GAME STATISTICS

MINNEAPOLIS (10/18/08) -- Quarterback Jesse Nelson (SR, Chanhassen, Minn./Minnetonka HS) accounted for 283 yards of offense, rushing for 66 yards and a touchdown and throwing eight completions for 217 yards and a score, leading Concordia College-Moorhead to a 40-18 victory over host Augsburg College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football contest on Saturday afternoon at Augsburg's Edor Nelson Field.

Augsburg (4-2 overall, 2-2 MIAC) quarterback #Jordan Berg *# (SR, Gaylord, Minn./Sibley East HS) completed 30-of-63 passing for 263 yards and two touchdowns, while receiver #Royce Winford *# (SR, Brooklyn Park, Minn./Osseo HS) caught eight passes for 105 yards and a 40-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. #Mike Nourie# (JR, Nicollet, Minn.) caught three passes for 39 yards and a touchdown in the second quarter, adding a two-point conversion on Winford's score, and #Muneer Al-Hameed# (SO, Woodbury, Minn./Minneapolis Washburn HS) cuaght nine passes for 78 yards.

Nelson led the Concordia (4-2 overall, 3-1 MIAC) offense to a 417-yard afternoon (200 yards rushing, 217 passing), while the Cobber defense held Augsburg's offense to just 274 yards of total offense (263 passing, 11 rushing) -- 150 yards below its season average of 424.4 yards entering the game.

Leading 13-10 at the end of the first quarter, the Cobbers scored 27 unanswered points to take a 37-10 lead into the locker room at halftime and a 40-10 advantage after three quarters. A team that averaged just 105.6 passing yards per-game entering Saturday, the Cobbers used two big passes in the first quarter to take the early advantage -- a 67-yard touchdown pass from Nelson to Jake Krause (JR, Moorhead, Minn.) on the opening drive of the game, and a 59-yard pass to Nick Alton (SR, Miltona, Minn./Parkers Prairie HS) that set up the Cobbers' second score, a one-yard rush by Nick Birchem (SR, Lisbon, N.D.).

Augsburg scored on a six-play, 64-yard drive, with Berg's 26-yard pass to Nourie capping the drive late in the first quarter to cut the lead to 13-10. Augsburg also added a 24-yard field goal by #Jack Christopherson# (SO, Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo HS) in the quarter.

But the Cobbers scored three touchdowns in a 2:17 span early in the second quarter to pull away from the Auggies. Cory Johnson (SR, Moorhead, Minn.) capped a nine-play, 68-yard drive with a three-yard scoring plunge with 13:53 left in the quarter. After forcing the Auggies to punt, the Cobbers needed just two plays and 30 seconds to go 53 yards, with Nelson rushing for a 33-yard touchdown at the 12:51 mark. On Augsburg's next drive, a backwards lateral by Berg was thrown wide of Augsburg running back #Jason Potts# (SR, Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS), and the ball eventually went into the end zone where it was recovered by Tom Flynn (SR, Shelby, Mont.) for a touchdown with 11:36 left in the half.

Carl Hauser (JR, Fergus Falls, Minn.) had two field goals for the Cobbers, 30 and 33 yards, and Winford capped the scoring in the game with a 40-yard reception from Berg midway through the fourth quarter, with Nourie adding the two-point conversion.

Johnson had 77 rushing yards on 15 carries for the Cobbers, while Birchem had 11 rushes for 34 yards. Krause caught five passes for 132 yards.

Defensively, Augsburg's #Donovan Bates# (SR, White Bear Lake, Minn.) had 12 tackles (six solo) and a forced fumble, #Adam Mead# (SO, St. Francis, Minn.) had 12 tackles (two solo), and #Garrett Adamson# (SR, White Bear Lake, Minn./Hill-Murray HS) had eight tackles (three solo). For Concordia, Flynn had 10 tackles (seven solo), a forced fumble, fumbble recovery and two pass breakups. Grant Aakre (JR, Hawley, Minn.) and Xavier Carroll (JR, El Cajon, Calif./Grossmont HS) had seven tackles apiece. Justin Hensch (JR, Fergus Falls, Minn.) and Clinton Strother (SR, Brainerd, Minn.) had quarterback sacks for the Cobbers.

Both teams return to MIAC play next Saturday (10/25) at 1 p.m., with Augsburg playing at Gustavus and Concordia playing at Hamline.