Coe College Sports Releases
Contact: Bryan Boettcher, Sports Information Director
E-mail: sid@coe.edu

#20 Coe draws #10 Concordia in NCAA playoffs

Coe College, co-champions of the Iowa Conference, will travel to Moorhead, Minn., Saturday for a first round NCAA playoff matchup with Concordia College. The Cobbers (9-1, 7-1 MIAC) finished second in the Minnesota Conference. Their lone loss was a 20-16 defeat at home to MIAC champion St. John’s.

The Kohawks defeated Simpson 34-14 last weekend to capture their third conference title in four seasons. Coe finished in a tie with Central atop the standings with a 7-1 record. The Kohawks earned the league’s automatic bid by virtue of its 17-14 win over the Dutch on Sept. 17. Central was granted an at-large bid to the playoffs and will face second-ranked Wisconsin-Whitewater Saturday.

Cobber playoff history: Concordia is making its second-straight appearance in the NCAA playoffs. The Cobbers defeated Wartburg in the first round of last year’s playoffs, but fell to Occidental in the round of 16. Concordia is making its sixth appearance to the NCAA playoffs and 10th total postseason appearance. The Cobbers won an NAIA national title in 1978. Concordia is 3-5 all-time in the NCAA playoffs.

Kohawk playoff history: Coe is making its fifth appearance to the postseason and its first since 2002. Coe defeated Wisconsin-La Crosse 21-18 in the first round of the 2002 playoffs before falling at St. John’s in round two. Coe is 1-4 lifetime in the postseason.

Cobber Offense (run): Concordia's double slot, option-style offense has proved to be one of the best running attacks in the nation. The Cobbers have three players, including quarterback and 2004 MIAC MVP Brian Schumacher, who have combined for 2,258 yards rushing. The Cobbers have accumulated over 3,000 yards on the ground this season compared to just 1,200 through the air. Of the team's 46 offensive touchdowns, 39 were scored via the run.

Concordia has scored over 23 points and ran for over 250 yards in all but one game this season. The Cobbers carried 48 times for 98 yards in their loss to the Johnnies. Concordia has averaged nearly 41 points over its last five games.

Schumacher, a senior, has carried 180 times for 759 yards and 10 touchdowns this season. He’s thrown the ball 149 times for 1,115 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions.

Junior fullback Kevin Williamson has carried 150 times for 680 yards and a team-high 15 touchdowns. Seven of his touchdowns were 1-yard scores. Only two of his scores were runs over four yards.

Freshman Cory Johnson, the Cobbers’ leading rusher, is the primary pitch man on the option. He’s carried 92 times for 819 yards – an average of nearly nine yards per carry.

Cobber Offense (pass): Concordia ranks last in the MIAC in passing offense. The team has attempted over 20 passes and reached 200 yards passing in one game this season.

The fact that Concordia runs the ball over 77 percent of the time actually feeds into its passing game. When the defense commits to the run, Concordia will take chances down the field.

Junior wideout Eric Rodel is the only Cobber receiver with over 10 catches this season. He’s caught 39 passes for 538 yards and three scores.

Run Defense vs. Run Offense: Coe finished as the top run defense in the Iowa Conference and was arguably the best defensive unit in the league this season. Half of its opponents failed to total 90 yards rushing. Only one team managed more than 140 yards on the ground (St. Thomas).

No Coe opponent has attempted 50 rushes against them this season. Concordia has averaged nearly 58 rushes per game. The only time the Cobbers failed to run the ball 50 times in a game was during their loss to St. John’s.

Cobber Offense vs. Kohawk Defense: The Kohawks have yet to surrender more than 21 points in a game this season. The Cobbers have scored 24 points or more in nine of 10 games this season.

Kicker vs. Kicker: Cobber senior placekicker Brian Halverson is 8-for-12 in field goals this season with a long of 45 yards. Halverson is Concordia’s all-time career leader in field goals with 31.

Kohawk junior placekicker Michael Herzberger is 8-for-11 in field goals this season with a long of 44 yards. Herzberger is Coe’s all-time career leader in field goals with 25.

Coe Offense (run): First-team all-Iowa Conference selection Ashton Northern has paced a running attack that finished 14 yards back of Central for the league’s best run offense. The Kohawks are averaging nearly 200 yards per game on the ground. Northern has run for over 100 yards in four consecutive games and totaled five 100-yard efforts this season.

Nearing 1,000 yards: Northern needs 81 rushing yards Saturday to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in his career. He has averaged a league-high 5.6 yards per carry this season. Northern, Coe’s third-leading receiver, has 23 catches for 320 yards and three scores. Northern has combined for seven touchdowns this season.

Suckow Scoring: Only one player in the nation has scored more touchdowns this year than the 20 posted by Neil Suckow. A first-team all-Iowa Conference wide receiver, Suckow has caught 50 passes for 639 yards and 10 touchdowns. He’s carried for 381 yards and nine touchdowns. He also scored on a punt return against Dubuque.

Suckow on pace with Bender: In 20 games through two seasons, Suckow has scored 43 touchdowns – equaling the mark Coe Hall of Fame running back Carey Bender had after his first two seasons with the Kohawks. Including two playoff games, Bender accumulated a Coe-record 87 touchdowns during his four-year career.

Coe Offense (pass): First-team all-Iowa Conference quarterback Andy TeKippe threw for 2,011 yards this season, 17 touchdowns and nine interceptions. TeKippe completed 150-of-270 passes for a completion percentage of 55.6. He was the most efficient quarterback in the league.

The Kohawks threw about twice as many times as the Cobbers did this year and accumulated nearly twice as many yards through the air. Coe’s average of nearly 250 yards passing per game ranked second in the Iowa Conference. Coe led the league in both total offense (438.4 ypg) and scoring offense (31.7 ppg).

Rife, Suckow likely to break receptions record: Junior wide receiver Jon Rife and Suckow have caught 51 and 50 passes respectively. The Coe single-season reception record is 52 set by Kye Bennis in 2000 and Tom Marshall in 1981.

The Cobbers have 91 completions as a team in 10 games.

Cobber Defense: Concordia enters Saturday’s contest with the second-best defensive unit in the MIAC. The Cobbers have given up an average of 16 points and 278 total yards per game.

Junior defensive tackle Tyler Ledyard leads the MIAC with seven sacks this season. Senior Travis Almquist is third with 6.5 sacks. Concordia leads the league with 32 sacks.

Senior linebacker Mark Halley leads the Cobbers with 76 tackles. Senior defensive backs Ben Aakre and Eric Svobodny combined for seven interceptions and 22 pass breakups.

Kohawk Defense: Coe had two first-team all-Iowa Conference selections in senior linebacker Brant Pfantz and senior defensive back Tyler Staker. Pfantz leads the Kohawks with 86 tackles. Staker has a team-high four interceptions and 11 pass breakups to go with 49 tackles.

Junior defensive lineman Adam Jordison finished fifth in the league with six sacks and second in the league with 13.5 tackles for loss. Coe has 20 sacks this season in 10 games.