2004 Concordia Football Line Score
	Cobbers vs. Oles Teams 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final Concordia 2 13 28 7 50 St. Olaf 0 7 0 0 7  Concordia leads the series 31-21-2.

Cobbers vs. Oles Action Pictures
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Gimme, Gimme, Gimme! Cobbers Selfishly Claim MIAC Title Outright! 
NORTHFIELD-- Concordia exploded in the third quarter, scoring 28 unanswered points and breaking open a 15-7 lead at halftime to a 43-7 blowout. The Cobbers tacked on one more score in the fourth quarter to beat St. Olaf 50-7 and claim their first outright MIAC title since 1986.

Concordia finishes the MIAC regular season with a perfect 8-0 mark, the first time since 1986 Concordia has gone through the MIAC slate undefeated and sixth time in school history. The Cobbers are now 9-0 overall on the season. It is the third best start to a season in program history and best since the 1969 team that finished at 10-1-0. Concordia will play Menlo (Calif.) in their final game of the year on Friday, November 12 at 7:30pm in the Fargodome. If the Cobbers defeat the Oaks, it will tie the school record for most consecutive wins in a season.

Clinging to an eight-point lead at the break, Concordia scored on their first four possessions of the second half and put the game away. The outburst helped the Cobbers score a season-high 50 points in the game and a season-high 35 in the second half alone.  That has been a recurring theme for Concordia in 2004. The Cobbers have now outscored their opponents 93-27 in the third quarter alone and 157-50 in the second half.

The pass and catch tandem of Brian Schumacher (Jr., Thompson, N.D.) and Andrew Passanante (Sr., Hawley, Minn.) hooked up for the two biggest scoring plays of the game. In the second quarter Passanante caught a 40-yard strike that he outwrestled the St. Olaf defensive back for and came away with the score. In the third quarter he caught an 80-yard pass that gave the Cobbers a 36-7 lead. It was the longest play of the season for the Cobber offense. For the game, he caught five passes for 154 yards.

Schumacher beat the Oles on two fronts. He ran for a 36-yard touchdown and threw for two others. He finished with 67 rushing yards on 10 carries and 8-of-13 for 175 yards in the passing department. Once again Ed Oehlers (Sr., North Branch, Minn.) was a key component to the Cobber offense.  He is turning into a game-breaking running back. Not on his ability to outrun the defense, but on his shear power, and ability to wear down the opponent through the course of the entire game.  He scored another touchdown on a one-yard plunge and ended the contest with a game-high 81 rushing yards. The senior leads the Cobbers in touchdowns. He has scored eight times in 2004.

Once again the Cobber defense completely shut down an opposing team's ability to sustain any long drives. While the Cobber offense continues to grab the headlines with their high-scoring capabilities, the defense quietly goes about their business of stopping the run and forcing turnovers. Ranked sixth in the nation in total defense coming into the game, Concordia held the Oles to 262 yards of total offense - only 102 in the decisive second half. In the fourth quarter alone, Concordia's defense allowed St. Olaf to only run four plays and gain a total of 26 yards. 

The defense used a total unit effort to manhandle the Ole offense. The defensive front of Evan Emmerich (Sr., Princeton, Minn.), Travis Almquist (Jr., Fargo, N.D./Fargo North HS), Adam Campbell (Sr., Willmar, Minn.) and Greg Mantz (Jr., Mandan, N.D.) continually hounded St. Olaf quarterback Jason Wilsey and forced him into throwing three interceptions before he was taken out in the fourth quarter. The line completely shut down the Ole running attack in the first half, limiting St. Olaf to a mere 12 yards of rushing in the first 30 minutes of play. Campbell also came up with a huge play on special teams, blocking a punt in the second quarter that led to Concordia's second touchdown.

Jordan Talge (Sr., Moorhead, Minn.) and linebacker Josh Dietz (Sr., Glencoe, Minn.-Glencoe-Silver Lake HS) each came away with two interceptions on the day. Overall, the Cobber defense forced five turnovers on the day, the most of the season. For Talge it brings his season total to eight, which ties the school record for interceptions in a single season. He nows has 16 for his career, and needs one more to tie Terry Storm's school record of 17. Dietz had five solo tackles on the day. The biggest one came to open the scoring for the Cobbers. He was able to tackle Ole running back Jay Higgins in the end zone to push Concordia to a 2-0 lead. Dietz also had two tackles for a loss and one sack in the game. 

Doug Runke (Sr., Willmar, Minn.) led the defense in tackles. He finished with five solo tackles and seven total. 

Craig Botnen had a game-high 11 tackles for St. Olaf in the losing effort.

Offensively, St. Olaf's lone highlight came on a 63-yard pass play from Wilsey to Jay Higgins. That gave the Oles a brief 7-2 lead. Higgins led St. Olaf in rushing with 39 yards on eight carries. Wilsey finished by completing 14-of-30 passes and throwing for 128 yards. He was also intercepted three times. The fourth Ole interception was thrown by backup quarterback Matt Penz, who entered the game in the fourth quarter.
 

