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Bison alum makes first career catch in Lopers' home win
KEARNEY, Neb. – Quarterback TJ Davis rushed for two touchdowns and threw for another as Nebraska Kearney got past pesky Northeastern State, 31-17, Saturday night at Ron & Carol Cope Stadium.
This was UNK's home opener, and they'll remain at Foster Field next Saturday when Missouri Southern (1-1) comes to town. Kickoff is at 12 p.m.
The Lopers have now beaten the RiverHawks (0-2) six straight times to grab an all-time series lead of 9-4. However, this was tougher than the last five when the average score was 45-11.
"We knew Northeastern would be better. I told our players that we can never score watch. They have a good coaching staff, and I knew those guys would come in here and play hard," said head coach Ryan Held. "I know our guys are excited. In the MIAA when you win a game, it's great and hopefully this is the first one of many."
This marks Held's 53rd career head coaching win between UNK, Peru State, Southwestern Oklahoma State, Oklahoma Panhandle State, Northeastern Oklahoma A&M and Highland (Kan.) C.C.
Davis (Colorado Springs) had scoring runs of eight and 19 yards while tossing a 42-yard strike to Lincoln Southeast grad Severyn Foster late in the first half. While UNK didn't trail all night, NSU hung around thanks to 198 passing yards and recording stops at its own 17 and 24-yard lines in the first half. UNK Football 2023
"When you look at our first half, we didn't punt the ball once and punted only twice overall. We have to be able to score in the red zone so it should've been a better situation for us," said Held.
Davis finished with 115 yards on 19 carries while going 10 of 22 in the air for 195 yards. He completed passes to seven teammates with this his 16th career 100-yard rushing day.
His biggest play of the night came on a scramble to his right on 3rd & 8 from the Loper 47-yard line midway through the third quarter. With three 'Hawks chasing him, Davis managed to uncork a deep ball that fell into the hands of junior tight end Trayvon Moore (Hattiesburg, Miss.) for a 45-yard gain. Three plays later it was a 24-7 lead.
"This is a process. We're all learning about each other, learning about what our guys can do, trying to mix and match personnel," said Held. "They had a nice game plan where they moved the pocket, running some naked bootlegs and running a couple of trick plays."
To cap the night, UNK went on a 14-play, 60-yard drive early in the fourth quarter to make it 31-17. The drive, coming after Nebraska transfer Tyler Crawford had hit a 39-yard field goal, featured four third down conversions including a 16-yard scamper by Davis. True sophomore back Jammal Joseph (Miami) capped things with a one-yard plunge. He was the featured back on the drive; earlier, he blocked a punt that gave UNK the ball at the NSU 21-yard line. A 27-yard field goal from Nebraska transfer Gabe Heins made it a 10-7 ball game soon after.
"That's an off-season and summer drive. We had to find a way because they had some momentum," said Held. "Our guys were very business-like. We don't get shook and we did what we needed to do."
UNK out gained NSU by a 387-266 margin while having the ball for almost five minutes more. Next, the Blue & Gold converted on 10 of 16 third downs and got eight tackles for loss including three sacks from the defense.
Besides Davis, Joseph, grad transfer DeMareus Hosey (Justin, Texas), senior Kevin Brown (East St. Louis) and sophomore Zane Schawang (Waverly) combined for 20 carries for 76 yards with Brown and Joseph also catching passes. Next, Foster totaled 77 yards on two receptions with senior tight end D.J. Gross (McCook) having his first career grab for 32 yards.
On special teams, junior receiver Darrius Jackson (St. Louis) had 57-yard kick return with the defense led by Arizona senior safety Tre O'Guinn (nine tackles), Mullen senior tackle Tell Spies (five tackles, six-yard sack), Kearney redshirt freshman backer Parker Wise (four solo tackles, two TFL's) and Wahoo redshirt junior backer David Lilly (four solo tackles, eight-yard sack).
"The first two teams we've faced have done some unorthodox stuff on defense which challenges your rules. But I think our guys worked through it and were able to hit some shots," said Held. "Defensively there were a lot of good things, and they are still working through their personnel. There's still a lot of juice to squeeze to get better there."
Sophomore safety Amarion Partee made eight stops for the 'Hawks with QB Ben Ward going 15 of 25 for 125 yards, one TD and an interception to O'Guinn. He and backup Grant Elerick completed four passes to both sophomore receiver Will Bergner and junior receiver Drew Elerick with back Blake May running for 54 yards on 12 totes. Bergner also was 1 of 2 in the air with a 40-yard completion to sophomore receiver Devin Blaney.