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Football team tops conference
Football was once again the brightest spot in the Concordia athletic picture, as this year's team captured the conference title outright, after sharing it for the past two years. The Cobbers finished with a 7-1 conference record and were 8-2 overall.
The 23-22 season-ending win over Gustavus Adolphus College was a dramatic climax, and the game itself came to a heartpounding conclusion.
Coming into that final contest, both Concordia and Gustavus had 6-1 conference records. The Cobbers' record was impressive, particularly since they were plagued with a series of injuries that put sophomores and freshmen in several key starting roles. Three shutouts were recorded, and the only loss was a 14-26 game with the College of St. Thomas.
Early in the Gustavus game, it looked as though the advanced billing of a close game was wrong. The Cobbers scored two touchdowns in the first quarter and led 13-3 at halftime. But Gustavus is known as a strong team that wears down opponents and defeats them late in the game. It started to look like that was happening. The Gusties marched steadily and scored with only seconds remaining, to trail by one point. They decided to go for a two-point conversion and a definite win or loss rather than a one-point conversion to tie it. The pass went wide, the game was over, the Cobbers were the champs.
"It is the most dramatic finish I recall at this field," said head coach Jim Christopherson ('60) Watching the game along with 3,200 other people were Jake Christiansen - the man for whom the stadium is named and another retired coach Lloyd Hollingsworth of Gustavus.
Many honors followed the conference title. Christopherson was named MIAC Coach of the Year, based on this season 5 per formance and his 85-31-1 record after 11 seasons. Also, six team members were named all-conference. They are seniors Bart Bridwell and Mark Reysse of Moorhead; senior Jon Dahl of Detroit Lakes, Minn., senior Ralph Halvorson of Belgrade, Minn.; senior Jeff Holter ofFertile, Minn.; and junior Dave Rosengren of Plymouth, Minn.
1980 Concordia Football Opponent W/L CC OPP Eau Claire, WI W 30 7 Moorhead State L 0 26 *Hamline University W 34 8 *Macalester College W 31 0 *Bethel College W 49 3 *St. Thomas College L 14 26 *St. John's College W 19 0 *Augsburg College W 10 0 *St. Olaf College W 16 6 *Gustavus Adolphus W 23 22 Record: 8-2 MIAC Record: 7-1, 1st Coach: Jim Christopherson Captain(s)Mike Zigler, Ralph Halvorson 1980 All-Conference: seniors Bart Bridwell, Jeff Holter, Jon Dahl, Ralph Halvorson, Mark Heysse, junior Dave Rosengren)
1980 freshman roster
Name Position Height Weight Hometown (High School)
ARNDT, MIKE DT 6'S" 210 Moorhead
ANDERSON, LONN G 5'7" 180 Duluth (Denfeld)
ANDERSON, MARK C 6'2" 208 Fargo, ND (North)
BERGLAND, HOWARD OB 6'2" 175 Carrington, ND
BLASKE, DAVID RB 5'9" 183 Princeton
BUTENHOFF, JOHN LB 5'111/2" 185 Lewistown, MT
BURROS, ERIK DE 6'1" 210 Marshall
BEZENEK, CLAY G 6'1" 205 Battle Lake
DURAN, DAVID MG 6'1" 185 Grand Haven, MI
GADBERRY, JON G 5'11" 180 Moorhead
GROVER, PAUL DT 6'2" 195 Alexandria
HESER, JOE RB 6'0" 170 Wolf Point, MT
HERTEL, DAN DB 5'11" 165 Moorhead
HVIDSTEN, CRAIG T 6'4" 210 Stephen
LAHREN, KRIS T 6'2" 225 Fargo, ND (North)
LASKE, JIM RB 5'10" 172 Moorhead
LARSON, RICHARD FS 6'0" 165 Milan
LINDBERG, GREG QB 5'101A" 175 Rothsay
LINDAHL, ROGER LB 6'2" 201 Belgrade
MARTINEAU, SCOTT QB 6'4" 205 Owatonna
MICHAELSON, BOB RB 5'10" 185 Lake Park
MICHAELSON, RICH LB 5'11" 207 Lake Park
MELBYE, RICK FS 5'10" 165 Detroit Lakes
NILSEN, PER C 5'11" 165 Iowa City, IA (Morris)
NELSON, MARK SE 6'2" 185 Alexandria
NESS, ERIC TE 6'3" 183 Minneapolis (Lutheran)
OAN ES, TROY OT 6'2" 200 Moorhead
OLSON,JEFF TE 6'2½" 185 Milan
PAVEK, TODD DB 5'9" 180 Fargo, ND (South)
PETERSON, VON CB 5'9" 180 Browns Valley
PRATT, JON K 6'S" 195 Mayville, ND
RICHARDSON, GREG RB 6'0" 190 South Brunswick, NJ
ROTTO, NELSON FB 6'1" 190 Bemidji
SANNES, RON FS 5'11" 180 Beltrami(Fertiie-Beltrami)
SAMUELSON, PAUL DB 5'10" 165 Minot, ND
SELJEVOLD, PETER SE 6'1" 175 Moorhead
SHEPLEY, TOM SE 6'1" 190 Redwood Falls
SIMMONS, CRAIG TE 6'3" 205 Fertile
SMITH, BROCK DE 6'3" 205 Alexandria
STENSTROM, MIKE G 5'10" 184 Duluth (Denfeld)
SWAN BERG, DAVID SE 6'0" 160 East Grand Forks
THORSON, MARV OB 60" 170 Page, ND
THOM, BOB SB 5'8½" 180 Moorhead
WITTWER, JIM RB 5'10" 170 Redwood Falls
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