Box Score Kearney, Neb. – The 7^th-ranked Nebraska-Kearney football team forced five turnovers and used another balanced offensive attack to beat Adams State, 37-14, Saturday afternoon in Alamosa, Colo.
 
Playing in front of a Homecoming crowd at Rex Field, the Lopers (5-0, 3-0 RMAC) reach the 5-0 mark for the first time in 44 years. In 1967, then-Kearney State went a perfect 9-0.
 
The hard luck Grizzlies, meanwhile, fall to 2-3 (0-3 RMAC). They lost to No. 14 Colorado State-Pueblo, 20-11, to begin league play and then missed a 38-yard field goal as time expired last Saturday at Chadron to lose 14-13.
 
Becoming the first team to score more than 20 points against Adams, UNK didn't roll up 600 yards for a fifth straight week but got close, finishing with 492 yards. That included 238 on the ground and 254 in the air.

Adams came in allowing just 228 yards, tops in the RMAC. Offensively, the Grizzlies tallied carried the ball 30 times for just 64 yards and went 24 of 42 through the air.
 
The Loper defense frustrated ASC right out of the gates as senior corner Arthur Hobbs (San Diego, Calif.) picked off junior Trevor Eggleston in the UNK end zone on the sixth play of the game.
 
This marks Hobbs' fifth interception of the fall. Adams had driven 58 yards in six plays before the turnover.
 
UNK, however, fumbled the ball two plays later so the Grizzlies got another chance to score. This time, sophomore corner Kenny Hill (San Diego, Calif.) tipped a pass that sophomore ILB Kellen Werner (Grand Island) caught in the end zone for another touchback.
 
Later in the quarter, Adams had another chance to score but missed a 44-yard field goal.
 
In its first six drives, the Lopers not only had that fumble but also punted four times. The other drive was a 13 play, 73-yard march that lasted 3:21 and made it a 7-0 game.
 
The key play came when Adams intercepted senior QB Jake Spitzlberger (Lakewood, Colo.) but that was wiped out due to a pass interference call. Spitzlberger called his own number, from a yard out, to finish the long drive.
 
Adams took the ensuing kickoff and went 77 yards in 12 plays, tying things up on a one yard run by running back Terjean Saffold. Ironically, UNK picked off Eggleston but a pass interference call wiped the pick off and Adams retained possession.
 
After scoring that one TD, UNK punted the next two times it got the ball. Kearney ended the half on a good note with a 41-yard drive that ended when redshirt freshman Nic Stoll (Marysville, Kans.) banged home a 34-yard field goal.
 
Stoll has replaced the injured Michael Gruber (San Diego, Calif.) as the Lopers starting kicker.
 
In the second half, the Lopers scored the first three times it touched the ball. After a 46-yard drive ended with a punt, UNK tacked on two more TD's, and a Stoll field goal, in the fourth quarter to put the game on ice.
 
Sophomore back Stephan Rush (Merna) gave the Lopers a 17-7 lead after a one-yard plunge early in the third quarter. His run capped a 69-yard drive that featured a 23-yard catch by junior Adam Lehner (Hastings).
 
A 16-yard sack by junior defensive tackle Justin Thiel (Hastings) stopped the next Adams drive. After a 60 yard punt landed into the Loper end zone, Spitlzberger hooked up again with Lehner, this time for a 40-yard pass play.
 
Stoll capped the drive with a 37-yard field goal.
 
The Grizzlies remained in the game, however, as Eggleston threw a six-yard scoring pass to Dustin Bolt a few minutes later to make it a 20-14 score.
 
Early in the fourth, Werner picked off Eggleston inside Adams territory. Four straight carries by Rush moved the ball down the field and then Spitzlberger ran 16 yards for a score and 13 point lead.
 
About five minutes later, sophomore ILB Rashard King (Miami Beach, Fla.) recovered an ASC fumble at the Loper 45-yard line. This led to a nine play drive that ended with Stoll's third three pointer of the game.
 
The final Loper points came after the defense stopped Adams on downs. A short drive ended when Spitzlberger hit junior Tommy Flanagan (Lakewood, Colo.) from 10 yards out.
 
Rush carried the ball 20 times for a career-high 105 yards and that one score. True freshman Ricky Trinidad (Trinity, Fla.), in his second collegiate game, had 14 totes for 55 yards along with two catches for 27 yards.
 
Spitzlberger, now a part of 101 TD's in his career (32 rushing and 69 passing), ran for 66 yards on 15 carries while going 21 of 36 in the air for 254 yards.
 
Eight different Lopers had at least one reception with Flanagan at eight for 55 yards and a score. Also, Lehner had four grabs for a game-high 104 yards.
 
Sophomore OLB Trey Wilberger (Scottbluff) paced the defense with nine tackles, including a sack for eight yards. Junior safety Sam Kuck (Central City) had seven solo stops among his eight tackles with UNK registering a total of eight TFL for a loss of 39 yards.

Adams saw Eggleston go 25 of 42 for 225 yards, three INT's and one TD and Dustin Bolt catch nine balls for 97 yards and a TD.

UNK hosts Chadron State, on NET, next Saturday.