Concordia is 2-8 against St. Paul Lutheran since September of 2016 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Concordia Fighting Orioles will be playing at home against the St. Paul Lutheran Saints at 7:00 p.m. One thing working in Concordia's favor is that they have posted at least 31 points in their last five matches.
If Concordia beats St. Paul Lutheran with 55 points on Friday, it's going to be the team's new lucky number: they've won their past two games with that exact score. Concordia took their contest at home on Friday with ease, bagging a 55-0 victory over Santa Fe. Considering the Fighting Orioles have won five matchups by more than 28 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Concordia found their leader in underclassman Nephi Hon, who rushed for 65 yards and a touchdown on only five carries, and also threw for 56 yards and two touchdowns. Hon's posted a season-high passer rating of 177.1.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Concordia's defense and their four sacks. Landon Langkrahr was especially locked on to Santa Fe's QB and sacked him twice. Langkrahr is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made five or more in the last 13 games he's played dating back to last season. Concordia got some further help from Maddix Inman: he made 15 total tackles (5.0 for loss).
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Concordia was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 293 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 197 rushing yards in eight consecutive matches dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask St. Paul Lutheran). They had just enough and edged Sweet Springs out 62-60. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Saints.
A big part of St. Paul Lutheran's win came down to the chemistry between Easton Sheets and his top target Tate Kreisel. Sheets threw for 430 yards and nine touchdowns while completing 73% of his passes while Kreisel picked up 295 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. Kreisel continues to roll, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. A healthy portion of that aerial production (84 yards to be exact) also went to Daniel Bushman.
Concordia pushed their record up to 5-1 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. As for St. Paul Lutheran, the win got them back to even at 3-3.
Friday's game might be decided in the trenches. Concordia has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 275.3 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for St. Paul Lutheran, though, as they've been averaging only 58.7. How will they fare against such a dominant running game?
Concordia took a serious blow against St. Paul Lutheran when the teams last played back in November of 2023, falling 56-26. Will Concordia have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other football content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
