and set a Division III championship meet record in the discus in her senior year.

Piper News and Notes
(Courtesy of the Hamline SID)
What's Yours Is Mine!
- The Piper defense is tied for the conference lead in takeaways by forcing nine turnovers in three MIAC games. Hamline forced four turnovers versus the Johnnies on Saturday. In all games, Hamline has forced 13 turnovers.

Tackle Tandem
- Piper free safety Tyler Schultz (Rollingstone, Minn.) and outside linebacker Jordan Below (Waseca, Minn.) are second and fifth, respectively, in the conference in tackles per game. Schultz has 40 tackles on the season (22 solo, 18 assist), an average of 13.3 per game after posting 21 tackles against St. John’s on Saturday. Below is averaging 11.0 stops per contest.

Catcher in the Ryks
- Hamline wide receiver Dan Ryks (Renville, Minn.) led the team in receiving for the fourth week in a row. His 29-yard touchdown reception versus St. John’s was his second on the season and 10th for his career. Ryks is currently tied for second in MIAC, averaging 5.0 receptions per game.