St. John’s scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to claim a 20-12 come-from-behind victory over the Cobbers in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football. It was Concordia’s first loss of the season.
"They’re a good team, they’re always a good team," said St. John’s coach John Gagliardi. "Somehow today we found a way to be a little better."
The Johnnies improved to 4-3 overall and 4-2 in the MIAC with the triumph. The loss drops Concordia (6-1, 5-1) into a three-way tie for first place in the conference with St. Thomas and Augsburg.
Concordia travels to Augsburg next Saturday for a game that will likely decide the conference championship.
"It’s a disappointing loss, but we’re still in first place, we still control our own destiny," said Concordia coach Jim Christopherson. "It was just a matter of missed opportunities that kept them close. But give them credit."
The Cobbers took 12-7 lead into the fourth quarter, but that’s when the Johnnies came up big. St. John’s had the ball at its own 26-yard line, facing a second-and-6 play when quarterback Phil Kern hooked up with Ben Sieben. The 74-yard scoring strike moved the Johnnies into the lead and shocked the Cobbers with 6:01 left in the game.
On the play, Kern rolled right to avoid the rush before finding a wide-open Sieben downfield. Sieben hauled in the pass at the Cobbers’ 20 and did the rest with his feet. St. John’s failed on the two-point conversion but still held a 13-12 advantage.
"I just tried to get out of there (the pocket) and get open," Kern said. "I saw Ben Stieben had them beat deep and Stieben’s fast. So I laid it up there and let him run under it."
Sieben found himself so open on the score because Concordia’s free safety Eric Stenehjem collided with an official and fell to the ground.
"We lost containment of the quarterback and he got out to his right," Christopherson said. "That was more of a problem than someone falling down."
After Concordia’s offense went three-and-out, St. John’s added to its lead. Junior Paul Trobec scored on a 38-yard run to cap a three-play, 52-yard drive and account for the game’s final margin.
On Trobec’s scoring play, Kern drew two Cobber defenders toward him before pitching the ball to Trobec on an option to the left. Trobec took the pitch and scampered down the left sideline for the score.
"All year long we’ve been compared to last year’s team or years before," Kern said. "We haven’t got any breaks all year long. Now we have nothing to lose, for us seniors we have only three games left to play. We just want to play as good a football as we can."
Concordia’s inability to score in the red zone was costly. The Cobbers moved the ball inside the Johnnies’ 25 six times before St. John’s scored the final two touchdowns.
But Concordia settled for two field goals and one touchdown. The other scoring threats ended on: an interception, a missed field goal and a failed fourth-down play.
"We couldn’t score when we
got near the end zone," said Concordia right guard Jed Seeger. "That absolutely
killed us. We just couldn’t get it done."
St. John’s 20-12 upset win over Concordia Saturday at Jake Christiansen Stadium made the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship race a lot more interesting.
"St. John’s just did everybody a favor," Concordia guard Jed Seeger said.
Now three teams are tied for the top spot – Concordia, St. Thomas and Augsburg. Although the Cobbers still have control of their situation. Concordia has already beat the Tommies and it travels to Augsburg next Saturday.
"We still control our own destiny," said Concordia coach Jim Christopherson. "I think we have a bunch of guys who will bounce back. If this loss would have cost us the conference championship, I’d be sick right now."
Two early conference losses ended any Johnnies’ hopes of a conference title. And it looked like Concordia was going to hand St. John’s its third conference setback after quarterback Ethan Pole hooked up with Mike Rice on a 54-yard scoring play with 30 seconds left until halftime. The Pole-to-Rice score gave Concordia a 12-7 advantage.
But the Johnnies defense stiffened in the second half and didn’t allow the Cobbers to score any points.
"It’s tough to take," Rice said. "It hurts to lose to St. John’s more than any other team."
Augsburg turned away Gustavus 41-35 in two overtimes to set up a showdown with Concordia next weekend. St. Thomas beat Macalester 30-3 to stay in the hunt.
