The Concordia Fighting Orioles will face off against the St. Paul Lutheran Saints at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Concordia is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Missouri's top teams: Wellington-Napoleon, who was ranked eighth at the time (Concordia was ranked 15th). The Fighting Orioles took a 28-22 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Tigers last Friday. The Fighting Orioles' loss signaled the end of their four-game winning streak.
The losing side was boosted by Nephi Hon, who rushed for 44 yards and a pair of scores, and also threw for 101 yards and one touchdown. He didn't just play on offense: he also made seven total tackles and defended two passes.
Aksel Garcia
| 10/24/25 vs Wellington-Napoleon | 16 |
| 10/17/25 vs Sweet Springs | 16 |
| 10/10/25 @ St. Paul Lutheran | 16 |
Even if they lost, Concordia's defense still kept up the pressure with five sacks. Aksel Garcia was especially locked on to Wellington-Napoleon's QB and sacked him three times. Garcia has been hot recently, having also posted 16 or more total tackles the last three times he's played. Another thorn in Wellington-Napoleon's side was Maddix Inman, who picked up a sack and made 20 total tackles (4.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, two teams were on the hunt for playoff glory, but only St. Paul Lutheran walked away with it. They breezed past the Wildcats to the tune of 61-30 on Friday. Considering the Saints have won five contests by more than 27 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
While passing duties were split, you can't argue with the impact Creyton Sheets and Easton Sheets both made on the matchup. Creyton threw for 143 yards and three TDs while Easton threw for 55 yards and four touchdowns while completing 80% of his passes. Easton's passing game has become a key predictor of St. Paul Lutheran's success: the team is 5-2 when his passer rating is 100 or higher, but only 0-3 otherwise. Tate Kreisel was another key player, picking up 39 receiving yards and a pair of scores.
Concordia's defeat dropped their record down to 6-3. As for St. Paul Lutheran, the win got them back to even at 5-5.
The upcoming game will be a clash of competing strengths. Concordia has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 269.3 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, St. Paul Lutheran has preferred to attack from the air: they average 266.8 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Concordia was able to grind out a solid victory over St. Paul Lutheran in their previous matchup back in October, winning 38-30. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Kreisel, who picked up 218 receiving yards and one TD. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will the Fighting Orioles still be able to contain Kreisel? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
