Road Warriors

NORTHFIELD, Minn. (10/28/17)---No.19-ranked Concordia scored 28 straight points against Carleton, outscored the Knights 21-6 in the second half and ground out a 35-12 win over the Knights.

The Cobbers turned a 7-6 struggle into a 35-6 stroll as they won for the third straight time. Concordia is now 7-1 in all games and 5-1 in the MIAC.

For the third straight game the Cobbers rushed for over 325 yards and pulled away in the final two quarters to claim the conference win. Concordia ran the ball 45 times and rushed for 331 yards against the Knights. All five of the Cobbers' touchdowns at Carleton came on the ground. CC only threw the ball seven times which was a season low.

Chad Johnson continued his outstanding senior season. Johnson was the go-to offensive weapon in the second half. He ran for 63 yards in the first two quarters but then exploded for 140 yards on six carries in the second half to finish with a career-high 203 rushing yards on 15 carries. He also scored twice in the second half on touchdown runs of 80 and 8 yards.

Austin Maanum matched Johnson's TD total. He had scoring runs of 21 yards and 7 yards. His first score gave the Cobbers a 14-6 lead midway through the second quarter and then he scored the Cobbers' fourth touchdown of the day with 4:00 left in the third quarter.

Jason Montonye made it a senior trifecta of touchdowns on the day. He opened the scoring for Concordia by powering over from nine yards out on the opening drive of the game.

The Cobbers outgained the Knights 405-271 for the game. Carleton had 178 passing yards and 93 rushing yards on the day.

Both teams had two turnovers on the day. The Cobbers fumbled twice while Carleton fumbled a punt which led to Montonye's touchdown in the first quarter and then Ethan Eagerton picked off a past in the Cobber end zone on the very first drive of the third quarter and then Johnson scampered 80 yards on the very next play to stake CC to a 21-6 lead.    

Junior linebacker Alex Berg led all players with 12 tackles in the game. He had five solo tackles and seven assisted takedowns. Andrew Thompson and Dallas Raftevold both had seven total tackles for the Cobber Black Shirt defense.

THE BUS DRIVER: Chad Johnson went over the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season. His 203-yard performance against the Knights brings his season total to 1,150 yards. He now has 2,587 rushing yards for his career. He continues to chase school record in each category. The single-season rushing mark is 1,512 yards set by Bob Beliveau in 1978. The career rushing total is 3,425 yards set by Cory Johnson from 2005-08.

TOUCHDOWN TALLIES: Johnson continued to add to his school-record touchdown total. Johnson now has 41 career "tuddys". Johnson is within striking distance of the single season touchdown mark. His two scores at Carleton brings his 2017 total to 16. That is three shy of the record of 19 set by Adam Swingdorf in 2007.          

RED ZONE DEFENSE DOMINATION: The Cobbers have been extra tough on defense when teams get close to the Concordia goal line. CC made a tremendous goal line stand at the end of the second quarter as they were holding a 14-6 lead. The Cobbers held the Knights to only two scores on four trips inside the 20-yard line. Concordia entered the game ranked second in the nation in red zone defense.
 
RED ZONE OFFENSE SUCCESS: Concordia continued to add to its success in the red zone. The Cobbers entered the game ranked first in the MIAC in red zone success.CC went 3-for-3 inside the Carleton 20-yard line on Saturday to up their season mark to 89.0-percent.

HE'S GREEEEEAAAAT: Junior kicker Tony Kostelecky continued his extra point streak on Saturday. He went five-for-five in point afters and has now made 27 straight extra points on the year.  

WHAT'S NEXT: The annual Lefse Bowl is up next for the Cobbers. Concordia will host St. Olaf on Saturday, Nov. 4 at 1 p.m.in the annual battle for the Troll Trophy – the ugliest rivalry trophy in all of college football. The Oles are 4-4 overall and 3-3 in the MIAC and are coming off a 41-13 loss at Gustavus.

CONCORDIA vs. CARLETON HIGHLIGHTS: