ST. PAUL, Minn. -- MSU Moorhead football erased a 14-point second-half deficit to defeat Concordia, St. Paul on the road Saturday afternoon.
Jack Strand connected with
Brady Perryman with 19 seconds remaining to push the Dragons to victory, 34-31.
The Golden Bear defense would begin the contest with a stop as the Dragon offense was forced to punt on its first drive. On the ensuing CSP offensive campaign, MSUM's defense would hold up, forcing a punt attempt at their own 45-yard line. Credit goes to Concordia, St. Paul, who saw a look they liked on special teams and opted to fake the punt to the upback. That upback turned out to be All-NSIC running back Jaylin Richardson, who bolted through the line and scored on the ground from 45 yards out. The Golden Bears would continue their momentum, forcing another Dragon punt on the ensuing possession.
Concordia, St. Paul's offense was not done there as the game moved into the second period. The Golden Bears would use a grounded attack, led by Richardson, to drive 68 yards on 12 plays. The end result was a 22-yard scamper from Richardson to put CSP up, 14-0. Concordia, St. Paul chewed up over nine minutes of game clock on the drive. The teams would trade punts before the end of the first half as MSUM would get the ball back with just over seven minutes to play. The Dragons would orchestrate a needed drive, moving 79 yards on nine plays.
Strand linked up with
Madden Thorson on a pretty throw that landed in Thorson's arms near the back of the endzone. The score cut the CSP lead in half, 14-7. While the Golden Bears would work down to MSUM's 24-yard line, some miscommunication on clock management led to the half ending before CSP could attempt a field goal. In the first half, Concordia, St. Paul possessed the ball for over 22 minutes to MSUM's 10.
To open the second half, both teams would exchange punts before Concordia, St. Paul drove again, moving 53 yards on nine plays. The Golden Bears would tack on a score through the air to push their lead to 21-7. The Dragons would answer again with a nice drive that consumed less than three minutes, but spanned 75 yards. Strand connected with Thorson, Perryman,
Luke Imdieke and
Carson Elbert on the drive before Perryman hauled in his first touchdown from five yards out. Late in the third frame, MSUM trailed 21-14. Before the end of the third quarter, MSUM was in search of a game-changing play heading into the final 15 minutes. They found it as
McKale Pierson would force a Golden Bear fumble with
Jack Johnson recovering.
The ensuing Dragon drive saw MSUM move 50 yards on eight plays as Strand again found Perryman from four yards away. MSUM would tie the game at 21 points early in the fourth quarter. Concordia, St. Paul would answer right back with another passing touchdown to make the score 28-21 in favor of the Golden Bears. However, MSUM would continue to respond on offense as they would again put together a stellar drive of 11 plays for 74 yards. Strand would complete seven passes to the likes of Thorson, Elbert,
Gage Florence,
Fynn Ridgeway and
Kelly Johnson to get MSUM to CSP's four-yard line. The junior quarterback would hurl his fourth touchdown pass to Elbert to tie the game again, 28-28.
With just under eight minutes to play, Concordia, St. Paul would put together another excellent drive that took up nearly six minutes of game clock. The Golden Bears would work the ball down to MSUM's one-yard line before the Dragon defense held up on a third and one play. The home team would settle for only a field goal to lead 31-28 with under two minutes to play.
Accustomed to two minute drills, MSUM would piece together a masterful drive with the game hanging in the balance. Strand would Perryman early in the drive to push the Dragons to CSP's 49-yard line with less than 90 seconds to play. MSUM would be faced with a fourth and 10 with Strand hitting Florence for 16 yards and another first down. Perryman would reel in another catch shortly thereafter to put MSUM at CSP's 24-yard line. Florence would get MSUM into the redzone on the next play at the Golden Bear 15-yard line.
With 19 seconds to play, Strand would take a first and ten snap and be flushed out of the pocket to his right. The junior used his rocket arm to fire a pass on the run to an open Perryman in the back corner of the endzone, putting MSUM up 34-31 with 12 seconds left. The ensuing extra point was missed, leaving the door slightly open for a CSP miracle. The Golden Bears would start the ensuing drive on their own 25-yard line. Concordia, St. Paul quarterback Jackson Compton would be moved from the pocket on the game's final play as senior
Denver Sheets was sitting back in spy protection for the Dragons. The Williston, N.D., native bum-rushed Compton and was able to wrangle the Golden Bear up to lock in a victory for MSUM.
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Up Next
The Dragons (3-4, 3-3 NSIC) return home to host Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday, October 26 beginning at noon.
