[Football] Olivet Nazarene suffers first loss of 2017 to Concordia-Ann Arbor 38-16

BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – Saturday afternoon's matchup at Ward Field between Mid-States Football Association programs featured two unbeaten teams that were receiving votes nationally. It was a warm September day and Olivet Nazarene University entered the game 3-0 and Concordia University-Ann Arbor (Mich.) came in 2-0. Yet, something had to give, but after an exciting first quarter that saw 24 points scored the Tiger offense cooled off. Meanwhile, the Cardinals sped up outscoring ONU 24-6 the rest of the way, capturing the 38-16 win.

By the 9:19 mark of the first quarter the score was already tied 7-7 after both teams scored on their opening drive. The Cardinals (3-0) took the ball first and went four plays in only 2:06 and Seth Suida found Herman Mason from 48 yards out. ONU (3-1) responded with an eight-play drive and Jordan Lawton (SO/Lakewood, Calif.) passed it to Rashaan Gaymon (JR/Cape Coral, Fla.) from four yards out. The touchdown is Gaymon's fifth of the season and 13th of his career. Lawton's was his 27th touchdown pass of his career. ONU didn't stop there as they forced a punt and scored on their second drive, using a 24-yard Josh Anderson (SO/San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) field goal to go ahead 10-7 with 5:04 to go in the first quarter. Yet, CUAA came right back and 4:25 later, Joe Conner found the endzone from five yards out. The touchdown made it 13-10 and PAT made it 14-10.

The Cardinals started the second quarter with a third touchdown drive that last under two minutes. Seth Suida took it himself 43 yards on the ground for the score. The Tigers came right back and had the ball on the CUAA 35-yard line but a sack on third-down forced a punt. After a great defensive possession the Tigers were intercepted on their own 32-yard line. Yet, it didn't come back to hurt as the Cardinals punted. Once again, the Tigers got into Cardinal territory but a sack cost them points.

At the start of the second half the Tigers managed to drive 75 drives on 13 plays and with 10:12 and almost five minutes later Jordan Lawton ran it in from 10 yards out. The two-point conversion failed. CUAA came right back and Seth Suida's pass to Tim Iltis from two yards out made it 28-16. Fast Forward to the fourth quarter and the Cardinals again had the ball. This time Suida found Bryant Hudson from 47 yards out to make it a 35-16 game. However, the ONU offense didn't quit. They put together a 60-yard drive and got it down to the 10-yard line but three incomplete passes later they turned it over on downs. The Cardinals tacked on a 44-yard field goal with 3:33 to play and ONU was intercepted for a second time which made it impossible for a comeback.

Jordan Lawton went 19-for-38 yards, throwing for 234 yards and one touchdown. He also ran 17 times and for one score. Rashaan Gaymon caught seven balls for 86 yards and one touchdown. He is now fifth all-time in career receiving yards in ONU history with 1,400 (90 receptions). Alika Kahaulelio (JR/Kaneohe, Hawaii) had four catches for 51 yards and Brady Walling (FR/Meridian, Idaho) had 54 yards receiving.  Erik Anderson (SR/St. Charles, Ill.) had 12 rushes for 47 yards.

Linebacker Caleb Coe (JR/Cedarville, Ohio) had a career day with game-high 19 tackles, including three for loss (five yards). Jalon Simpson (FR/Portland, Mich.) had a career-high 12 tackles and one for loss. Sebastian Swift (SR/San Diego, Calif.) had nine tackles and one and a half for loss.  Andru McFadden (SO/Traverse City, Mich.) had the Tigers lone sack on Saturday for eight yards.

CUAA quarterback Seth Suida went 13-for-20 for 242 yards and threw three touchdowns to three different receivers. He also ran the ball four times for 36 yards and a score. Herman Mason caught three balls for 108 yards and one score. Bryant Hudson caught a touchdown and Tim Iltis scored a touchdown through the air. Joe Conner rushed the ball 23 times for 127 yards and one touchdown.

The Tigers will back at Ward Field next Saturday at 1 p.m. against No. 8 ranked Marian University (Ind.).