Crusaders First Game
At Home against St. John's
August 27th, 2010
A Very Good Night
From Tomball Potpourri
Late St. John’s drive falls short as Concordia wins opener
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By JACK MARRION
Concordia Lutheran waited almost two months for its first victory last season. It took one night to accomplish that feat.Senior quarterback Nathan Potter scored a long, fourth-quarter touchdown and the Crusaders fought off one last drive by St. John’s to secure a 28-25 season-opening triumph at home. Concordia, which lost its first six games of 2009, played more like the team that won five of six including a playoff game down the stretch.
“It’s a huge weight off of our shoulders that’s for sure,” senior defensive tackle Ryan Bell said.
The Crusaders led most of the game against a team that handed them a 33-14 defeat in the last season opener. They ran their T-formation offense to perfection early and totaled 280 yards on 41 rushing attempts, with junior Chance Gray rushing 14 times for 91 yards.
“Our offense played better than I ever anticipated this early in the season,” Crusaders coach Bobby Lindquist said. “To me that’s what made the difference. We were able to score points, control the football and give our young defense an opportunity to grow up a little bit. I think that happened.”
Junior Eddie Brucculeri pounded his way to two first-quarter touchdown runs. Concordia capitalized on a fumble by St. John’s on the first play from scrimmage, marching 27 yards to take the early lead. The Crusaders answered a quick strike by the Mavericks with a 10-play, 80-yard drive that produced a 14-7 lead.
Concordia held a 14-13 halftime lead due to a missed extra point. That lead was stretched to eight when junior Mark Schroeder scored on a 22-yard run to finish a seven-play drive.
The Mavericks were impressive on offense as well, running the option with quarterback Josh Winslow and running back Caldwell Flores, who rushed for a game-high 172 yards and consistently broke tackles.
Winslow hit Tim Otey for a 60-yard scoring pass in the first quarter and rallied St. John’s in the second half. He scored on runs of six and 16 yards, both on option keepers, to give the Mavericks a 25-21 lead with 4:53 remaining.
But Potter, whose early contributions included two key passes on the Crusaders’ first scoring drive, slipped through the St. John’s defense on his own option play and sprinted away for a 49-yard touchdown with 3:58 left.
“I was very surprised,” Potter said. “That’s the first time I’ve ever seen an open field like that before.”
The Mavericks marched 71 yards on their final drive but could not produce a score. Concordia stopped Flores at the 5-yard line on third down and a last-second field goal attempt was altered due to a bad snap.
St. John’s retrieved the loose ball and made a final heave at the end zone. The ball went in and out of the hands of a Mavericks player to end the game, leaving Concordia to celebrate an early victory.
SCORING SUMMARY
Concordia Lutheran 28, St. John’s 25
SJ 7-6-6-6—25
CL 14-0-7-7—28
First quarter
CL-Eddie Brucculeri 1 run (Tyler Brandenburg kick), 9:30
SJ-Tim Otey 60 pass from Josh Winslow (Dan Tweardy kick), 7:27
CL-Brucculeri 1 run (Brandenburg kick), 3:00
Second quarter
SJ-Stephen Firestone 1 run (kick failed), :29
Third quarter
CL-Mark Schroeder 22 run (Brandenburg kick), 7:54
SJ-Winslow 6 run (run failed), 4:48
Fourth quarter
SJ-Winslow 16 run (run failed), 4:53
CL-Nathan Potter 49 run (Brandenburg kick), 3:58
TEAM STATS/LEADERS
Rushing: SJ 46-316 (Caldwell Flores 19-172, Josh Winslow 18-117); CL 41-280 (Chance Gray 14-91)
Passing: SJ 2-6-71-1 (Winslow); CL 3-6-48-0 (Nathan Potter)
Receiving: SJ (Tim Otey 1-60); CL (Christian Wilke 2-39)
| STATS Tomball Concordia Lutheran 28, Houston St. John's 25 - Final | ||
| Houston St. John's | Overall: 1-1 | District: 0-0 |
| Tomball Concordia Lutheran | Overall: 1-1 | District: 0-0 |
| Boxscore | |||||
| Friday August 27, 2010 7:30pm | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
| Houston St. John's | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 25 |
| Tomball Concordia Lutheran | 14 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
| Team Stats | ||
| Houston St. John's | Tomball Concordia Lutheran | |
| Total yards | 403 | 341 |
| First downs | 20 | 18 |
| Rushes/Yds | 47/318 | 40/286 |
| Average rush | 6.77 | 7.15 |
| Comp/Atts | 5/10/1 | 4/7/0 |
| Pass yards | 85 | 55 |
| Comp pct | 50 | 57.14 |
| Punts | 1 | 2 |
| Punting Yards | 51 | 47 |
| Punting Average | 51 | 23.5 |
| Fumbles/Lost | 4/2 | 3/0 |
| Penalties-yards | 1-5 | 4-45 |
| Tomball Concordia Lutheran |
| Passing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Name | Comp | Att | Pct | Yds | TD | INT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nathan Potter | 4 | 7 | 57.14 | 55 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rushing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Name | Att | Yds | Yds/Att | Long | TD | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eddie Brucculeri | 10 | 61 | 6.1 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mark Schroeder | 10 | 55 | 5.5 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chance Gray | 12 | 90 | 7.5 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nathan Potter | 7 | 78 | 11.1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tyler Lawrence | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Receiving | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Name | Rec | Yds | Yds/Catch | Long | TD | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chance Gray | 1 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Christian Wilke | 2 | 41 | 20.5 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tomball Magnolia Potpourri - Sports
Concordia looks to hit the ground running
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(Edgar Salcedo/For The Potpourri)
Concordia Lutheran returns seven starters on offense including its backfield for the 2010 season.By JACK MARRION
The Concordia Lutheran football team produced one of the most remarkable turnarounds in the Houston area in 2009, rallying from an 0-6 start to win a playoff game. With 11 starters back from a team that reached the regional round of the TAPPS Division II bracket, another stunning comeback might not be necessary.While the Crusaders shoot for a similar or better result in 2010 the route has already been changed. An offense that did not have a single returning starter last summer has picked up where it left off this past fall.
