ATHENS, W. Va. - A valiant rally effort by Bloomsburg University's football team came up just short in the Super Region 1 Championship Game on Saturday afternoon as Concord held on for a 32-26 victory to move on to the NCAA Division II semifinals.
Bloomsburg (11-2) rallied from 21 points down to tie the game in the third quarter and appeared to have all the momentum before the Mountain Lions (13-0) responded to keep their perfect season alive.
"I'm extremely proud of the effort of our guys," Bloomsburg head coach Paul Darragh said. "It's disappointing to get this close and lose a tough game like that, but the season we had is a credit to our guys and to our staff.
"We stayed the course and battled back. We have played our best football in the second half. To our guys' credit, we did stay in and fight back."
Eddie Mateo rushed for 107 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries while Tim Kelly completed 16 of 36 pass attempts for 239 yards and a score, rushing for another.
D.J. McFadden caught five passes for 97 yards and a score while Chad Hoffman had three catches for 68 yards.
The Huskies pulled into their bag of tricks on the very first play, calling for an on-side kick from Tyler Smith. The play worked to perfection, allowing Smith to recover his own kick to give Bloomsburg possession at near midfield but Bloomsburg moved just 17 yards before Concord forced a stop on downs.
Concord, the Mountain East Champions, then quickly displayed its electric offense which ranked third in the nation entering the day, using three plays of 15 yards to march 64 yards in nine plays - finding the end zone on an eight-yard strike from Brian Novak to Ryan Stewart for the 6-0 lead. The point after attempt found the Mountain Lions fumbling the snap, though, allowing linebacker Garrett Pope to scoop up the loose ball and race the length of the field for two points and a 6-2 score less than six minutes into the game.
Concord's Andy Ellington kicked a 22-yard field goal for a 9-2 lead and the Mountain Lions then struck on special teams. Punt returner Jermeil Douse made a man miss quickly and then cut up the near sideline for an 81-yard touchdown to give Concord a 16-2 lead.
Concord kept rolling on the ensuing kickoff, forcing a fumble and taking over at the Bloomsburg 25. Mountain East Conference Offensive Player of the Year Calvinaugh Jones plunged over from the one on fourth down to up the lead to 23-2.
Bloomsburg finally found a spark on a 53-yard pass over the middle from Kelly to Hoffman. Five plays later, Mateo scored on a pitch to cut the lead to 23-9.
Kelly scored on a one-yard plunge after a fumble recovery at the Concord 15, making it 23-16, and Bloomsburg tied the game on a 22-yard touchdown pass from Kelly to McDadden on a fourth-and-7.
But Concord counter-punched with a four-play, 74-yard touchdown drive capped on a 16-yard sprint by Jones. The point after attempt again was soured by a pour snap, however, leaving the score at 29-23.
Braden Drexler made a 28-yard field goal for Bloomsburg late in the third quarter, and Ellington countered with a 28-yard with 9:15 left for Concord.
Bloomsburg's defense gave the Huskies one more chance, stopping Jones on third-and-2 to force a punt, and taking over at their own 37 with exactly two minutes to play.
Forced into a 4th-and-5 situation, a Kelly pass was tipped by a Concord defender near midfield and intercepted by Lions linebacker Derrick Johnson.
Novak completed 15 of 22 passes for 185 yards and a score with his favorite receiver being Douse who caught seven balls for 67 yards. Jones tallied 116 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries.