(Bourbonnais, IL) – The Cardinals traveled to Olivet Nazarene Saturday looking to keep their mark perfect on the season. The MSFA crossover matchup featured two undefeated teams receiving votes in the most recent NAIA Football Coaches Top 25 poll. Despite hot and humid field conditions, Concordia emerged victorious 38-16.
The Cardinals recorded 453 yards of total offense while the Cardinal defense notched 7 total sacks limiting the Tigers to only 50 rushing yards. Seth Suida (SR/Livonia, MI) passed for 242 yards and 3 touchdowns while also rushing for one, and Joe Conner (SO/Flat Rock, MI) recorded 23 carries for 136 yards and a touchdown.
For the second consecutive game, the Cardinals duo of Seth Suida and Herman Mason (SR/Lansing, MI) connected on the opening drive for a touchdown. Suida escaped pressure and threw on the run to Herman Mason for a deep 43-yard touchdown strike. Olivet Nazarene responded with 10 straight points, scoring a touchdown and a field goal to take a 10-7 lead. The Cardinals quickly stormed back as Seth Suida methodically led an 80-yard scoring drive, resulting in a 5-yard Joe Conner touchdown run just before the end of the first quarter.
Concordia scored again early in the second quarter as Suida broke a 43-yard touchdown run on a read option. The rest of the quarter would be dominated by defense on both sides with Cardinals defense making several big plays. Andrew O'Hara (JR/Cleveland, OH) made a key 3rd-down sack, Timothy Koehler (JR/Belvidere, IL) came up with an interception, and Ra-Heem Hill (JR/Detroit, MI) made a sneaky sack coming in from the secondary. The Cardinals headed into halftime with a commanding 21-10 lead.
Olivet Nazarene scored on their first drive of the second half but the Cardinal defense denied the 2-pt conversion. Suida then managed a 95-yard drive, paced by steady running from Joe Conner and a long gain on a Donte Desalle (SO/Nashville, TN) reverse. Suida connected with Jay Alvarez (SR/Lansing, MI) for a short 5-yard touchdown pass to extend the Cardinals lead, 28-16. On the first play of the 4th quarter Offensive Coordinator Andrew Rode opened up the playbook, calling a "flea flicker" trick play that resulted in a 47-yard pass from Seth Suida to Bryant Hudson (SR/Flint, MI).
The Cardinal defense performed well through the rest of the game, making several 4th-down stops to keep Olivet Nazarene off the scoreboard. Joe Manuel (FR/Belleville, MI) made an interception on a deep ball to give the ball back to the Concordia offense and the Cardinals kept grinding out running plays to run down the clock. A late 43-yard field goal by Josh Kukulies would be the final scoring play of the game and the Cardinals would win 38-16.
Senior linebacker Jay Koski (JR/Portage, MI) had a career day recording 14 total tackles with 7 being solo. Included in Koski's total was a forced fumble, a sack, and two tackles for a loss. Andrew O'Hara was the other Cardinal to record double digit tackles (10). O'Hara also had a sack and a tackle for a loss. Alex Hinojosa (FR/Allen Park, MI) was the only Cardinal to record two sacks.
Head Coach Joshua Schumacher was proud of the team's effort and ability to control the line on both sides. "I thought we won the battle in the trenches on both sides of the ball. We got after the quarterback with some pressure and with great coverage. These guys love to play this great game."
Coach Schumacher's team moves to 3-0 with the victory and if the first time a Cardinal team has started with this mark in program history. After three weeks on the road to start the season, Concordia will have their home opener next Saturday, September 23rd as they host Robert Morris (IL) at 1pm.
