(Ann Arbor, MI) A Concordia University-Ann Arbor homecoming crowd was treated to blowout win over Lindenwood-Belleville University Saturday afternoon. The 21st-ranked Cardinals shutout the visitors in convincing fashion, 65-0.
"It wasn't long ago when we were on the other side of this," said Head Coach Joshua Schumacher. "This win is another mark in the progress our program has made. It was awesome to have alumni back and compete at a high level in front of them. The atmosphere and support our first two home games has been unbelieveable. This team has a heart for each other"
Concordia racked up 708 yards of total offense with the defense doing their part in holding the Lynx to just 150 yards. Nearly 400 of those yards came on the ground with backs Ashton Gray (SR/Detroit, MI) (16 carries, 151 yards, 2 TD's) and Joe Conner (SO/Flat Rock, MI) (14, carries 118 yards, 1 TD) leading the way.
Offensive Coordinator Andrew Rode was pleased with the efficient output from his unit. "We strive to be a high powered and very efficient offense and we just that today. I was most excited to see that a ton of different guys were highly involved in the offensive production"
The Cardinals scored on 10 of their 12 possessions and had it going early with four touchdowns in the first quarter. The first came on a third-and-short run up the gut by Gray who went virtually untouched for a 44-yard score—his first of two touchdowns on the day. "The offense executed the game plan with a lot of passion, said Rode. It was clear that they played hard for each other today."
Seth Suida (SR/Livonia, MI) threw for 258 yards (15-20 passing) and five scores in just over a half game of work at quarterback. Favorite targets, Herman Mason (SR/Lansing, MI) and Donte Desalle (SO/Nashville, TN) went for 4 catches (96 yards) and 5 catches (87 yards), respectively.
Mason scored twice on crossing routes behind the LU secondary and a third touchdown came along the near sideline with the 6-2 senior leaping over his defender to catch a well-placed Suida throw. Desalle had two touchdown receptions of his own—the second of which may have been Suida's most impressive toss of the game. The quarterback threaded the needle between a pair of Lynx defenders from 31 yards out to make it 52-0 on the Cardinals first possession of the second half.
The defense did their part controlling Lindenwood on the other side of the ball. Five of the Lynx seven first half drives went three-and-out and CUAA limited allowed them to convert just 3 of 14 third downs all afternoon. The team stepped up both times LU drove into Cardinal territory with fourth down stops to turn the ball over to the offense.
A total of 24 Cardinals recorded a tackle on the day led by Garrett Beldt (SR/Paradise Valley, AZ) with six and Andrew O'Hara (JR/Cleveland, OH) with four. Freshman Ryan Fish (FR/Allen Park, MI) had the defensive highlight in the fourth quarter when he dove across his man to intercept the Lynx and give CUAA the ball in the red zone. The pick set up the Cardinals final score, a 2-yard rush by Joe Duff (SO/Croswell, MI).
The 65 points and 708 yards of total offense are both program bests for a squad off to a record 5-0 start to the season. They will have their most difficult test next weekend when they visit defending NAIA national champion and top-ranked Saint Francis (IN). Kickoff is scheduled for noon in Fort Wayne, IN.
