WAUWATOSA, Wis. – The Concordia Wisconsin football team opened the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) portion of the schedule on a stormy Saturday night at Wisconsin Lutheran. The rain and the Falcons dampened the homecoming spirit at Raabe Stadium as the Falcons playing in their third state in three weeks, reclaimed the Luther Cup with a 27-20 victory. The Falcons are now 2-1 on the year and 1-0 in the NACC.
The two teams felt each other out in the first quarter and both defenses came up with four stops each.
The Warrior struck first with a 41-yard quarterback keeper in the first minute of the second quarter. The Falcons had senior Marquiton Sellers (Winnsboro, La.) leap over the line and get enough of the ball to block the kick.
The Blue and White responded with a two-play, 68-yard drive. Senior Ashar Thomas (Punta Gorda, Fla.) started the drive with a15-yard run through the heart of the defense. Sophomore Roman Funk (Scottsdale, Ariz.) then found sophomore Jack Bradley (Tucson, Ariz.) crossing across the field and Bradley outran the defender 30 yards to reach the end zone for the 52-yard touchdown.
Right before the kickoff, the game was halted due to lightning in the area. After two delays, the teams were once again ready to battle for the Luther Cup.
Late in the second quarter, the Green and White capitalized on a CUW turnover and scored on an instant red zone opportunity.
The Falcons once again quickly responded with a drive down the field that was capped off with a five-yard pass to the left corner of the end zone to junior Nick Crowell (Las Vegas, Nev.) from Roman Funk.
Wisconsin Lutheran countered with a touchdown drive to give the Warriors a 20-13 lead going into the shortened halftime.
Senior Jason Leonard (Tampa, Fla.) showed off his speed in the third quarter when he caught a short pass screaming up the middle, shook off a defender and won the race to the end zone on the 68-yard pass from Roman Funk.
With 6:30 left in the third quarter, the Falcon gathered their first turnover of the night with an interception for sophomore Kadin Huisinga (Glendale, Ariz.) near the Concordia sideline.
Both defenses responded well in the fourth quarter, halting each drive that started.
Roman Funk to Jack Bradley was the theme of the final drive with back-to-back passes for 23 and 33 yards. The drive ended with a 21-yard strike down the right sideline and sophomore Kam'Ron Pierre (Canyon Country, Calif.) caught the pass in the double coverage to give the Falcons the lead with 56 seconds left.
The Falcons defense hounded the Warriors in their final drive that included a sack for sophomore Logan Dable (Waukesha, Wis.). The Warrior were 60 yards out on the final play and had a handful of laterals, but fell short of the end zone.
Roman Funk threw for 345 yards and four touchdowns and also ran for 41 yards in the victory.
The trio of Jack Bradley, Jason Leonard and junior Jacob Pugh (Atlanta, Ga.) all caught 50 or more yards.
Junior Duncan Ireland III (Eagle, Wis.) led the game with eight tackles and Logan Dable had two sacks
The Falcons open the home portion of the schedule on Saturday against the Benedictine Eagles.