                               Box Score (Final)
   Concordia-Moorhead vs St. Olaf College (Nov 06, 2004 at St. Olaf College)

Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
-----------------    -- -- -- --   -----
Concordia-Moorhead..  2 13 28  7  - 50       Record: (9-0-0,8-0)
St. Olaf College....  0  7  0  0  -  7       Record: (6-3-0,4-3)
 
 

Scoring Summary:
1st 05:00 CC - TEAM safety, , CC 2 - STO 0
2nd 07:53 STO - Higgins 63 yd pass from Schmiesing (Fortman kick), 1-63 0:12, CC 2 - STO 7
    05:51 CC - Andy Passanante 40 yd pass from BrianSchumacher (BrianSchumacher pass failed), 5-69 2:02, CC 8 - STO 7
    00:30 CC - Ed Oehlers 1 yd run (Brian Halverson kick), 6-33 2:37, CC 15 - STO 7
3rd 12:54 CC - Eric Rodel 0 yd fumble recovery (Brian Halverson kick), 5-42 1:56, CC 22 - STO 7
    10:37 CC - BrianSchumacher 36 yd run (Brian Halverson kick), 2-43 0:52, CC 29 - STO 7
    06:33 CC - Andy Passanante 80 yd pass from BrianSchumacher (Brian Halverson kick), 2-80 0:59, CC 36 - STO 7
    04:13 CC - T. Christensen 9 yd run (Brian Halverson kick), 3-21 0:42, CC 43 - STO 7
4th 06:33 CC - Jacob Odermann 2 yd run (Brian Halverson kick), 14-50 8:05, CC 50 - STO 7
 
 

                                     CC      STO
FIRST DOWNS...................       21       14
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............   60-277    26-62
PASSING YDS (NET).............      193      200
Passes Att-Comp-Int...........  15-10-1  35-16-4
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   75-470   61-262
Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0      0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............     3-24      1-0
Kickoff Returns-Yards.........     3-30     5-98
Interception Returns-Yards....     4-36      1-0
Punts (Number-Avg)............   4-31.2   5-27.0
Fumbles-Lost..................      2-1      1-1
Penalties-Yards...............     4-48     5-35
Possession Time...............    38:30    21:30
Third-Down Conversions........  6 of 14  5 of 13
Fourth-Down Conversions.......   2 of 3   1 of 2
Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      4-4      0-1
Sacks By: Number-Yards........     4-27      1-6

RUSHING: Concordia-Moorhead-Ed Oehlers 16-81; BrianSchumacher 10-67;
T. Christensen 9-44; Tyler Anderson 6-28; Jacob Odermann 10-22; Eric Rodel
3-16; Ben Thoreson 2-11; Mark Eaton 4-8. St. Olaf College-Higgins 8-39; St.
John 4-30; Olson 7-16; Roff 1-minus 1; Wilsey 6-minus 22.

PASSING: Concordia-Moorhead-BrianSchumacher 8-13-1-175; Jacob
Odermann 2-2-0-18. St. Olaf College-Wilsey 14-30-3-128; Penz 1-4-1-9;
Schmiesing 1-1-0-63.

RECEIVING: Concordia-Moorhead-Andy Passanante 5-154; Shawn Reile
2-19; Chad Rogers 1-13; Adam Dittberner 1-5; BrianSchumacher 1-2. St. Olaf
College-St. John 5-37; Gant 4-47; Higgins 2-70; Schmiesing 2-32; Roff 1-5;
Lund 1-5; Fritze 1-4.

INTERCEPTIONS: Concordia-Moorhead-Josh Dietz 2-36; Jordan Talge 2-0.
St. Olaf College-Hutchins 1-0.

FUMBLES: Concordia-Moorhead-BrianSchumacher 1-1; Ed Oehlers 1-0. St.
Olaf College-Olson 1-1.

Stadium: Manitou Field         Attendance: 546
Kickoff time: 1:00      End of Game: 3:40      Total elapsed time: 2:40
Officials:
Temperature: 60        Wind: 10-15     Weather: partly couldy, nice
 
 
 
 

SACKS (UA-A): Concordia-Moorhead-Josh Dietz 1-0; Brody Clarke 1-0;
Adam Campbell 1-0; Doug Runke 1-0. St. Olaf College-Botnen 1-0.

TACKLES (UA-A): Concordia-Moorhead-Doug Runke 5-2; T. Radermacher
5-1; Josh Dietz 5-0; Jordan Talge 3-2; Ross Hebrink 2-3; Eric Preszler 3-1;
Eric Svobodny 1-3; Jeff Stromswold 2-0; Dave Moll 2-0; Chris Klabo 2-0; Adam
Campbell 2-0; Travis Almquist 1-1; Adam Peterson 1-1; Brody Clarke 1-0; Mark
Eaton 1-0; Cody Martinson 0-1; J. Christensen 0-1. St. Olaf College-Botnen
9-2; St. Lawrence 7-3; Davis 5-3; Holthus 4-3; Dean 5-1; Bucka 4-2; Bechdol
1-4; Yerigan 4-0; De La Hunt 3-1; Moen 3-0; Nelson 2-1; Rydberg 1-1; Starr
1-1; Conner 0-2; Rogers 0-2; Maus 1-0; Cathcart 1-0; Hutchins 0-1; Williams
0-1; Fylling 0-1; Henry 0-1.