KVRR Roundtable: Concordia Football Preview

KVRR Sports team preview the upcoming football season for Concordia.

MOORHEAD, Minn. — The 2017 season is the 100th season in the storied history of Cobber football. Head Coach Terry Horan is entering his 17th season and has put together five straight Top 3 finishes in the MIAC but is still looking for that one win that get him into the Top 2 and an NCAA playoff berth. The last MIAC title for Concordia was in 2004 and the last NCAA appearance was in 2005.

Concordia junior linebacker Alex Berg (Moorhead, Minn./Fargo Shanley) was named to the D3football.com preseason All-American Second Team. Last year he led the team in tackles and was an All-Conference and All-Region players.

Concordia will have one of the most dynamic backfield tandems that they have had in a long time. Seniors Chad Johnson (Glyndon, Minn./D-G-F HS) and Jason Montonye (Graceville, Minn./C-G-B HS) combined for almost 1300 rushing yards and 19 TDs last year. Johnson led the team with 813 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns. Both players were named to the All-MIAC Team last year.

Concordia also returns starting quarterback Michael Herzog (Detroit Lakes, Minn.). Herzog was an All-MIAC First Team selection last year. He was fifth in the league in rushing yard per game. He averaged 64.5 yards on the ground and scored six touchdowns. Herzog also threw for six TDs and only threw two interceptions which was tops among starting QBs.

Concordia has to replace four of the five starting offensive linemen from last season. The only returning starter is senior Max Nelson (St. Joseph, Minn./ROCORI HS).

Concordia returns all three starting defensive linemen and two of the four linebackers from 2016. The real story on defense will be in the secondary where senior Dallas Raftevold (Fargo, N.D./Fargo South HS).

Concordia also lost starting All-MIAC kicker and punter Eddie Clifton to graduation. The Cobbers have a pair of returners and two freshmen competing for the important special teams spots.