ANN ARBOR, Mich. – It was a tale of two halves in Missouri Baptist University's MSFA Mideast matchup at No. 11-ranked Concordia University Ann Arbor. The Spartans were overpowered in the second quarter and that was all the Cardinals needed to avoid a hiccup during their 28-7 Homecoming win on Saturday afternoon.
 
With the loss, the Spartans dropped to 2-5 overall and 1-2 in the MSFA Mideast League. Meanwhile, CUAA improved to 6-1 overall and still have a perfect record in conference play at 3-0.
 
Receiving the ball to start the game, the Spartans started at their own 8-yard line and managed to chew up nearly 10 minutes of clock. With a manageable 43-yard field goal attempt and a chance to get on the board first, the Spartans came up empty on the long drive when Ethan Metzler's low kick was blocked by the Cardinals.
 
The Cardinals capitalized with a 2-yard TD run by Joe Conner.  On MBU's second drive, the Spartans marched down the field and capped it off with a Chase Brown-Isaiah King connection to even the game at 7-7. Rolling out to his right, QB Chase Brown delivered a perfect pass to the sidelines where Isaiah King pulled it in right before falling out of bounds for his 20^th career receiving TD.
 
Concordia quickly answered in the matter of three plays: a 50-yard pass play, a minimal gain, and then a 13-yard rush from change-of-pace back Omar Sinclair to give the Cardinals a 14-7 advantage early in the second.  
 
Continuing to move the chains on offense, the Spartans coughed up the ball uncharacteristically on a Chase Brown pass that was taken the distance by Concordia linebacker Amaan Payne for a 50-yard pick-six and 21-7 lead.
 
Right before the end of the half, the Cardinals delivered a huge blow to the Spartans as they converted a 4^th-and-11 from the 28 into a touchdown. Concordia QB Roger Engle heaved the ball up and on a well-covered play, WR Roderick Dailey high-pointed the ball for a highlight reel catch. The Cardinals led 28-7 at halftime.
 
Both defenses contained each other in a scoreless second half. Working deep out of its own territory, the Spartan offense totaled just 63 yards after the break and barely penetrated the stout Concordia defense.
 
For the MBU defense, the Spartans started the second half off with a spark beginning with back-to-back sacks. The second sack resulted in a LaMarcus Goodwin fumble recovery and 14^th forced turnover of the year. Missouri Baptist has recorded at least one takeaway in each of its seven games this year.
 
Statistically, the Spartans held an edge over the Cardinals in several categories including total offense (285 - 283), first downs (18 - 15), third-down conversions (50%-37.5%) and time of possession (35:38-24:22). The MBU defense, which held the MSFA's leading rusher Joe Conner under his season average, also recorded four sacks on the day.
 
Chase Brown finished the game with 148 yards passing (17-of-23), 1 TD and 1 INT along with 45 yards rushing. Running back Chris Baldwin (18 car., 92 yards) had fewer carries than in weeks past and came up eight yards shy of his fourth consecutive 100-yard rushing game. Roosevelt Henderson and Isaiah King had the lion's share of receptions combining for 128 of the 148 yards and 13 of the 17 receptions.
 
Defensively, Collin Thomas led the Spartans in tackles with 9. Fellow linebackers Dacorey McGee and Joey Morones were also busy with seven tackles apiece with former recording a game-high 2.5 tackles for loss.
 
Next week, MBU heads to Fort Wayne, Ind. For its final road game of 2018 to take on two-time defending national champion University of Saint Francis. Game time is set for 11 a.m. CT.