Concordia-St.Paul sacks MSU-Moorhead

ST. PAUL, Minn. – On a cold, snowy homecoming Saturday, Concordia-St. Paul’s (4-2 NSIC) defense made MSU Moorhead’s (3-3 NSIC) afternoon even more difficult, tying an NCAA Division II record with 14 sacks in a 24-17 win at Sea Foam Stadium.

It’s Concordia’s third homecoming win at Sea Foam Stadium since moving the team from down the street at Griffin Stadium back to campus in 2009 and the first homecoming win since 2014 (44-3 vs UM Crookston).

Junior defensive end Chris Garrett set the school record with 6.5 tackles for loss, added 5.0 sacks to fall one shy of the team’s single game record while forcing three fumbles among his 11 tackles. He also added two QB hurries and batted down a pass at the line of scrimmage.

Garrett’s day was just the tip of the iceberg for the defense on the day, as freshman Mark O’Reilly added 3.0 sacks and 4.0 TFLs, senior Jackson Dobbs and sophomore Shawn Aarhus each had 2.0 sacks as well while the team racked up 14.0 sacks, hitting the total for the fifth time in DII history.

Concordia’s 22.0 tackles for loss also set a new single game record, amounting to the Dragons being held to -97 rushing yards for another Concordia program record.

Sophomore defensive back Hunter Thompson also added an interception as CSP forced a pair of turnovers in the win.

Offensively, Darios Crawley-Reid joined his older brother, Chris Garrett, with a strong performance. The true freshman running back had a pair of touchdowns, a 28-yard reception in the flat to give CSP a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter and a 17 yard run up the middle late in the fourth quarter for a 24-10 lead with 2:20 to play. He finished the day with 8-44 rushing and 4-42 receiving for 86 total yards.

Sophomore running back Shaq Johnson also had a strong performance with 12 carries for 71 yards and three catches for seven yards. His one yard rushing touchdown with 6:39 to play in the first quarter capped a 1-play, 1-yard drive following a punt miscue by the Dragons out of their own end zone.

CSP never relinquished the lead behind the big defensive effort, although the Dragons did rally back to trail 17-10 with a touchdown in the middle of the fourth quarter following their second blocked punt of the game.

The Dragons then stopped Concordia before a Danny Laudet punt put MSUM back at their own 22 yard line with 6:10 to play.

Concordia’s defense answered the call, with three straight sacks after allowing a first down with O’Reilly picking up sacks on first and third down and Aarhus getting to the QB on second down, forcing a 4th-and-42 for the Dragons from their own 7-yard line.

Crawley-Reid sauntered into the end zone just over a minute later to add cushion back to the lead, 24-10 with 2:20 to go.

Although MSUM responded with a late touchdown, the Dragons had just 14 seconds left and senior wide receiver MJ Williams handled the onside kick attempt for Concordia to end the game.

CSP’s defensive effort included just 121 yards of total offense allowed to a Dragons offense that had averaged 352 yards per game entering play, and the Golden Bears out-rushed their opponent by 203 yards on the afternoon despite rushing for just 106 yards on 36 attempts offensively.

Dragon quarterback Matthew Plasterer, a true freshman, completed 23-of-41 for 218 yards with a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown. But the 14 sacks took too big a toll on the Dragons, as he had -91 net rushing yards on the day and 108 of his 115 lost yardage in the game came via sacks.

Garrett now has 13.0 tackles for loss, 9.0 sacks, four forced fumbles and four pass breakups on the season. In 23 career games, he’s amassed 41.0 tackles for loss and 31.5 sacks. He is just 1.5 sacks shy of Super Bowl champion Zach Moore’s (2009-13) career record (33.0 in 39 games) and his 12 career forced fumbles doubles the amount of any Golden Bear in the Division II era. Garrett’s 222 yards lost from sacks surpassed Moore’s career total of 200, as well.

Armed with a 4-2 record, the Golden Bears hit the road next Saturday at Minot State to face a Beavers squad that will be digging Herb Parker Stadium out of over two feet of snow.