Concordia Lutheran Game

The Mavericks opened the season with a tough loss to the Crusaders of Concordia Lutheran.  St. John's received the kickoff and Cameron Neal brought it back to the 34 yard line and on the first play the Mavricks put the ball on the ground in which the Crusaders recovered. Concordia did not waste any time going 27 yards in 6 plays for the first score and the lead. The Mavericks answered back though with a 60 yard pass from Josh Winslow to Tim Otey on the fourth play to score and with Dan Tweardy kicking the extra point it was a tie game 7-7 in the first quarter.  Tweardy and the kickoff team then put the Crusaders on their own 20 with a good kick and coverage.  But in 9 plays Concordia with its Wing T ground game put up another score taking the lead back 7-14. On the next SJS possession Winslow was intercepted and the Crusaders had the ball on their own 19. Concordia driving the ball again down to the SJS 30 but the Maverick defense stiffened up and forced the Crusaders to punt. With a good punt the the Mavericks found themselves on the 2 yard line but did not panic and put together a 16 play 98 yard drive. Stephen Firestone took it in from the one for the score but the Mavericks failed on the extra point attempt and still trailed 13-14 at the half.
In the second half the Crusaders waisted no time receiving the kickoff and marching 67 yards in 7 plays to add another score for a 13-20 lead. Again the Mavericks battled back though going 65 yards in 8 plays with Josh Winslow finding the end zone on a 6 yard run. Going for two the Mavericks were unable to convert trailing 19-21.  After both teams trading possessions and play going into the fourth quarter the Mavericks mounted a drive covering 86 yards in 8 plays that finished with Winslow going 16 yards for the go ahead score. Again failing to make the conversion the Mavericks were ahead by a score of 25-21 with 4:53 to play. The Crusaders were not done and after returning the kickoff to the 49 yard line the quarterback broke loose on the second play and went the distance to take the lead back 25-28 with 3:58 left to play.  The Mavericks had their work cut out for them bringing the ball out to the 25 on the ensueing kickoff. Looking at 75 yards to go for the win in under 4 minutes the Mavericks gave it go and found themselves fourth and four on the 11 yard line with one play left. The field goal team ran onto the field. Unfortunately the snap went awry and picking the ball up off the ground Chris Gow made a great effort to throw the ball into the endzone for a chance to make a catch for the score but the ball hit the ground and the Mavericks came up short.