“It makes things so much easier,” said senior tight end Christian Wilke, one of seven offensive returning starters. “We’ve got all of our backfield back and some kids that came in and helped out when a couple kids when down. We’ve got a bunch of experience in the backfield and on the offense. Hopefully we’re going to be rolling.”
While a difficult non-district schedule contributed to their slow start the Crusaders (5-8 in 2009) struggled at first with untested personnel running a new offense under first-year head coach Bobby Lindquist. But after scoring a total of 34 points in the first five games Concordia averaged 25 points in TAPPS District 4-4A play to finish third.
“What really started happening we started believing in each other,” senior offensive guard Jordan Miller said. “When that started to happen we saw that we could win. This year we know we can win and we know we can go far, we just have to put the effort into it.”
The increase in production also had an effect on what was a senior-laden defense, which held the opposition under 15 points four times in a six-week span.
“Last year since the offense was so young we didn’t really trust them to get the job done,” senior defensive tackle Ryan Bell said. “We were stressing out trying to win the game on both sides while we were just playing defense. This year we know the offense is going to do their job and we know what to do on defense.”
Though the offensive line lost two starters to school transfers the Crusaders have pieces in place including their starting backfield led by junior quarterback Nathan Potter and junior running backs Mark Schroeder and Chance Gray (1,018 yards, 15 touchdowns), both All-District performers last season.
Both contributed remarkable performances running out of the Crusaders’ T formation, which Lindquist said will have to be executed at an even higher level going forward.
“We know we caught some people by surprise with the offense,” Lindquist said. “They’ve done their research so they’re going to be better equipped to handle it. But I think us being better at it and being more versatile on offense will create problems this year.”
In contrast to last season the Crusaders’ growing pains might come on the defensive side of the ball, though starters such as Bell, Schroeder (defensive back) and junior defensive end Cody Huffmeister return.
“Defensively we’re young,” Lindquist said. “That showed in the scrimmage against Kinkaid (Aug. 13). But we’ve got some potential. We’re going to take some lumps early on but we’re going to stick to it and hopefully when district comes around we’ll be where we need to be.”
Both sides of the ball will be tested by another challenging non-district stretch. St. John’s and Houston Christian, both 5A schools, are on the schedule as well as Class 2A public schools Boling and Hitchcock.
“St. John’s and Houston Christian, as long as they’ll play us we’ll play them,” Lindquist said. “They’re outstanding, well-coached programs. Good men run those programs and the kids do a good job of playing with class and total effort, which is what we want our kids to do.”
Time will tell if Concordia hits its stride at the perfect time, as in 2009 when it won five of six games down the stretch including a bi-district playoff win at San Antonio Texas Military Institute. But that experience leaves the Crusaders wanting more.
“We’re just going to go for it this year,” Miller said. “God willing, with his power and strength, we’ll go out and win it this year.”
Concordia Lutheran
Coach (season): Bobby Lindquist (2nd at CLHS)
District: TAPPS 4-II
2009 record: 5-8 (4-2)
Postseason: Def. San Antonio TMI 17-10 in Division II bi-district round; lost to Dallas Christian 31-14 in regional round
Starters returning: 7 offense/4 defense
Mark your calendar: at Second Baptist, Nov. 5
The backdrop for this game could be magnificent. Both teams are projected favorites for the district title and the Crusaders handed Second Baptist an upset loss in the 2009 finale.
Will make the playoffs if: The Crusaders have more than enough to be one of the top four in what is now an eight-team district. Barring injuries Concordia has the ability and experience to contend for the district title and return to the state quarterfinals.
VIDEO August 20th, 2010
2nd Scrimmage @ East Bernard
A few highlights from scrimmage against East Bernard can be found at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NtBdzTfCPU
2nd Scrimmage @ East Bernard
A few highlights from scrimmage against East Bernard can be found at:
Tomball Magnolia Potpourri - Sports
Local teams face final tune-ups for regular season
By JACK MARRION
The 2010 season is drawing near. Local teams take their first regular season snaps in less than two weeks and will have their final tune-ups Aug. 20 or 21.With football, and The Potpourri’s special preview section, on the horizon here is a look at a few storylines going in as well as upcoming scrimmage dates:
Concordia Lutheran
The Crusaders are miles ahead of where they were this time last year. Without a new offense to learn and several young starters to develop, Concordia has been able to focus on maintaining last year’s late run from 0-6 to the regional round of the TAPPS 4A playoffs.
The Crusaders kicked off their scrimmage schedule Aug. 13 at home against Kinkaid and will travel to East Bernard for a scrimmage Aug. 20. They return to Crusader Stadium Aug. 27 for a season-opening game against St. John’s.
VIDEO
Couple of highlights of 1st Scrimmage 8-13-2010 vs Kinkaid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmu-vjpT4zs
Couple of highlights of 1st Scrimmage 8-13-2010 vs Kinkaid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmu-vjpT4zs
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