ST. PAUL, Minn. – Concordia-St. Paul snapped a 21-21 game with an 84-yard kickoff return for a touchdown with less than 10 minutes remaining in the game and took advantage of seven Southwest Minnesota State turnovers to earn a 41-21 victory in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football at Sea Foam Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
CSP, which is now 4-6 overall, 3-6 NSIC, also scored on a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown in earning its third straight victory over SMSU.
SMSU drops to 1-9 overall, 0-9 NSIC, despite racking up 541 of offense, its highest total since the 2018 season. The Mustangs rushed for 245 yards and finished with 24 first downs.
SMSU finished the game 1 for 5 in the red-zone with three interceptions.
CSP closed the game with 362 yards of offense and 14 first downs.
SMSU tied the game on a 1-yard touchdown run with 9:51 left in the game but on the ensuing kickoff Jonah Schimelpfenig return the ball 84 yards for a touchdown to put CSP back in the lead.
On SMSU's next drive, the Mustangs faced fourth-and-five near midfield before the Golden Bears came through with a big sack to gain the ball at SMSU 37-yard line. CSP would later sit at third-and-18, but a 38-yard pass set up CSP at the SMSU 7-yard line. A play later, CSP scored a touchdown to push the lead to 34-21. CSP would score one more touchdown to seal the win with 1:25 remaining.
SMSU running back
Emmanuel Diers rushed for a career-high 176 yards and one touchdown on 14 carries. He is the first SMSU player to rush for more than 100 yards since the final game of the 2023 season.
Tommy Hoffman completed 12 of 19 passes for 248 yards and one touchdown, but was intercepted three times. Sam Campbell led the Mustangs with six receptions for 62 yards.
Jake Meier paced the SMSU defense with eight tackles with teammates
Tucker Murphy and
Malachi Kohls each adding five tackles.
CSP started the scoring on the first drive of the game as Lincoln Graf fired a 50-yard touchdown pass to Kemari Walcott on the third play of game to give the Golden Bears an early 7-0 advantage.
SMSU drove 60 yards on 13 plays on its first drive of the game but Hoffman was intercepted in the end zone to close the scoring threat.
The CSP special teams came through with one the first big plays of the game recovering an SMSU fumble on a punt at the SMSU 12-yard line. Two plays later, B.J. Davis caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Graf to make the score 14-0 late in the first quarter.
SMSU would miss a field goal attempt to end the first quarter before finally breaking the offense open in the second quarter. The Mustangs' first big play on offense came via the legs of Diers, who broke free for a 62-yard touchdown run with 10:09 left in the first half to cut the deficit in half at 14-7.
CSP was looking to add to the lead on its next drive with first-and-goal at the SMSU 3-yard line. The SMSU defense came through and forced a fumble that was recovered by Meier in the end zone.
Following the turnover, two plays later, Hoffman connected with
Ryan Kronbach, who broke a tackle and sprinted to the end zone for an 81-yard touchdown reception to tie the game at 14 with 3:42 left in the half.
The SMSU defense forced CSP to turn the ball over on downs at the Mustang 19-yard line with less than two minutes left in the half. The SMSU offense went back to work on the ensuing drive with Hoffman completing a 39-yard pass to Sam Campbell while also connecting on a 24-yard pass to
Gavin DeBeer to help set up first and goal at the CSP 2-yard line with 16 seconds remaining. However, one play later, CSP's Kam Williams caught a deflected pass in the end zone and sprinted 100 yards the other way as the half expired for an interception return for a touchdown to put the Golden Bears back in front at 21-14.
Both teams punted to begin the third quarter before SMSU picked up two first downs to set up first down at the CSP 33-yard line. However, SMSU fumbled on the next play ending the drive.
Following another CSP punt, the SMSU offense took over with just over five minutes left in the third and quickly earned three straight first downs, moving the ball to the CSP 10-yard line. The big play was a Hoffman 51-yard pass to Davis Ola-Kazeem. SMSU came up empty in the red-zone once again, following three run plays, Hoffman was intercepted in end zone on fourth down.
The SMSU then came through in a big way as
Brent Green took advantage of a tipped pass and intercepted Graf at the CSP 25-yard line late in the third.
SMSU would take advantage of the turnover and finally broke free on a four-and-goal touchdown run from the 1-yard line by
Ryan Kronbach to tie the score at 21 with 9:51 remaining.
Graf passed for 254 yards while completing 16 of 25 passes with three touchdowns and one interception. He also led the Golden Bears with 48 yards rushing and one touchdown.
SMSU closes the season next Saturday, Nov. 14, hosting Winona State at 12 p.m. for the annual 'Battle for the Sledge' trophy game.
