Box Score Kearney, Neb. - The Truman State football team scored 13 unanswered points and recorded seven sacks to beat Nebraska-Kearney, 16-7, Saturday afternoon at Ron & Carol Cope Stadium.
 
This was the first-ever meeting between the Bulldogs (4-2, 3-2 MIAA) and the Lopers (0-6, 0-6 MIAA). It may be the last as Truman is moving into the Great Lakes Valley Conference next season.
 
At the start of the second quarter, UNK grabbed the momentum as sophomore back Ricky Trinidad (Trinity, Fla.) raced 42 yards down the left side of the field. On the tackle, Truman was called for a personal foul penalty, moving the ball to the Bulldog eight.
 
On the next play, junior back Stephan Rush (Merna) ran into the end zone to give the Lopers its first lead in the first half since the 2011 regular season finale. The run also capped a seven play, 92-yard drive.
 
Four minutes later, true freshman quarterback Sean Flanagan (Golden, Colo.) found his brother, Tommy, for a 38-yard pass play on 2nd and 23 from the Loper-17 yard line.  Two plays later, UNK faced a 3rd and 6 from the Truman 41.
Bulldog All-American safety Michael Elliott turned the momentum back to his team as he picked off Flanagan after it looked like a Loper receiver fell down.

The very next play, TSU junior QB Conrad Schottel threw a 66-yard pass to 6-3 junior receiver Dallas Grier.
That set up a 12-yard scoring pass from Schottel to 6-4 senior receiver Brett Nagel and made the score 10-7 Truman with 6:10 to play in the first half.
 
The 'Dawgs capped the scoring the next time they touched the ball as they went 50 yards in four plays. Grier caught a 16-yard pass on 2nd and 10 from midfield and then finished the drive with a 20-yard scoring catch.
 
The 2011 All-MIAA receiver ended the game with 11 receptions for 178 yards and one TD. Schottel, going 24 of 42 for 273 yards, two TD's and no interceptions, also completed a pass to seven other receivers.
 
After that score early in the second quarter, UNK's next seven drives resulted in five punts and two interceptions.
 
The Lopers were on the move at the start of the fourth quarter as Trinidad caught a 19-yard pass and three subsequent runs put the ball near midfield. However, Truman forced a fumble on the next play, recovering the loose ball at its own 34-yard line.
 
Thanks to five completions by Flanagan, UNK went 61 yards on its final drive. However, the game ended with an incomplete pass from the Bulldog eighteen.
 
Due to those fourth quarter drives, Kearney out gained Truman, 334-331 yards. The Bulldogs did have a nearly seven minute advantage in time of possession and were plus three in the turnover battle.
 
Besides Schottel and Grier, Nagel had five catches for 46 yards, running back Will Mosquera had 23 carries for a team-high 43 yards, sophomore linebacker Connor Nagel had 1.5 sacks and safety Richie Schumacher had a team-best 12 stops.
 
In his first collegiate start, Flanagan was 13 of 23 for 201 yards, two INT's and no TD's. He did gain 59 yards rushing but the sacks brought his net total down to six.
 
Playing for the first time since early September, Trinidad ran for 110 yards on 16 carries. Also coming back from the disabled list was senior

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Forcing Truman to punt seven times, the Loper defense saw senior box safety Pete Kropp (Grand Island) and junior ILB Kellen Werner (Grand Island) each make 11 tackles with senior end Dex Schwieger (Aurora) having three tackles, including a sack, three QB hurries and a pass breakup.
 
Finally, junior end Matt Bowman (Kearney Catholic) had eight tackles, two pass break ups and one QB hurry.
 
UNK travels to Jefferson City, Mo., next weekend to face Lincoln University. The Blue Tigers are also 0-6 on the season.