NORTHFIELD, Minn. — The Carleton College football team closed its season with a 17-14 victory over Concordia-Moorhead on Senior Day at Laird Stadium. The Knights finished the season 7-3 for the second straight campaign. This is the first time that Carleton has won at least seven games in back-to-back seasons since 1988 and 1989.
 
Carleton (7-3, 5-3 MIAC) came up with six defense turnovers for the first time since Oct. 13, 2018 at Augsburg. The Knights scored their two touchdowns after a pair of first-half takeaways.
 
"What a day!" said Carleton head coach Tom Journell. "With the leadership of our 27 seniors, our program took the next step. Winning 14 games in two years had only happened twice before in our 139-year history; today we made it No. 3 (see chart below). Our defense played lights out, taking the ball away six times. We didn't turn it over on offense, and our kicking game was superb today. It was a total team win."
 
Concordia (5-5, 3-5 MIAC) looked to take the early lead but a 60-yard touchdown pass was negated by an offensive penalty. Two players later, things got worse for the Cobbers when Carleton safety Henry Detmer (Jr./River Forest, Ill./Oak Park and River Forest) picked off Cooper Mattern's pass and raced 42 yards the other way for a touchdown.
 
The Cobbers' next drive was cut short when Mattern fumbled. The Knights recovered but could not take advantage.
 
Ryan Flanagan (Sr./Chappaqua, N.Y./Horace Greeley) came up with the defense's third takeaway in as many possessions, with an interception at the Carleton 39-yard line.
 
The Knights moved down the field but had a touchdown of their own called back due a penalty. Two plays later Jonathan Singleton (Sr./San Martin, Calif./Live Oak) found Will Irons (Sr./San Francisco, Calif./Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory) in the end zone for a six-yard touchdown that doubled the lead to 14-0.
 
Neither team scored until the third quarter, when Trent Ramirez (Sr./Denver, Colo./George Washington) drilled a season-best 45-yard field goal for the Knights midway through the third quarter. That kick provided what proved to be the game-winning points.
 
Concordia tried to rally behind a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes from Mattern, one a short connection with Jake Evans early in the final period and the other a 41-yard toss to Owen Miller. The second of those scores came with 7:04 left in the game, but the Cobbers never got the ball back as Carleton put together a 14-play drive to bleed off the remaining time.
 
On that final drive, Aiden Chang (Sr./Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) and Singleton ran a combined nine times to keep the clock moving. Singleton added pass of nine and seven yards to Ntense Obono (So./Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence) and a nine-yard dart to Nathan Streiff (So./New Glarus, Wis./New Glarus).
 
With under two minutes remaining, Singleton converted a fourth-and-one to seal the win.
 
Singleton was 22-of-33 for 178 passing yards and the touchdown. Obono posted career bests of 10 receptions and 92 yards. Chang had 55 yards on 21 carries.
 
Adam Nik (Sr./Mankato, Minn./Eden Prairie) paced the Carleton defense with 11 tackles and forced a fumble and recovered another. Noah Eckersley-Ray (Sr./Yarmouth, Maine/Yarmouth) add eight stops with a sac, a forced fumble, and interception.
 
Most wins in back-to-back seasons
15   --   1992 (9) and 1993 (6)
14   --   1988 (7) and 1989 (7)
14   --   2021 (7) and 2022 (7)