ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- A fumble and an interception cut two drives short in the second half as the Siena Heights football team suffered a 20-10 loss on the road against Mid-States Football Association (MSFA) Mideast rival Concordia (Mich.) on Saturday afternoon. Despite the final score, the Saints (2-3, 1-1 MEL) outgained the Cardinals (4-0, 2-0 MEL) with 372 yards on offense. SHU converted 26 first downs and was seven of 16 on third down in the contest.
Ryan Minor completed 19 passes for 163 yards and a touchdown pass. He also rushed for 34 yards on 11 carries. Kaleb Jefferson finished with 76 yards rushing. Jefferson caught the lone touchdown pass from Minor in the losing effort. Eric Williams II caught seven passes for 54 yards. Bobby Opalewski made six catches for 48 yards.
Kole Murlin led the Siena Heights defense with 12 tackles, a forced fumble, and two pass breakups. Trenton Morrow had eight stops and a pass breakup. Hayden Sluder finished the day with six tackles. Danielle Lowe Jr. registered the only sack for the Saints on the day. He also recovered a fumble.
The Saints had a chance to score first on their opening drive as they pushed the ball down the field before the offense stalled at the Cardinal 29-yard line. Anthony Secchi's 46-yard field goal attempt had the distance but was wide left. A 27-yard rush from Keirell Jackson set up a 37-yard field goal for CUAA, and the Cardinals took a 3-0 lead early.
A false start penalty put the Saints behind the sticks on their next drive, and Caleb Meister was sent out to punt. Concordia (Mich.) extended its lead in the second quarter with a one-yard rush, putting the score at 10-0 with 10:37 remaining in the first half.
Williams II gave Siena excellent field position with a 36-yard kick return for the drive to start six yards short of the 50-yard line. Jefferson rushed for 31 yards on first down to push the ball deep into Concordia territory. Minor fired a six-yard touchdown pass to Jefferson two plays later, and the Saints cut the lead to 10-7 with over eight minutes left before the half.
Anthony Secchi lined up for a 52-yard field goal attempt that flew wide right, but a roughing the kicker penalty gave him a second attempt from 42-yards out, which he hit to tie the game up at ten as the teams entered the locker room at halftime.
The tie was broken when Parker Graham returned the kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown to open the second half with a 17-10 lead for the Cardinals. The Saints drove the ball into Cardinal territory on the ensuing drive, but a fumble recovered by CUAA cut the drive short. An 11-play drive by Concordia was stopped by a fumble forced by Murlin that Lowe Jr. recovered, and the Saints got the ball back with 6:04 left in the third. However, SHU could not capitalize on the turnover, and Meister punted for 40-yards after a three-and-out. The next drive for the Cardinals went for 33 yards in seven plays but stalled at the SHU 15-yard line, and Kevin Wierzbicki made a 32-yard field goal to give CUAA another 10-point lead with 44 ticks left in the third.
Siena got the ball back and drove into Concordia territory as the quarter switched to the fourth. Minor's pass was picked off in the end zone, and the Cardinals took possession at the 20-yard line with 13:29 remaining in regulation. The Saint defense forced a punt to get the ball back on their 24-yard line. A holding penalty on third down put the Saints in a third and long situation. Hayden Lehmann was sacked on the next play, and the Saints were forced to punt the ball away.
SHU came up empty on the next drive after driving for 64 yards down to the 19-yard line of Concordia. The Saints went for it on 4th-and-5, but Lehmann's pass fell incomplete, and SHU turned the ball over on downs with 2:27 remaining in regulation, and the Cardinals were able to kill the remaining time and stay unbeaten on the year.
Up Next
The Saints return home for a matchup against Madonna next Saturday, October 16, for the 2021 Homecoming Game. The kickoff is set for noon EST.
