Box Score
SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- The Notre Dame Falcons hung with the red hot Mountain Lions of Concord University at Mueller Field on Saturday afternoon, but in the end, Concord pulled away with a 30-14 victory.

Notre Dame (4-6, 3-5 MEC) has now lost two in a row at their brand new on campus facility, while the win for Concord (8-2, 7-1) was their fourth in a row, and gives them a chance to win the Mountain East Conference Championship at home against Shepherd next week. 

The Falcons were unable to capitalize on some of Concord's mistakes. The Mountain Lions were penalized 11 times for 147 yards on the day, but penalties affected both teams, as NDC was flagged nine times for 95 yards. 

Penalties popped up right away, and shot the Falcons first.  Notre Dame had a 55-yard interception returned for a touchdown from Jake Chestnut on Concord's opening drive taken away by an offsides penalty.  Five plays later, Concord took the lead on a 12-yard touchdown rush from Sam Wright. 

Notre Dame tied the game later in the first quarter.  They put together a 16-play, 57-yard drive that resulted in a bizarre touchdown, and was continued by a trio of Concord penalties.

The Mountain Lions committed three penalties inside the 10-yard line, before Pedro Powell took the ball to the goal-line, but fumbled the ball before he got into the end zone. Thankfully for NDC, offensive tackle Doniel Gambrell was there to fall on the loose ball.  The extra point was blocked, keeping the Mountain Lions ahead.

Concord capitalized on NDC's first turnover of the game a few minutes later.  Mike Carey picked off a Ray Russ pass near the midfield stripe with 8:42 left in the opening half, and five plays later, quarterback Ben Nester scored his first of three touchdowns on the day, with a three-yard touchdown run to put the Mountain Lions up, 14-6. 

Going into the half, the Falcons held a 15:38-14:22 advantage in time of possession, but that changed in the second half, when the Concord ground game got going. 

Notre Dame was able to tie the game on their first drive of the second half.  After the Falcon defense forced a three-and out, Notre Dame struck on the longest scoring play of the afternoon.  Russ found Colton Wallace wide open in the end zone for a 41-yard touchdown pass with 10:42 left in the third quarter, and Russ hooked up with tight end Ray J. Brown to convert the two-point conversion to tie the game at 14-14. 

Penalties on the ensuing kickoff pushed Concord all the way back to their eight yard line, but their offense responded in a big way.  The Mountain Lions went 92 yards on 12 plays, and scored on Lester's one-yard touchdown rush with 4:20 left in the third quarter to regain the lead. 

Down seven (21-14) at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Notre Dame defense came through again, when Cedric Hill picked off Concord quarterback Brian Novak near midfield, and two plays later, Notre Dame brought the ball inside the Concord 30-yard line, but the drive stalled, and they were forced to punt. 

Andy Ellington hit a 52-yard field goal for Concord with 7:13 left to give them a 24-14 advantage, and the Mountain Lion defense forced the Falcons to punt on their next drive.  Notre Dame blocked a 35-yard field goal attempt to keep their hopes alive with less than four minutes left, but Davon Marion's interception with less than three minutes to play sealed the victory.

Notre Dame had the ball for less than 10 minutes of the second half, as the Mountain Lions dominated time of possession. 

Individually, Jack Foy stood out with a third consecutive double digit reception performance, hauling in 11 passes for 61 yards on the afternoon.  Mikhail Morgan hauled in three passes for 41 yards and Brown had five catches for 41 yards. 

Powell was held to 40 yards rushing on 18 carries, as the Falcon ground game was limited to 38 yards on 24 carries.  Russ led the NDC aerial attack completed 23-of-35 passes for 175 yards a touchdown and a couple of interceptions. 

The Falcons will finish their 2013 season next Saturday, Nov. 16, when they head to West Liberty, W.Va., for a meeting with the Hilltoppers.  Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.