Football 9/30/06 -- Concordia-Moorhead 34, Augsburg 28 (OT)

BOXSCORE


MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (9/30/06) -- Running back Kevin Williamson (Sr., Britton, S.D./Britton-Hecla HS) rushed for 178 yards on 31 carries with a school record-tying five touchdowns, including the game-winning score on a one-yard plunge in overtime, as his Concordia College-Moorhead football team rallied for a 34-28 overtime victory over host Augsburg College in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action Saturday at Edor Nelson Field.

Williamson scored all five touchdowns for the Cobbers (1-3 overall, 1-2 MIAC), tying a school record originally set by Bob Beliveau on Nov. 18, 1978 against Northwestern-Roseville.

The Cobbers rallied from a 21-7 second-quarter deficit to the Auggies (0-4 overall, 0-3 MIAC). Augsburg took an early lead on three first-half touchdown passes from quarterback Jordan Berg (So., Gaylord, Minn./Sibley East HS) to wide receiver Royce Winford (So., Albertville, Minn./Osseo HS). Winford ended up catching six passes for 169 yards, including touchdown receptions of 12, 12 and 60 yards.

Concordia scored on its only possession of overtime after Augsburg's only turnover of the game, an interception by Levi DeVries (So., Bejou, Minn./Mahnomen HS) of a Berg pass on the Auggies' first play of overtime.

Starting its first overtime possession at the 25-yard line, Concordia gave the football to Williamson on its first four plays, getting the ball to the 1-yard line. After a penalty pushed the ball back to the 6, Williamson again handled the ball on each of the Cobbers' final three plays, including the game-winning plunge from the 1 on third down and goal.

Concordia consumed 91 offensive plays and collected 30 first downs, gaining 509 yards of total offense -- 438 yards rushing, 71 yards passing. Meanwhile, Augsburg dominated the passing game, collecting 273 of its 334 total yards of offense through the air. Augsburg had 15 first downs and 47 offensive plays. Concordia dominated in time of possession, with 37:35 compared to 22:25 for Augsburg.

Augsburg scored on its first three possessions to take a 21-7 lead. Augsburg used some gadget plays, including a flea-flicker and a wide receiver-option pass from Ricky Schreier (Sr., Maplewood, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall HS), in its first two drives -- an 83-yard, six-play drive capped by a 12-yard Winford reception, and another 12-yard Winford reception to cap a six-play, 61-yard drove.

Williamson scored the first of his touchdowns late in the first quarter for the Cobbers on a three-yard rush, but Berg found Winford again for Augsburg on a 60-yard passing play for a touchdown. An 11-play, 75-yard drive gave Williamson his second score of the game, with 7:08 left in the first half, as the Auggies led 21-14 at the break.

Augsburg tried an onside kick to start the second half, but Concordia recovered, then marched 45-yards for a score, Williamson's third TD of the game on a one-yard plunge, to tie the game at 21-21.

A 17-play, 91-yard drive, consuming 8:50, gave the Cobbers their first lead of the game, capped by a Williamson one-yard scoring run. Williamson rushed on nine of the 17 plays of the drive.

But Augsburg tied the game with 2:26 left in regulation, with an eight-play, 78-yard drive ended with a 26-yard scoring run by Arthur Minus (Jr., St. Paul, Minn./Humboldt HS). The drive featured a key fourth-down conversion, as Berg completed a 13-yard pass to Andrew Neumann (Sr., Somerset, Wis.) on 4th-and-3 at the Augsburg 42.

Concordia drove the ball in the closing minutes, but a 44-yard field-goal attempt was blocked at the line with 43 seconds left, forcing overtime.

In addition to Williamson's 178 rushing yards, Concordia's Cory Johnson (So., Moorhead, Minn.) gained 78 yards on 13 carries, reserve quarterback Jesse Nelson (So., Thompson, N.D.) gained 49 yards on 11 carries, Nick Reinisch (Sr., West Fargo, N.D.) gained 46 yards on six carries, and starting quarterback Scott Schumacher (So., Thompson, N.D.) gained 34 yards on nine carries.

For Augsburg, Berg completed 17-of-29 passes for 246 yards and three scoring tosses to Winford. In addition to Winford's 169 receiving yards, Schreier caught five passes for 48 yards and Neumann caught four passes for 39 yards. Minus rushed 10 times for 66 yards.

Defensively, Augsburg linebacker Mike Matson (Sr., Cedar, Minn./St. Francis HS) led all players with 22 tackles (four solo), the fourth time in his career he has accumulated 20 or more tackles and the 10th straight game (dating to last year) that he has accumulated double-digit tackle figures. Andy Roff (Fr., Plymouth, Minn./Osseo HS) had 17 tackles (three solo), Andrew Bergeson (Fr., Red Wing, Minn.,) had 13 tackles (four solo), and Jake Schoenecker (Fr., New Prague, Minn.) had 11 tackles (one solo).

For Concordia, Brennen Lewis (Jr., Great Falls, Mont./C.M. Russell HS) led the way with six tackles (one solo), DeVries had five tackles (two solo) and an interception, and Levi Pole (Fr., Sioux Falls, S.D./O'Gorman HS) and Jason Jude (Jr., Monticello, Minn.) had four tackles apiece. Dave Moll (Sr., Battle Lake, Minn.) collected a quarterback sack.

Both teams return to action next Saturday (10/7) at 1 p.m., with Augsburg hosting Wartburg (Iowa) in a nonconference game at Edor Nelson Field, and Concordia playing at Hamline in St. Paul, Minn.