Story by: UNK Athletic Communications
– Redshirt senior quarterback Aidan Thompson threw for 221 yards, junior Deven Sungren had 144 receiving yards, and senior punter Triston Hite had a big night to help Chadron State hold off Nebraska Kearney, 24-21, Thursday in Chadron.
In the 75th meeting between the longtime rivals, the Eagles (1-1) stop a six-game losing streak to the Lopers (0-2) and earn their first win in the series since 2008.
"We've lost two games by four points. We got down 24-7 and could've folded but came back and put ourselves in position to win," said UNK head coach Ryan Held on the KRVN Radio post-game show. "We did some really good things offensively in the second half, but this was another team loss. Both sides of the ball didn't hold up the standard at the times they needed to."
Thompson tossed a 55-yard pass to Sundgren midway through the second quarter and right after UNK had scored its first touchdown of the game. Two plays later senior Daytuawn Pearson dove in from a yard out to put the Eagles back up by two scores, 17-7. Early in the second half, Thompson hit Pearson for an 88-yard TD, and it suddenly was a three-score game.
UNK dusted itself off and promptly got back into the game with TD drives of 75 and 89 yards, respectively. Junior QB Devin Tate (Oxnard, Calif.) used a stiff arm to break off a 29-yard run on 4th & 1 from the Loper 44-yard line. After converting a 3rd & 5 from the Eagle 22, Tate ran it in from four yards out. The Loper defense followed with a three-and-out, but Hilte boomed a 70-yarder to pin UNK at its own 11-yard line. He finished the night with a 45.3 average and four of six attempts landing inside the red zone.
Tate and the offense marched down the field, getting the Eagles to jump offside twice and getting a pass interference call. On 3rd & 3 from the Chadron 27-yard line, Tate called his own number again and ran for his third TD of the year.
"Devin is a good player, and we've just got to keep getting him right. Keep putting him in position to be successful," said Held. "Both punters were kicking bombs tonight. It was Reggie Roby out there."
However, on the game's next drive, CSC converted on 3rd & 4 from its own 32-yard line with a 15-yarder on the Lopers moving the ball close to midfield. While the defense got a stop, Hilte pinned the UNK offense at its own five-yard line. The Blue & Gold went three-and-out and punted the ball away with 4:37 remaining. The Eagles converted 3rd & 6 from their own 43 with another 15-yarder on the Lopers adding insult to injury. Finally, Thompson threw a four-yard pass to senior right Koye Gibert on 3rd and 4 to salt things away.
"You're not going to win these close games with some of the mistakes (penalties) we made. I told our team that (Chadron) would rebound and be better. These Nebraska teams play hard," said Held. "Defensively, we're not getting as many three-and-outs. Teams are getting first downs and changing field position on us."
Chadron out gained UNK by a 330-292 margin with the Lopers running four more plays. While the Lopers were 3 for 3 on 4th down, they were 4 of 14 on 3rd down with the Eagles a solid 7 of 14. Finally, the Eagles turned an interception deep in UNK territory into a 24-yard field goal and a 10-0 lead.
Thompson finished 13 of 22 and ran for 26 yards and a score with Pearson and fellow running back Devin Rivers combing for 79 yards. Next, Sundgren had three catches with linebackers Jarred Marquez (11 tackles) and Cooper Walton (eight) pacing the defense.
"We got to figure that out (slow starts). That's two weeks in a row we've been terrible coming out. And then, later on, we're like gangbusters and we're rolling," said Held. "You can't play football that way. I don't know what it is; we switched up the schedule this week, so we went out and ran around this morning. We've been anemic in the first half, especially offensively, and you can't do those things."
For UNK, Tate was 19 of 29 in the air for 142 yards while running 13 times for 96 yards. Graduate tight end Mufasa Stallings (Magnolia, Miss.) had his best game as Loper, having three catches for 38 yards and running over several Eagles with sophomore receiver Alex Parks (Overland Park, Kan.) at six catches for 53 yards. Finally, Mormino (47.5 avg.; two of six attempts inside the red zone) matched Hite in the punt game with linebacker Dylan Jordan (Pittsburg, Kan.) at 11 tackles and end Weston Heinemann (Bennington) having one of UNK's four TFL's.
"We're not a bad football team; I think we're a good football team but unfortunately, we're 0-2. We're kind of at a crossroads, kind of at a fork in the road and what do we want this year to look like," said Held.
UNK is off next Saturday and then is at Emporia State (1-0) Sept. 19. The Hornets face Pittsburg State this weekend and then host Michigan Tech Sept. 12.