Concordia Football Defeats Dakota Wesleyan in First Win of the Season
Jonas Sommerville
Sower Staff
The Bulldogs notched their first win of the season in windy conditions Saturday afternoon against the Dakota Wesleyan Tigers. The final score was 20-12.
The first quarter saw a defensive battle with no points scored. The Bulldogs started with the same quarterback situation they had against Northwestern last Saturday. Sophomore quarterbacks D.J. McGarvie and Austin Jablonski traded off throughout the entire first quarter, though neither quarterback moved the ball into possible scoring position. The kicker for Dakota Wesleyan had an opportunity to put some points on the board, but he missed the kick, keeping the score 0-0.
The second quarter yielded yet another scoreless result for Concordia, as they constantly battled back and forth with a tough Tiger defense. The Bulldogs were driving, but an interception thrown by McGarvie ended that drive deep into Dakota Wesleyan territory. The Tigers did manage to get on the board with eight seconds left in the second quarter, as their kicker managed to bounce back and give Dakota Wesleyan a 3-0 lead going into the half.
The third quarter saw an unprecedented explosion of offense from Concordia. McGarvie threw for three touchdown passes in the third quarter alone. All of these passes were completed to senior wide receiver Korell Koehlmoos with distances of 31, three, and six yards apiece. The only miscue from the Bulldogs came on the final extra point attempt of the quarter, which was blocked and returned by the Tigers to bring the score to 20-5 at the end of the third quarter.
The fourth quarter saw only a little action, with the only score coming from Dakota Wesleyan at the 10:31 mark in the final quarter. Though the Tigers threatened to score, the Bulldog defense stayed composed and had another amazing performance to finally put the Concordia football team in the win column.
McGarvie had an outstanding performance, throwing for 255 yards, three touchdown passes, and only one interception. He did this completing 26 of his 40 passes for a completion rate of 65 percent. Junior running back Devin Zeigler rushed 19 times for 76 yards and was followed closely by sophomore Mark Arp, who rushed 13 times for 63 yards. Koehlmoos led the receivers with 15 catches for 110 yards and three touchdown catches. Jablonski also had a great day, but today his role was mostly as a receiver, hauling in six catches for 95 yards.
The Bulldogs are now 1-4 and play next on Oct. 8 at home against the University of Jamestown.