"The Augsburg game is critical now," Christopherson said. "The conference championship is on the line."
Those are the breaks
Concordia free safety Eric Stenehjem was involved with two big plays in the second half.
The first was a fumble he caused with 2:16 left in the third quarter. The fumble was recovered by Ryan Albrecht and gave the Cobbers the ball at the Johnnies’ 31-yard line. Concordia held a 12-7 lead at the time.
"I thought that one was going to do us in," said St. John’s coach John Gagliardi.
But the St. John’s defense would hold the Cobbers offense out of the end zone. And Clayton Horgen missed a 28-yard field-goal attempt wide left with 13:19 left in the game.
The second play was the Johnnies’ 74-yard touchdown pass when quarterback Phil Kern hit a wide-open Ben Sieben. Stenehjem was knocked out of the play – but not by a St. John’s player.
"Our free safety just ran into the referee," said Concordia linebacker Ryan Sannes. "But that’s not an excuse. It was just a couple of fluke things like that. The thing is not to lose confidence and let down at all. We’re still tied for the lead in the conference."
Tough against the run
St. John’s held Concordia, the league’s leading rushing team at 236 yards per game, in check.
The Cobbers rushed the ball for only 153 yards on 51 attempts, failing to score a touchdown on the ground.
"They did a hell of a job," Gagliardi said. "They kept
us in the game, they’ve kept us in the whole season. We’ve been pretty
good against the run all year. Our
trouble has been we’ve given up the big pass play."
The St. John’s defensive front played a read defense that gave the Cobbers offensive line some problems.
"They have tall, rangy guys who get their hands on you and read a lot more," Seeger said. "I don’t think we were ready for that. We had a hard time getting outside on them. They strung everything out and pursued. They were all over the place."
Freshman halfback Marcus Ludtke, making his first start, and freshman fullback Len Crouse, making his second start, combined for 139 yards on 38 attempts on the ground.
"I thought they did OK," Christopherson said. "I’m sure they learned a lot today."
Rice, Howell play big
Concordia’s junior wideouts Mike Rice and Chris Howell both had big games for the Cobbers.
The two combined for 13 catches and 188 yards receiving. Rice’s 54-yard touchdown catch gave Concordia a 12-7 lead just before halftime.
"I just tried the best I could to get into the ballgame," Rice said. "Ethan gave me a bunch of chances today."
Rice said he was disappointed with the Cobbers’ offensive performance inside the St. John’s 25-yard line.
"In the middle of the field we moved the ball perfectly,"
Rice said. "But in the second half it almost became a mental thing. We
didn’t take advantage of our field position at all."
St. John’s 0 7 0 13 – 20
Concordia 3 9 0 0 – 12
CC–Horgen 40 FG
CC–Horgen 20 FG
SJ–Buller 5 run (Christie kick)
CC–Rice 54 pass from Pole (pass failed)
SJ–Sieben 74 pass from Kern (pass failed)
SJ–Trobec 38 run (Christie kick)
TEAM STATISTICS
SJU CC
First downs 11 23
Rushes-yards 38-131 51-153
Yards passing 175 201
Total yards 306 354
Passing 25-11-0 36-16-3
Punts-average 8-39.5 6-34.3
Fumbles-lost 2-1 0-0
Penalties-yards 2-20 1-10
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING – SJ, Buller 15-91, Trobec 4-44, Kern 12-17, Moore 3-9, Knippel 3-7, Brown 1-(-3). CC, Ludtke 24-87, Crouse 14-52, Pole 11-12, Ohm 2-2.
PASSING – SJ, Kern 11-25-0 175 yards. CC, Pole 16-36-3 201.
RECEIVING – SJ, Sieben 1-74, Lynch 3-41, Buller 3-39, Monnens 1-19, Moore 1-3, Muesing 1-0, Knippel 1-(-1). CC, Rice 5-98, Howell 8-90, Langemo 2-12, Ludtke 1-1.