Concordia football defeats Tigers 42-7 in successful away game

Senior wide receiver Cole Coffey and teammates prepare for the next play.

Photo credit: Josiah Seabaugh

By Maddy Peters, Sports Editor

The Concordia football team beat the Dakota Wesleyan University Tigers Saturday afternoon 42-7 in Mitchell, S.D. redeeming themselves after a heartbreaking 16-12 homecoming loss in 2023.

Senior Mark Arp and sophomore Carlos Collazo split up the running game to combine for a whopping 322 rushing yards between the two players. Arp finished with three touchdowns during the game and Collazo had two.

Concordia came back from a loss to Morningside University ready to take charge over Dakota Wesleyan with their first scoring opportunity coming on the first drive of the game. Senior quarterback DJ McGarvie threw a contested 12-yard pass to senior receiver Austin Jablonski. The line judge originally determined the throw was incomplete because Jablonski was out of bounds, but the call was overturned giving the Bulldogs their first points of the game.

The scoreboard remained steady until the second quarter when Arp and Collazo teamed up for a two-play 80-yard drive for another touchdown. Arp started off the drive with a 29-yard rush and Collazo took the ball 51-yards for his third touchdown of the season.

Collazo would score the third touchdown of the game with a four-yard rush into the endzone later in the second.

Near the end of the second, senior Devon Polley sacked Tiger quarterback for a nine-yard loss and forced a fumble that was picked up by junior Grant Huss. Concordia marched the ball down the field despite having a dominant lead and nearly made a last-minute touchdown, but McGarvie’s hail mary pass was intercepted to end the first half.

Arp would take charge in the second half with a one-yard dive for a touchdown midway through the third quarter, a two-yard rush for his second touchdown of the day in the early fourth and a final six-yard rush for his third just before the two-minute warning.

Arp finished the game with 210 rushing yards on 32 attempts. Arp’s statistics more than doubled his yard count for the season. He had 147 rushing yards over the past two games. Collazo racked up some high stats of his own, rushing 112 yards off seven attempts.

McGarvie had a much more successful passing day, with a 26-35 passing rate. He threw for 309 yards and one touchdown. He had two interceptions for the day.

His second led to the lone touchdown for the Tigers as the Bulldog defense began tiring out and allowing Dakota Wesleyan to make big plays towards the end zone including a 46-yard pass.

The top receiver was Jablonski with 154 yards on 10 receptions with his largest gain being 39 yards. Sophomore Adam Van Cleave also racked up some impressive numbers with 77 yards on five receptions and a largest gain of 29 yards.

On the defensive side, Huss was the top tackler with nine total tackles, six solo and three assists. Junior Jaden Seier was right behind him with eight tackles on the day, seven solo and one assist.

There were two sacks on the day. Polley had an aforementioned one for a loss of nine yards and senior Kyle Sterup had another one for a loss of three.

Concordia is now 2-1 overall and in the Great Plains Athletic Conference and next faces Briar Cliff University on Sept. 21 at 1 p.m. in Sioux City, Iowa.