Sept. 21, 2019 – If ever there was a perfect demonstration of the sports axiom, "next man up," it was this afternoon as the Concordia-Chicago football team played its final non-conference game of the season at Finlandia University. A couple of the Cougars' main guns on offense were forced to the sidelines, but their replacements were more than capable of getting the job done. The result was Concordia-Chicago beating Finlandia 23-12 and improving to 2-1 on the season.
It was a warm and breezy afternoon at McAfee Stadium in Hancock, MI as the Cougars kicked off with the wind at their backs, and quickly forced the Lions into a three-and-out. Following the punt, CUC's first possession began just short of midfield, and the Cougars needed just three plays to get into the end zone. A short pass from Jaxon Aubry to Lance Moise saw him take the ball down the sideline for 32 yards after the catch. On the next play, Moise ran the ball in from the 10-yard line, and Andrew Lechuga's extra point gave the visitors a 7-0 lead just three minutes into the game. Moise's rushing touchdown was the 43rd of his career, tying him with Khyree Copeland for the school record.
On Finlandia's next possession, they picked up a first down by way of a CUC facemask, and Darin Johnson completed a third-and-five pass for a first down across midfield. However, a sack by Keshaun Paisley, followed by an errant snap sent the Lions back to their 30, and they would punt two plays later.
The Cougars' next drive saw Moise carry into Lions' territory, but he would come up limping at the end of the play and have to leave the game. Two plays later, the drive would come to an abrupt end as Aubry was intercepted inside the 10.
Turnovers continued to bite the Cougars as their next two drives resulted in a fumble inside the five-yard line and a fumble on a quarterback sack. The latter gave Finlandia its first decent starting position of the game, and the Lions were threatening to score as a big gain on a reverse took the ball to the CUC 30. However, Finlandia threw deep on the next play, and Cougars' linebacker Tyler Dudley read the play well and intercepted at the 11-yard line.
Ironically, the Cougars' worst starting position was the one that resulted in points. Tylor Martens, now the featured running back in the offense, broke off runs of 10, 13 and 15 yards. Freshman Angel Garcia added runs of nine and five yards. Martens would add another big chunk of yardage, bouncing off a tackler and taking the ball to the one. From there, Aubry would go behind center and take it in for the touchdown and a 14-0 lead.
Finlandia would make some noise before the half, however. Darin Johnson made his biggest play of the day, a 60-yard bomb to Reese Waara behind the CUC coverage down the middle of the field. The Lions would miss the extra point, thanks to a penalty, and the half finished with the Cougars leading 14-6.
At the start of the second half, the Cougars had a new signal caller as freshman Levi Hrabos was in behind center. The Cougars stayed on the ground with Martens, but Hrabos also contributed to the drive, running an option around the right side for a first down at the 19. The drive stalled a few plays later, but Lechuga got the points with his career-long 35-yard field goal, and CUC had a 17-6 lead midway through the third.
Concordia-Chicago got the ball back a few minutes later after Tyler Creamer came up with a big solo sack. Hrabos made a clutch third-down completion to Semaj James to move the chains. Two plays later, Martens broke loose for 18 yards around the left side. Juan Urrea added a 26-yard run, and Martens would punch it in from the three to extend the lead to 23-6 (extra point missed).
The Cougars look to put an emphatic exclamation point on this game with back-to-back sacks from Timothy Ray and Matt Henning as the game entered the fourth quarter. However, the Lions put up a game fight, and they found the end zone again as a 35-yard fly down the left side led to a short run to cut the CUC lead to 11. There would be no more scoring, however, as the Cougars put together a seven-minute drive and were able to eat up all but the final minutes of clock.
The Cougars' hero was Martens who carried 37 times for 247 yards, both career highs. Collectively, the Cougars rushed for a net 314 yards.
The team will enjoy a bye week next Saturday before returning to action on Saturday, Oct. 5. CUC will host Lakeland University in the beginning of Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play.
Cougars' Depth Pulls Out Win at Finlandia
/seasons/2019/boxscores/20190921_7tc6.xml
2019
Concordia-Chicago
23
Finlandia
12
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Concordia-Chicago (2-1) | 7 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 23 |
| Finlandia (0-3) | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 12 |
Sep 21, 2019