CUNE falls to Dakota Wesleyan in tough Homecoming game
Photo description: Junior Quarterback D.J. McGarvie runs the ball
Photo credit: Josiah Seabaugh
Madeline Peters and Isaac Dawson
Sower Staff
The Concordia Football team lost their homecoming game against the Dakota Wesleyan University Tigers this Saturday with a final score of 16-12.
Going into the first quarter with overcast skies and a light drizzle, the Bulldogs faced tough defense from the Tigers and were unable to achieve a good drive. The closest they got was a 46-yard drive in the middle of the quarter that ended with junior D.J. McGarvie punting for a touchback. However, Dakota Wesleyan managed to get on the board with a field goal at the end of the quarter.
The second quarter began in much the same fashion, with an early sack on McGarvie which gave the Tigers the possession on downs. Dakota Wesleyan made a series of solid passes and made it to the end zone for a touchdown, making the score 10-0. Concordia was unable to respond with points of their own until the end of the half, when freshman Peyton Atwood kicked a field goal.
Dakota Wesleyan received the ball to start off the second half, making a 73-yard drive to score another touchdown. The extra point attempt was blocked by junior Isaiha Conner, making the score 16-3. The rest of the third quarter was uneventful for either team. Both defenses made a good showing, and prevented any further scoring.
Concordia carried over a drive to start off the fourth quarter. The team was at the cusp of a touchdown and found themselves at fourth and sixth. McGarvie made the final rush of nine yards for the Bulldogs’ first touchdown of the game, putting the lead within their grasp.
The end of the fourth quarter was a comedy of errors for the two teams. With a little over three minutes left, senior Michael Grindey intercepted a pass from Dakota Wesleyan, giving Concordia the opportunity to win the game by one point. The drive looked promising until the Bulldog offense was halted at the two-yard line, where the team failed to make the push to the end zone on the fourth down and was forced to turnover the ball. The Tigers did not have any time to make a move, as they were tackled in their end zone, giving Concordia a safety with 18 seconds in the game.
On the final play, the Bulldog offense pitched the ball around trying to move forward, but was intercepted by the Tigers’ Weston Wollberg, ending the game. It was a last-ditch effort to secure the victory by confusing the opposing defense. McGarvie explained the thought behind the play, saying, “Well, Jabo [Jablonski] was rushing really hard all game, so we just wanted to get the ball in the athlete’s hands and get the first down.”
McGarvie had a 24-40 catch-attempt ratio with a 60 percent success rate. He threw for 245 yards, and in the third quarter achieved a career milestone of 5,000 passing yards. He is the fourth Concordia quarterback to achieve this record. McGarvie was bittersweet about his milestone, saying, “It’s exciting, but we lost, so it doesn’t really mean much. I’d rather win than get the record.”
Senior Devin Zeigler was the leading rusher for Concordia, going for 88 yards on 19 attempts. Junior Austin Jablonski was the lead receiver with 142 yards on 15 catches.
On the defensive side, sophomore Jaden Seier had the most tackles. He had five solos and four assists for a total of nine. The defense as a whole had 67 tackles with 21 solos and 46 assists.
The football team now has a season record of 1-3. Their next game is another home game against Briar Cliff University on Sept. 30 at 6 p.m. This game time was changed from the usual 1 p.m. time slot to allow the University to show off their new lights.
