In the first road conference test of the year, the Lopers took on their third straight ranked opponent in Central Missouri and fell 36-35.
The Lopers had a chance near the end of the game with just over two minutes left, driving to the Central Missouri 32-yard line. On fourth and five, Trey Prichard missed a 49-yard field goal and the Lopers had no timeouts left.
Coach Held said he felt good about how things came together at the end.
“I think the field goal would’ve been good but we got a little penetration and it hit one of our guys in the helmet,” Held said. “We had everything we wanted, we had the wind in the fourth and we drove down and put ourselves in a position to win the game and that’s all you can ask.”
UNK was down 27-7 at halftime after allowing 20 straight points from the Mules in the second quarter. The Lopers scored on their first third quarter possession on a four-yard Isaiah Harris rushing touchdown. UNK continued to battle back, closing the gap on a 23-yard passing touchdown from Reagan Jones to Tristen Hervey, a 78-yard touchdown pass from Jones to Tuni Fifita and eventually took a 35-30 lead thanks to an 88-yard pick six touchdown from Kendall Brewer.
UNK coach Ryan Held says he told his team at halftime that they just needed to get back to playing football.
“There’s no moral victories but at the end of the day the Lopers fought and gave ourselves a chance to win after getting boat raced in the first half,” Held said. “Last year we get beat by 50 in a game like that, and this year we take the lead but we still have those plays that you have to be able to execute at that moment.”
After UNK came all the way back, Central Missouri put together a 12-play 65-yard drive to take the lead with less than six minutes to go in the fourth. UNK ran into the punter on their ensuing defensive drive to give the Mules a first down that would end the game.
While Coach Held said there are no moral victories, there are great things to take away.
“It’s frustrating but pleasing to see an outfit come together,” Held said. “We were teetering, we were agitated. Guys were mad as they should be because they wanted to play well. Then we decided to finally start playing and looked pretty doggone good.”
Jones was again the bright spot on offense for the Lopers, going 14-23 with 238 yards and three passing touchdowns and leading UNK in rushing yards for the third straight week with eight carries for 74 yards.
While the defense forced a couple of turnovers, they struggled to get off the field allowing 37 first downs and 633 total yards of offense. Reigning Harlon Hill trophy winner Zach Zebrowski went 45-69 with 526 yards and five touchdown passes for Central Missouri.
David Lilly had the other interception for the Lopers, finishing second in tackles for UNK with 11.
UNK has their second and final non-conference game of the season, taking on 0-4 Southwest Minnesota State at 1 p.m. on Oct. 5.
