CRETE, Neb. – Two weeks after securing the program’s most significant win in more than two decades, the Concordia University, Nebraska Football team returned to action and flattened rival Doane while racking up 671 total yards. The Bulldogs took care of business on Saturday (Oct. 19), winning, 45-10, in Crete on the strength of four touchdown passes from quarterback DJ McGarvie and two touchdown rushes from Mark Arp. On their homecoming, the Tigers were shut out until the fourth quarter.
Head Coach Patrick Daberkow’s squad moved to 5-2 (5-2 GPAC), marking the first time the program has won at least five of its first seven games of a season since 2015. Concordia is also 4-1 over the past five meetings with Doane.
“Any time you can get a win on the road against Doane, you’ll take it,” Daberkow said. “I was really pleased with the outcome. There were some things we need to clean up moving forward. We left some points out there. There were some things they were taking advantage of that we’ve got to close up, but overall I’m happy. It took us a while to get going, but I was really happy with Mark’s performance. That’s a credit to the o-line.”
It took less than a minute-and-a-half for Concordia to find the end zone. A fumble that was scooped up by corner Will Potratz and returned 25 yards set the Bulldogs up at the Doane 10. McGarvie promptly fired a 10-yard touchdown strike to Adam Van Cleave. Concordia proceeded to move the ball almost at will between the 20s. The only downsides were the penalties (nine on the Bulldogs and 12 on the Tigers) and two empty red zone trips.
However, it was a day for piling up gaudy statistics. McGarvie threw another touchdown toss to Van Cleave and one apiece to Austin Jablonski and Thomas Meadough (first as a Bulldog). McGarvie finished with 385 passing yards (eclipsing 8,000 for his career) while completing 25-of-45 attempts. The game breaking Jablonski hauled in 13 catches for 213 yards (the highest single game receiving total on record in program history) and Van Cleave made eight grabs for 112 yards and two scores. On the ground, Arp ran wild for 160 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries. No. 2 back Carlos Collazo added 83 yards on 12 attempts.
While following a senior-laded offensive line, Arp has amassed 857 yards and 10 touchdowns through seven games. The latest effort came as Concordia inserted Brevin Damrow in at center (in place of Jackson Anderson, who was under the weather).
Said Arp, “None of that’s possible without the big guys up front. I don’t care who you are at running back, you have to have a good offensive line or else it’s not going to work. Big shoutout to those guys up front. We had a little bit of a mix of pass and run, and we have a 1-2 punch that’s really hard to stop. It’s been a lot of fun running behind those guys. I’m extremely blessed, for sure.”
After holding a fairly modest 17-0 halftime lead, the Bulldogs broke this one wide open by scoring touchdowns on their first three possessions of the second half. Those drives covered 64 yards on seven plays, 63 yards on seven plays and 53 yards on five plays, respectively. The first of those drives finished on McGarvie’s 29-yard touchdown whirl to Jablonski on a fourth-and-eight play. Concordia converted on three of four fourth-down tries in the contest.
Defensively, linebacker Grant Huss led the way with 13 tackles and a sack while big play safety Daylon Henson posted 10 tackles, including three for loss. Devon Polley also came up with three tackles for loss and a sack. Recently named the NAIA National Defensive Player of the Week, Carson Fehlhafer blocked a 49-yard field goal try in the opening quarter, keeping the score at 7-0 at the time. On special teams, Van Cleave added 55 return yards, Braxtyn Koch punted twice for an average of 45.0 yards per attempt and Petyon Atwood drilled a 26-yard field goal.
Doane (1-7, 1-6 GPAC) is in the process of attempting to build its program back up while under the direction of first-year Head Coach Jonathan Johnson. With almost no running game to lean on (19 net yards on 24 attempts), young quarterback Sam Hartman threw for 316 yards and a touchdown while completing 30-of-44 pass attempts. Zack Perez scored the one Tiger touchdown in what equaled Concordia’s most lopsided win in the 69 meetings of the all-time series.
For the most part, Daberkow saw what he wanted to other than not finishing on a couple of drives. Said Daberkow, “There are some things to clean up. It was kind of a funny game in that regard. Momentum was hard to keep because of some of those penalties … Thomas has come in and accepted a role on our team. He brings a lot to the table. I would highlight Max Bartels as well. Those are guys who are sticking with it and are great teammates. I think it’s a compliment to the brotherhood in the locker room how they own their roles and are ready when their number is called. It’s good to see success come their way.”
The Bulldogs will be at home for the first and only time in October when the ball is kicked off on Saturday (Oct. 26) at 1 p.m. CT. The opponent will be Mount Marty (4-3, 3-3 GPAC), a program Concordia has defeated in each of the first three series meetings. The Lancers had a bye this week. Concordia Athletics has declared Oct. 26 Coach Courtney Meyer Day in honor of Meyer’s service to the university. Effective at the end of this season, Meyer will retire from coaching football.