ST. PAUL, MN (KELO.com) — The USF Football team took on the Golden Bears of Concordia-St.Paul in an NSIC North vs South match-up tonight and came out on top, 44-23.
The CSP defense struggled to solve the Cougars run game during their opening drive leading to an 8 yard rushing touchdown by Landon Freeman. The Cougar defense was able to shut down the Bears quickly with a pick by Conor Rice off a batted ball from Francis Kumi. USF was unable to score following the pick, but was able to end the first quarter with a huge sack for loss by Amaurii Grosskopf.
The Coo defense held CSP to a scoreless first quarter and nearly a scoreless first half. During the second quarter, Adam Mullen was able to find Freeman once again for a 42 yard reception that led to a 1 yard rushing touchdown by Freeman to put USF up 14-0. USF defense gave up a first down in the second on one of their six penalties on the night, but was able to recover causing the Bears to punt it away. Sioux Falls started on their own 20 yard line when Thuro Reisdorfer was able to break free for a 78 yard touchdown on 2nd and 8 for the Coo. CSP got the ball back with 3:47 remaining in the half when they marched it all the way down to the USF 8. With great defensive coverage by Joseph Sapp, the Coo forced CSP to a 25 yard FG to end the half, 20-3.
As both teams returned from the half, CSP got on the board first with a 32 yard touchdown pass. However, the Cougars were able to answer with one of their own as Mullen connected with Hunter Schneider to put USF up 27-10. Throughout the third quarter, both teams answered each other with touchdowns leading to a 17 point quarter for USF and 13 for CSP. Ethan Wittenburg pulled in his first USF touchdown in the third while tallying a 100 yard receiving day.
USF entered the fourth up 27-16 as Reisdorfer continued to rush for his 13th, 100+ yard game and 2nd touchdown of the night. As the Coo go on to win 44-23, they also improved to 3-0 on the year, 14-2 against Concordia-St. Paul and 80-22 in NSIC play.
“We’re very pleased with the win tonight,” said Coach Jon Anderson. “Our guys were able to set the tone from the beginning once again tonight which led to a big first half for us. We gave up a couple points, but our offense was able to answer back with some big plays.”
The Cougars put up 250 rushing yards while adding 268 yards through the air totaling 518 yards of total offense. The USF Defense held CSP to just 105 yards on the ground and 411 total yards of offense. Sioux Falls was 4 for 4 on 4th down conversions for the night and 5 for 5 when it came to scoring while in the red zone.
The Cougars will be back in action next weekend as they host Minnesota Duluth in the annual Cougar Days homecoming football game. For all things Cougar Football, be sure to download the USF Cougars app and follow along on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
