On October 10, the #5 ranked Saint Xavier football team went to Ann Arbor, Michigan to battle, no not the Wolverines, but Concordia. The Cougars would have a disappointing performance in this game, as their passing offense was very ineffective in this game, while the defense could not get w stop in the second half.
On the first drive of the game, the Cougars offense looked like it would have a field day in this one as quarterback John Rhode would complete two straight 31 yard passes to seemingly set up the Cougars offense at the CNC 16 yard line.
However, an illegal touching penalty on the second 31 yard pass would negate the play. Despite the setback, the Cougars’ offense would continue to look good and drive all the way down to the CNC 25 yard line.
From there, the Cougars offense would stall and have to settle for a field goal attempt. However, kicker Abdul Madhi would miss the 42 yard attempt to keep the game tied at 0-0 with 11:39 left in the first quarter.
After a three and out forced by the Cougars’ defense on the very next drive, the Cougars’ offense would once again have an opportunity to put a touchdown up on the board after a bad punt would set them up at the CNC 45 yard line.
The Cougars would once again drive down the field, this time getting all the way to the six yard line. However, the offense would squander another opportunity to score as Rhode would throw an interception in the endzone to keep the game tied at 0 with 6:11 left in the first quarter.
The Cougars’ defense would once again come up big for the Cougars in the first quarter, forcing another three and out and giving the Cougars offense the ball back.
Unfortunately for the Cougars, the offense of the Cougars just couldn’t find their niche in this game as they would go three and out and punt the ball to Concordia with 1:56 left in the quarter who would drive down to the Saint Xavier 25 yard line before the quarter would end with a 0-0 tie.
At the beginning of the second quarter, Concordia, already in great field position, would complete their drive from the first quarter with a touchdown that would give them a 7-0 lead over the #5 ranked Cougars with 12:19 left in the first half.
As was the theme of the game, the Cougars’ offense would do nothing when they had the ball, once again punting to their opponents and putting an already tired defense back out on the field against an offense with a lot of momentum after scoring on their previous drive.
This would not deter the defense as they would hold Concordia scoreless on the drive and force another punt. A return by wide receiver Stephen Simms would put the Cougars at their own 47 yard line, a great spot to start a drive after they had been ineffective for the majority of the first half.
However, the vaunted offense of the Cougars would prove to be a liability as Rhode would throw another interception, wasting yet another prime opportunity to put points on the board. After another three and out forced by the defense, the offense would get one more crack at doing something positive.
Starting at their own 34 yard line with 3:14 left in the half and down by seven, the Cougars’ offense would make a big play as the the first play of the drive was a 34 yard reception from Rhode to wide receiver Randall Wells to put them at the CNC 33 yard line.
After pounding the ball down Concordia’s throat to get them down to the one yard line, the Cougars offense would once again have a setback as a two yard loss from running back Mike Ivlow would force the Cougars to attempt a 20 yard field goal as time expired.
However, Madhi would miss the chip shot and the Cougars would go into halftime score was and down 7-0. Like in the first half, the Cougars’ defense would shut down Concordia’s opening drive and force them to punt the ball.
Unlike the first half though, the Cougars would finally capitalize on great field position. Starting from the CNC 42, the Cougars would drive all the way to the one yard line, where running back Nick Borgra would score a one yard touchdown to tie the game at 7-7.
Just when it seemed like the game was about to shift in the Cougars’ favor, the defense would give up a touchdown on the very next drive, allowing Concordia to retake the lead at 14-7 with 2:01 left in the third quarter.
A big moment in this game occurred right before the third quarter ended as the Cougars would attempt to convert a fourth and one from their own 48 yard line. Unfortunately, they would not convert and give Concordia great field position.
The quarter would end with Concordia leading Saint Xavier 14-7. At the start of the fourth quarter, Concordia would take advantage of the great fields position and score a 40 yard touchdown run on the second play of the quarter to extend their lead to 21-7.
After a personal foul set the Cougars up in great field position at the CNC 33 yard line, the Cougars’ offense would once again score on a 25 yard touchdown from Rhode to wide receiver Ryan Carroll to cut their deficit to 21-14.
But the defense was too worn down from being on the field so much in the first half to make another big stop as they would give up another touchdown. The Cougars would find themselves down 28-14 with 11:11 left in the game.
On the next drive, the Cougars would not be able to get anything going and would turn the ball over on downs. The defense would give up yet another touchdown, their fourth in four straight drives, to put the nail in the coffin and giving Concordia a big 35-14 upset of the #5 ranked team in the NAIA.
With the loss, the Cougars record fell to 4-2. The entire team will need to put this bad performance behind them when they take on #23 Saint Ambrose University at home on Saturday, October 17.
John Romando
Senior Sports Editor
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