Kearney, Neb. – The Nebraska Kearney football team has its home opener this Saturday night (Sept. 7) when the 22nd-ranked Northwest Missouri State Bearcats come to town.
The game kicks off at 7 p.m. with “Loper Fest” highlighting pregame festivities around Ron & Carol Cope Stadium. The 20th all-time meeting between UNK and Northwest can be heard live on KRVN/The River (93.1/106.9 FM).
Northwest holds a 15-4 series edge and has taken 10 of the last 11 matchups between the two. However, UNK upset the Bearcats, 24-17, back in 2019 and almost did it again three years later at Foster Field but fell, 28-24. In that game, it was 1st and goal from the Bearcat eight-yard with three and change left but the Lopers couldn’t punch it in.
Last Thursday night, UNK won against rival Chadron State, 18-6, while Northwest fell at home to 13th-ranked Minnesota State, 36-22. The AFCA Division II poll didn’t publish a poll this week, so preseason rankings remain.
Former Dana College coach Rich Wright is 59-18 in his ‘Cats tenure and has another veteran defense and special teams to rely on. End Jake Fisher and corner Cahleel Smith both earned 2023 first-team All-MIAA honors and are two of the nine senior starters. That group includes punter Cole Lammel, kicker Noah Guastella and two offensive linemen.
Northwest is young in the offensive skill positions with junior Chris Ruhnke about to make his third career start at quarterback. He beat Lincoln last year and threw for 268 yards and three touchdowns against Mankato. The most experienced play makers are junior back Tank Young and senior receiver John Giagiari with junior receiver Luke Mathews having 105 yards and a score last Thursday.
Against the Mavericks, Northwest fell behind 29-0 but scored on three straight drives to make it 29-22 early in the fourth quarter. The ‘Cats defense also registered a rare safety to get the comeback started. However, MSU used a 12-play, 74-yard TD drive to salt things away.
In Chadron, the Lopers got out to an 18-6 halftime lead over the Eagles with neither team scoring in the second half. Grad transfer QB Reagan Jones (Wichita) hit grad transfer receiver Shane Dailey Jr. (Bellevue) and senior receiver Reggie Anderson (Gaithersburg, Md.) for scoring strikes with redshirt freshman kicker Trey Prichard (Monument, Colo.) tallying six points. He made a 25-yard field goal, a PAT and ran for a two-point conversion.
Jones is no stranger to Northwest as this will be his third meeting against the old rivals. He threw for 293 total yards against the ‘Cats in starting the 2022 contest for Missouri Western and serving as the backup in 2021.
Defensively, UNK was paced by ends Quillan Felton (Lithonia, Ga.) and Josh Davies-Balogun (Richmond, Texas) at Chadron. They combined for 13 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and a fourth quarter sack. CSC had a chance to get back into things midway through the third quarter but linebacker Parker Wise (Kearney), safety Jamere Jones (Clayton, N.C.) and corner Jabea Tilong (Aurora, Colo.) each had interceptions on successive drives. The picks came at the Loper 20, 13 and 10-yard lines.
On special teams, graduate kicker Kyle Failing (Port Orchard, Wash.) averaged 61.8 yards on kickoffs with redshirt freshman Marty Mormino (Omaha Westside) pitching the ball to Prichard on that two-point play while having landing four punts inside the Eagles 20-yard line.
UNK has a bye week on Sept. 14, its first off week since a first-round playoff bye in the 2011 playoffs (Nov. 19). The last bye week during the regular season came on Sept. 11, 2010.
