(St. Louis, MO) – The Cardinals traveled to St. Louis on Saturday to take on Missouri Baptist in an MSFA Mideast Divisional matchup. The Concordia offense was explosive and efficient throughout the game, scoring a school-record 66 points in a 66-21 win. CUAA racked up 594 total yards of offense in the victory.
Joe Conner (SO/Flat Rock, MI) paced the offense with 163 rushing yards and two touchdowns while netting over 1048 for the season. This is the second consecutive season that Conner has rushed for over 1000 yards as he accumulated 1052 last year. Ashton Gray (SR/Detroit, MI) also saw significant time at running back, rushing for 59 yards and two touchdowns. In just about one half of work Seth Suida (SR/Livonia, MI) amassed 213 passing yards giving him 1501 for the season and threw three TD passes. Donte Desalle (SO/Nashville, TN) also scored two touchdowns to go along with a career high of 97 yards.
The Cardinal defense was equally effective and efficient limiting the Spartans to only 85 rushing yards. The secondary also recorded a season high two interceptions with Rod Lewis (SR/Lansing, MI) and Ra-Heem Hill (JR/Detroit, MI) both recording their first of the season.
The Cardinals did not take long to recover from their first loss last week to the #1 University of St. Francis. The #21 Cardinals put up 21 points in the first half as Seth Suida and Herman Mason (SR/Lansing, MI) connected for the team's first score of the game on a 50 yard strike.
Offensive Coordinator Andrew Rode kept pushing all the right buttons as the fire power continued. Joe Conner broke a big gain and rushed for a 70 yard touchdown to extend the Cardinals lead 14-7. After two defensive stops, Joe Conner's number was called again this time scoring on a 33 yard run (21-7).
The Cardinals put together a dominant second quarter with 24 unanswered points. Joshua Kukulies (JR/Hopkins, MI) notched a career long 51-yard field goal, Donte Desalle hauled in both a 61-yard and 36-yard touchdown, and Ashton Gray broke a 39-yard touchdown run. The Concordia defense forced a punt on every Missouri Baptist possession in the second quarter. Roger Engle (SO/Lorain, Ohio) subbed in at quarterback for CUAA just before halftime, rushing for a first down, and the Cardinals headed to the locker room with a 45-7 lead.
The Cardinals continued to roll in the second half as the defense set the tone on the first possession. Rod Lewis came up with an interception on Missouri Baptist's first possession of the third quarter, giving the Cardinals a short field. Ashton Gray capitalized with a 1-yard touchdown run for his second score of the day. Josh Daniel (FR/Walled Lake, MI) recovered a fumble later in the quarter, leading to Roger Engle tossing a touchdown pass to Noah Rufo (SO/Decatur, MI). Joe Duff (SO/Croswell, MI) saw significant time at running back in the second half, finishing the day with 11 rushes for 63 yards. Concordia held Missouri Baptist scoreless in the third quarter and led 59-7 heading into the fourth.
Peter Morrison (FR/Fort Wayne, IN) checked in at quarterback for the Cardinals in the 4th quarter, getting an opportunity to play after tossing a 2-pt conversion pass last week against Saint Francis. Morrison led an 8-play 78-yard scoring drive, eventually running the ball in himself for a 10-yard touchdown. Missouri Baptist did add two touchdowns in the quarter but the Cardinals would emerge with a 66-21 victory.
The Cardinals will host #13 Marian next Saturday, September 21 at 1:00pm. The MSFA Mideast divisional matchup will be crucial for playoff positioning as Concordia seeks to reach the NAIA National Championship Series this year.
