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VIDEO: Postgame reaction from Head Coach Patrick Daberkow
SEWARD, Neb. – For the second time this season, the Concordia University Football team came up short while hosting an NAIA top 10 ranked opponent. The Bulldogs kept within two scores for the majority of the sun-splashed homecoming (Sept. 28) clash but couldn’t overcome the power rushing attack of ninth-ranked Dordt, which held the ball for more than 40 minutes of game time. The Defenders used that run game and a two red zone stops on the defensive end in the process of claiming a 33-22 win inside Bulldog Stadium.
Head Coach Patrick Daberkow’s squad slipped to 3-2 a week after claiming a second straight blowout road win. Concordia continues to seek that elusive signature victory against one of the league’s powerhouse programs.
“You want to win that one – it’s tough,” Daberkow said. “You feel like you deserve to win when you’re working as hard as they’re working. This one stings, but we will rebound. I have a lot of trust in our resolve and no doubt about the leadership in our locker room … Dordt does a really good job with that triple option attack. It’s the only time you see it throughout the year. We felt really good about the plan today. At the end of the day, you have to make plays on money downs.”
The sequence at the end of the first half enabled the Defenders to construct a double-digit lead that they would maintain the rest of the way. Leading only 10-7 with less than five minutes remaining until halftime, Dordt marched 79 yards on nine plays and punctuated the possession with Kolson Kruse’s 17-yard touchdown toss to Kaden Harken. An interception with inside of minute until the break then set up a chip-shot field goal from Stephen Leinen. The visitors led 20-7 at the half.
Leinen wound up going 4-for-4 on field goal tries and put the game out of reach with a 35-yarder that made it 33-14 with 2:30 left in the game. Concordia never got back within one score in the second half despite some big plays from quarterback DJ McGarvie. He rushed 48 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter on a fourth and two. McGarvie also delivered a 74-yard touchdown strike to favorite target Austin Jablonski in the third quarter and later added a touchdown pass of 14 yards to tight end Daylan Russell.
The ability of the defense to force field goal tries gave the Bulldogs a fighting chance, but it spent a lot of the afternoon surrendering chunk plays in the run game. Nick Wellen carried the ball 17 times for 90 yards and a touchdown while the quarterback Kruse rushed for 76 yards. One of the biggest back breakers for Concordia came when a botched punt snap resulted in the Dordt punter rushing for a first down. Three plays later, Keenan Valverde raced 55 yards to the end zone, pushing the Defender lead to 27-7 late in the third quarter.
Dordt finished with a 492-376 advantage in total yards. The Bulldogs countered the strong Defender rushing attack with the nation’s leading rusher in Mark Arp. He toted the rock 25 times for 87 tough yards. Concordia managed to churn out 154 rushing yards with the help of McGarvie’s touchdown burst. In the passing game, McGarvie went 21-for-37 for 222 yards and two touchdowns (67 career touchdown passes). Jablonski reeled in seven grabs for 104 yards while eclipsing 2,000 receiving yards for his career. In addition, Adam Van Cleave snagged six receptions for 62 yards.
Defensively, safety Daylon Henson (pick-six last week at Briar Cliff) enjoyed another strong day in piling up a team high 11 tackles to go with two stops for loss and a forced fumble. Henson’s forced fumble (recovered by Nick Leader) ended a Dordt red zone threat in the opening quarter. Leader also notched 10 tackles and Grant Huss came up with an interception for the second straight week. At linebacker, Michael Grindey collected seven tackles (2.5 for loss) and a pass breakup. Kyle Sterup posted 1.5 tackles for loss.
An NAIA playoff qualifier last season, Dordt (3-0) remains undefeated on the season. The Defenders have won each of the past seven series meetings with Concordia. Dordt was actually ranked No. 3 in the NAIA in ESPN’s Bill Connelly’s latest SP+ rankings.
The Bulldogs had won each of their previous three homecoming games against ranked opponents. Said Daberkow, “I thought our guys played hard. Our guys fight. You can tell they love each other by how they play. I’m excited to get back to the drawing board and go work on Northwestern now. You want so badly for our guys to experience success together. I’m confident about our guys’ response to this. We’re going to continue to fight because that’s our character.”
Another stiff test awaits as the Bulldogs will be headed to Orange City, Iowa, next Saturday for a clash with No. 2 Northwestern (4-0, 4-0 GPPAC). The defending GPAC champion Red Raiders routed Doane, 31-7, in this week’s action. Northwestern has won each of the past seven series matchups with Concordia dating back to 2017.
