Game Leaders
Team Stats
Passing Yards
Rushing Yards
Turnovers
Time of Poss.
Hosting Beloit College for their season opener, the Concordia University Chicago football team looked to make it a special day. Today was Senior Day, and the team gifted its 10 seniors a full team win as the offense was in full form, along with the Cougar defense which didn't allow the opposing Buccaneers to reach the end zone until late in the fourth quarter. The offensive performance was highlighted by 465 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground, with 303 of the yards and two of the touchdowns belonging to junior running back Lance Moise. This year marks the fourth consecutive season opener that CUC football has won, as the Cougars downed Beloit 36-10.
Looking to get things started quickly, Moise broke free on th e first play from scrimmage for a 74-yard run that brought CUC to the Beloit seven-yard line. Following a few more short runs, Moise would find the goal line from a yard out to make it 7-0 Cougars.
Beloit was able to answer with their first drive that ended in a field goal by the Buccaneers. From there the Cougar defense would turn up the intensity.
On Beloit's second drive of the first half, CUC was able to force a fumble, which allowed senior linebacker Jeshua Torrens to pick it up and score, making it 13-3, CUC.
In the second quarter, a long Moise run set up a five-yard touchdown run a few plays later which pushed the Cougar lead to 20-3.
The Cougars defense was once again able to stop the Beloit offense from making any big plays. After the Buccaneers failed to convert on a fourth down, the Cougars started with the ball on the Beloit 45. Freshman quarterback Jordan Sepulveda took it himself for a long touchdown of his own to push the Cougar lead to 27-3.
The Cougars made it 30-3 in the third quarter on a field goal from Orlando Hayes.
Beloit was able to find the end zone for the first time in the fourth quarter on a short run to pull within 30-10. But the Cougars responded with an exclamation point when Tylor Martens was able to cross the goal line with his first touchdown run of the year.
Griffin Beaudette made his first start at quarterback and moved the Cougars efficiently. He threw for 88 yards on 14-26 passing and also scrambled for 42 yards on seven attempts. The offense was mistake-free while the defense came up with two takeaways - the fumble and return for a score by Torrens and another fumble recovery by Kelly Christian tht halted a Beloit drive at the 25. Rodolfo Payan and Matt Henning led the defense with 12 tackles each as the Cougars played a "Bend but don't break" defense that kept the Bucs out of the end zone until late in the game.
The Cougars (1-0) will head on the road for the first-time next week. They will head to Olivet, Michigan to take on Olivet College on Saturday. Opening kickoff is set for 1:00 (EDT).