Concordia football defeats Dakota Wesleyan in back-and-forth game
The football team lines up at midfield to start a play (photo from 2024 season).
Photo credit: Maddy Peters
By Kai Olbrich
Sports Editor
The Concordia University football team defeated the Dakota Wesleyan Tigers 27-22 on Sept. 13 in a nail-biter that came down to a last-minute interception.
The Tigers had the ball in Bulldog territory with under a minute to go, down five points. On third and three, defensive back Will Potratz picked off a Dakota Wesleyan pass to seal the win for Concordia.
Despite the high-pressure situation, Coach Patrick Daberkow said that his big play was a normal thing for him.
“Will’s interception was no surprise. Will is just such a high-effort guy. He’s in the right position and just super excited to see him make that play,” Daberkow said. “But we’ve seen him make that play 100 times in practice. Nobody was tense on defense on that last drive. They were ready for that moment.”
Daberkow also had high praise for his special team’s players. Kicker Payton Atwood knocked down a 41-yard and a 26-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, which stopped what had been a 14-0 run for the Tigers. The Bulldogs also blocked two extra points and a field goal attempt.
Concordia produced well on offense, with receiver Jonny Puelz stealing the show as he collected 176 yards and all three Bulldog touchdowns. Daberkow recognized Puelz, quarterback Gideon Stark and the offensive line for their impact on the game.
“Johnny Pells had a big night. Our offensive line did what they needed to do. Gideon did a pretty good job going through his progressions and throwing strikes,” Daberkow said.
The Bulldogs were also short on some key players. Starting receiver Adam Van Cleave did not feature, and running back Carlos Collazo was only given five carries on the night. Daberkow praised the players who picked up the slack, like Calvin Sassaman, who rushed for 55 yards, and Tyler Douglas, who had 25.
“We had some running back step up and get thrust into some roles they didn’t know they’d be in, and I was proud of how they responded to that,” Daberkow said.
Concordia seemed to be cruising to victory while winning 14-3 in the second quarter, but a pick-six for the Tigers brought life back into the game.
Daberkow was proud of how his defense responded to that play and didn’t start blaming their teammates.
“When a touchdown gets scored, when your defense is on the sidelines, that really is just a ripe opportunity for defenses to get upset and kind of start pointing fingers,” Daberkow said. “None of that happened. We just stuck with what we had to do, and we came out with the win. And I’m not going to apologize for winning.”
Concordia finished with 438 yards of offense, 319 passing and 119 rushing. Stark threw for three touchdowns with one interception and completed 20 out of 34 pass attempts. Linebacker Grant Huss and defensive lineman Carson Fehlhafer each had 13 tackles, and Fehlhafer had four sacks.
The 2-0 Bulldogs roll into a bye week and will play their next game on Sept. 27 away at Waldorf at 1 p.m.
