Jamestown, N.D. – The University of Jamestown football team is back at home for the second time this season against the Concordia St. Paul Bears on Saturday.
Game Information
The Teams
The Jimmies head into the matchup against CSP with a record of 0-4 while being 0-3 in the Northern Sun. Last weekend, Jamestown headed down to Nebraska to play (RV) Wayne State College where they were defeated 44-7 by the Wildcats.
Jacob Mattick threw nine completions for a season-high 100 yards and
Simon Kieffer got his first action of the season with 11 passing yards while rushing four times for a gain of 27.
Mason Whitley rushed 16 times for 77 yards,
Gage Solano hauled in four catches for 65 yards and a score, and
Ethan Hoffman got his first career passing touchdown in the fourth quarter connecting with Solano.
Alexander Rivera had seven total tackles while
Xander Jarosh had three tackles and two pass breakups.
Jamestown was outpaced 433 to 283 in yards, but they did have a season-high in total yards as well as 144 passing yards. The Jimmies only narrowly lost first downs (21-17) while their time of possession was actually slightly more than WSC at 34:29 to 25:31.
Mattick continues to lead the Jimmies in yards after eclipsing triple digits against Wayne State. The junior now had 239 yards (79.7 per game) on 30 completions. Whitley has 268 rushing yards (67 per game) with two scores. Solano paces UJ in receiving yards with 137 (34.3 per game) on 15 hauled in catches. Hoffman had 63 yards and a passing touchdown.
Josh Bosacker and Rivera both have 22 tackles to lead the UJ defense. Bosacker has 3.5 tackles for a loss while Rivera has three broken up passes.
CSP heads into the game against Jamestown with a 2-2 record overall while going 1-2 in the NSIC. The Bears started their conference slate with two losses to MSU Moorhead and UMary, but then pulled off a huge home win, 34-31, against Bemidji State. In that game, the Beavers pulled ahead 15-0, but the Bears battled back to take their first lead 20-17 late in the third quarter. Bemidji State pulled ahead 31-27 on a touchdown with 1:52 remaining on the clock, but CSP came down the field quickly and quarterback Lincoln Graf connected with Carter Zezulka for a 17-yard pass with 15 seconds remaining to seal the first CSP victory over Bemidji State since 2019.
Quarterback Lincoln Graf had a career day, going 26-for-41 with 352 passing yards and three touchdowns without recording a turnover. BJ Davis and Joel Lacy each rushed for a touchdown with Davis having a 91-yard rushing score. Zezulka led the receivers with 129 yards on five catches. Manny Harris and Lacy each had a receiving touchdown as well. Defensively, Jonas Barros had 12 total tackles, and Jude Onuoha had eight tackles and two sacks. Onuoha's sack in the fourth quarter and impressive season numbers earned the senior from Arkansas NSIC Defensive Player of the Week.
Graf's 352 passing yards were the most in a game from a CSP quarterback since the 2012 season. The Bears lit up the Beavers for 518 total yards of offense which was their most as a team since the 2012 season. Bemidji State was not too far behind at 425. The Bears had just one more first down (23-22) while both teams were perfect on fourth down conversions.
This year's 2026 CSP team looks quite a bit different from previous years. Football has been one of the weaker sports at CSP recently with the Bears going 2-9 both in 2025 and 2024. The last winning season for Concordia St Paul was in 2019. In the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll, not much was expected for the Bears in terms of improvement as they were selected 12
th overall and sixth in the NSIC South Division.
Graf has been a key to success for the Bears thus far with an average of 205 passing yards per game which ranks fourth in the NSIC. The sophomore is also the only quarterback in the conference to throw for more than 350 yards without an interception. After Davis's big run in the last game, he leads all running backs for CSP with 249 yards (62.3 per game) with an average of 8.6 yards per carry and four touchdowns. Zezulka has 187 reception yards and two touchdowns on 11 catches. Lacy has two receiving touchdowns while Manny Harris leads the team with three.
The aggressive Concordia St. Paul defense has worked wonders for them. The Bears lead the conference and are fifth in the country with an average of 3.5 sacks per game. They also are atop the podium in the NSIC with an average of seven tackles for a loss each game. Reigning NSIC DPOTW Onuoha is the powerhouse of the defense ranking fifth in Division-II football in five sacks as well as fourth in the NSIC with five tackles for a loss. Jonas Barros had a total of 28 tackles while Ben Rehl is tied for the conference lead with five broken-up passes.
Last Time Out
Jamestown and Concordia St. Paul played each other for the first time ever last season, with the Jimmies pulling out of the Twin Cities with a 33-22 victory in what was their first and only win of the 2025 season.
UJ pulled all the way ahead 20-3 midway through the second quarter, then got out in front 33-10. A late comeback effort by the Bears was not enough with the Jimmies ending the game with a two-score win.
Cole Hentges had a huge performance with 197 passing yards and an 89-yard passing touchdown to Erasus Antaino. Hentges also rushed for three scores and 117 total yards. The Jimmies defense intercepted the Bears four times, including a pick-six by
Hershell Jefferson.
Total yards were won by Jamestown 375 to 337, including rushing yards 178-95. The Jimmies held CSP to 4-for-12 on third down conversions while going 9-for-17 themselves.
Team Stats
| |
Jamestown |
Concordia St. Paul |
| Record |
0-4, 0-3 NSIC |
2-2, 1-2 NSIC |
| Points / Game |
5 |
28 |
| Opp. Points / Game |
33.3 |
28.3 |
| Total Yards / Game |
212 |
350 |
| Passing Yards / Game |
90.3 |
209.8 |
| Rushing Yards / Game |
121.7 |
140.2 |
| 1st Downs / Game |
11.5 |
18.3 |
| 3rd Down Conversion Rate |
17.6% (10-56) |
32.1% (17-53) |
| 4th Down Conversion Rate |
33.3% (6-18) |
90.9% (10-11) |
| Avg. TOP / Game |
27:15 |
29:10 |
Following the home contest against the Bears, the Jimmies will next hit the road to play the University of Mary on Saturday, October 3 at 2 p.m.
