Bulldogs Hold off Concordia

NSO – NEWS RELEASE

The laboratory for this Saturday night experiment was Sea Foam Stadium on the Concordia-St. Paul campus, where the “team that scores last will win” theorem was proven to be true once again. In this case, it was the University of Minnesota Duluth putting up the final points on a Darren Walker touchdown run with just 2:03 to play, as the Bulldogs emerged with a wild 52-49 victory.

The win, which was the 500th in the storied 84-year of UMD football, moved the Bulldogs to 2-1 overall while Concordia-St. Paul now also owns that same mark.

“For whatever reason we like to keep them close, but once again, our guys found a way to rally in the fourth quarter,” said UMD coach Curt Wiese, after his club posted its second come-from-behind win (and also scoring the go-ahead touchdown with less than five minutes to go in regulation) in as many weeks. “We had our backs against the wall, but our guys stuck together.”

It was indeed an inspirational gut-check night for the Bulldogs, who found themselves trailing 14-0 after only running just one offensive play. Seemingly the only blemish on a stellar performance by UMD senior quarterback Drew Bauer was the initial play from scrimmage, when his pass bounced off the hands of a Bulldogs receiver, was intercepted and returned for a touchdown. Two plays, later Bauer was hit and cut over the eye, but conducted post-game interviews with a bandage, and a smile.

“We kind of knew from the first half that it was going to be a shootout,” said Bauer, a native nearby Inver Grove Heights, Minn., who generated 397 yards of total offense, including 246 yards through the air while completing 21 of 31 passes. “We knew that if we had a chance to put a nail in the coffin, we had to do it. It took us until the fourth quarter, but we got it done there on our last drive.”

For a while, both teams were getting it done on every drive. Concordia-St. Paul punted just once in the first half and the Bulldogs only once the entire night. The Golden Bears led 35-27 at halftime, but UMD captured the momentum in the third quarter, finally getting a few key defensive stops and reeling off 17 unanswered points to take a 44-35 lead.

“Going into the half we knew we had to come out with some more intensity,” said senior inside linebacker Beau Bates. “We made some adjustments. Props to our coaches for those adjustments. And once we saw their punter on the field more and got some momentum, our offense got a little breather and got us some points.”

Bears quarterback Ron Johnson scored on a 31-yard run with 6:28 to play, giving Concordia its last lead at 49-44. But the Bulldogs got the last word. After a 54-yard kick return by senior Beau Bofferding gave UMD a short field, Bauer orchestrated a 8-play, 35-yard drive to take the lead back for good. That was capped off by Walker’s three-yard scoring run around left end. The Bulldogs defense then held Concordia on its final possession to notch the first road win of the season.

The Bulldogs are back at James S. Malosky Stadium next Saturday night to face unbeaten Augustana University (3-0) in their final Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference interdivision assignment of the 2016 season.