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October 19, 2004
Concordia crushes Hamline 42-0
Conference title contender Concordia pounded Hamline 42-0 on Oct. 9 in Moorhead, Minn.
Concordia (5-0, 4-0 MIAC) racked up a total of 615 yards of offense against the Pipers’ 156.
For the second straight week, Hamline’s defense failed to stop the offensive attack.
Hamline last scored during the St. John’s game on Oct. 2 in a 41-6 loss to the Johnnies.
Hamline (2-3, 1-3 MIAC) were able to stop the Cobbers on their first possession when Jake Bjerke recovered an Ed Oehlers fumble at the Piper 11-yard line. But after the Hamline punt, Concordia went 80 yards in 14 plays and the sequence ended in a 12-yard touchdown pass with 6:41 left in the quarter.
Concordia later added 24- and 27-yard touchdown passes in the second quarter to give the Cobbers a 21-0 lead.
The Cobbers capped a strong game for them by adding two more scores in the second half before the scoring ended on a 34-yard pass to Chad Rogers with 2:26 left in the game.
Hamline quarterback Andy Gagnon threw for 126 yards on 15-of-25 passing, but also had two interceptions.
Piper Dan Ryks led Hamline’s receiving unit with 59 yards on four catches. Tight end Jeff Hanger gained 50 yards on four receptions.
In recent games, Hamline’s opponents have effectively shut down all aspects of the Pipers’ offense and defense units.
The Pipers started off the season 2-0 for the first time in 10 years, but since then mental errors and a lack of an effective running game has stopped Hamline’s strong start.
“We got handled in the Concordia game,” said head coach Donavon Larson. That is the best way to sum it up. We were just handled.”
He added, “Usually we play pretty smart, but we didn’t play smart football at all in this case.”
In any game, there are bound to be a number of mental errors that occur, but in the past two games, Hamline’s number has increased greatly.
“We’ve just had terrible mental breakdowns and any time you don’t score any points, the offense had a lousy day,” Larson said.
“Our lines have been getting dominated on both sides of the ball, and when you don’t stop the run of the other team, and you don’t run, you’re going to lose.”
Hamline is now at the halfway point in their season, and, to finish on a strong note, the team needs to quickly return to the level they demonstrated at the start of the year.
“We have to get back to playing smart football like we did in our first two games,” Larson said. “Everybody needs to execute their assignments, and once they do that, then they will look good as a unit.”
The Pipers next travel to St. Olaf on Oct. 23 to face the Oles. Game time is set for 1 p.m.
Hamline has two more conference games remaining on the schedule, and those games come against St. Thomas and Carleton.
The Pipers’ last nonconference game of the season is against former MIAC opponent Macalester.
The Scots pulled out of the conference a few seasons ago.
That game is set to be played at the Klas Center on Oct. 30. The game starts at 1 p.m.
Posted by msveum at October 19, 2004 11:58 AM
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