ST. PAUL, Minn. – A late touchdown ruined an outstanding effort by the Macalester College football team in a 17-14 loss to visiting Concordia College Saturday afternoon in the final home game of 2025 at John Leaney Field at Macalester Stadium. The MIAC defeat drops the Scots to 3-6 overall and 2-6 in conference play, while the Cobbers improve to 6-3 overall and 5-3 in the MIAC.
The Macalester defense was the star in the first half, forcing the Cobbers to turn the ball over on downs twice in Scots territory and punt twice. In the first quarter, senior defensive back
Jude Wallin (Wayne, Pa./Radnor) intercepted a pass from Nick Walter for his second pick of the season. Macalester scored the only points of the first half, completing a 10-play, 74-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by senior running back
Vasco Sierra (Chicago, Ill./DePaul College Prep) for a 7-0 lead. Sophomore quarterback
Jack Scully (Menlo Park, Calif./Sacred Heart Prep) connected with first year receiver
Kelly Storms (San Anselmo, Calif./Marin Catholic) on completions of 14, 12 and 12 yards during the drive.
After a scoreless third quarter that saw the Scots punt twice and Concordia punt once, the Cobbers finally got on the scoreboard early in the fourth quarter with a 28-yard field goal by Mitchell Druley to make the score 7-3 Macalester. On the ensuing kickoff, junior
Boaz Lieberman (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) returned it 43 yards to the Concordia 43-yard line. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Cobbers moved the ball to the 28. Scully hit sophomore receiver
Paxton Boyd (Newton, Mass./Newton South) for completions of 15 and 14 yards, and first year running back
Brennan Litchford (Milwaukee, Wis./Ronald Reagan) ran it in from the 2-yard line for a 14-3 advantage with 11:22 remaining.
On the next possession, Concordia drove 55 yards on seven plays, capped by a 20-yard touchdown run by Jersey Selzler, to make the score 14-10 with 8:16 on the clock. The Scots gulped up a large chunk of the clock on their next possession, going 55 yards in 6:34. But the drive stalled when Scully was picked off by Kyle Mages on 4th-and-13 from the Concordia 20-yard line. With the ball at their own 26 and 1:42 left to play, the Cobbers responded quickly, with Selzler throwing a 63-yard pass to Alejandro Sanchez to the Macalester 11-yard line. Selzler eventually ran it in from the 2-yard line for the go-ahead touchdown with 32 seconds left.
Back-to-back completions from Scully to Boyd moved the ball 30 yards to the Cobber 35. But three incomplete passes in the final seconds ended the game in Concordia's favor, 17-14.
Scully was 14-of-25 for 188 yards and an interception, with Boyd catching six passes for 102 yards. Litchford rushed for 47 yards and a touchdown, and also caught three passes for 41 yards. On defense, sophomore linebacker
Dylan Jeppe (Glencoe, Ill./New Trier) had a team-best 10 tackles, with first year defensive back
Niko Zacharias (Seattle, Wash./Shorewood) registering eight tackles. First year linebacker
Asher Niemi (Meridian, Idaho/Rocky Mountain) recorded five tackles and three quarterback hurries, with sophomore defensive back
Jay Green (Roseville, Minn./Mounds Park Academy) breaking up three passes. Selzler threw for 147 yards and ran for 30 yards, while Mason Hughes rushed for 148 yards for the Cobbers.
The Scots honored their seniors as a part of Senior Day before the game.
Macalester closes out the 2025 season with a MIAC game at Gustavus on Saturday, Nov. 15. The game starts at 12:00 p.m. in St. Peter, Minn.
