Box Score Kearney, Neb. – The Nebraska-Kearney football team ran for 486 yards and seven touchdowns, and scored 59 unanswered points, to throttle the South Dakota Mines Hardrockers, 59-7, Saturday afternoon in Rapid City.

The Lopers (3-7) have won three in a row while Mines, a Division II independent, falls to 2-7.

Losing to a third MIAA team this season, the Hardrockers took the opening kickoff and went 65 yards in seven plays. Quarterback Mike Zanutto capped the 3:07 drive with a 43-yard swing pass to running back Jahmal Rover.

However, UNK quickly responded, needing just five offensive plays to tie the score. The 75-yard drive featured a 43-yard run by junior QB Matt Berry (McCook) and a seven-yard scoring jaunt by sophomore back Ricky Trinidad (Trinity, Fla.).

Junior corner Kenny Hill (San Diego, Calif.) setup the next score as he picked off Zanutto at the Mines 28. That led to a 37-yard field goal by Norfolk freshman Drew Farlee.

UNK's special teams then got into the act as senior free safety Sam Kuck (Central City) blocked his second punt of the year. Redshirt freshman defensive back Tannor Mroczek (Gothenburg) recovered the loose ball and, a few plays later, Trinidad scored his second TD to make it 17-7 with 4:18 left in the first quarter.

The Lopers tacked on one more score before the break and then scored 14 points in the third quarter and 21 more in the fourth.

Senior WR/RB Tommy Flanagan (Golden, Colo.) scored on runs of 10 and 30 yards with junior back Stephan Rush (Merna) and senior WR/QB Justin Drudik (Adams Central H.S.) also rushing for TD's. Flanagan's second score came after Berry ran for 17 yards and then pitched him the ball.

Finally, senior ILB Pat Kelly (El Cajon, Calif.) picked off QB Evan Sanders and raced 26 yards for the final score.

To record the fourth best rushing day in school history, UNK carried the ball 62 times with the seven scores a new school record. Over the last four weeks, Kearney has rushed for 1,409 yards (281.8 avg.) and 16 TDs.  

For a fifth straight game, Trinidad went over 100 yards as he rushed 22 times for 136 yards and those two scores. Berry, for the second consecutive Saturday, reached triple digits as he had 15 carries for 143 yards and one TD.

In the air, the lefty was 11 of 18 for 120 yards and one INT. Junior tight end Brett Klein (Scottsbluff) was his favorite target, catching three balls for 43 yards.

Back on the ground, Flanagan had 49 yards, sophomore back Cody Anthony (Alliance) had 48 and junior back Shad Bride (St. Johns, Ariz.) went for 47.

 The defense held Mines to 201 yards on 71 plays (2.8 avg.). The 'Rockers had just 18 yards rushing and Zanutto and Sanders combined to go 26 of 47 with three INT's.

Senior box safety Pete Kropp (Grand Island) was in on 10 tackles with senior end Dex Schwieger (Aurora) making seven stops, two behind the line of scrimmage. Overall, UNK had 12 TFL for 60 yards.

Finally, Kuck picked off his 10th career pass. Having four INT's this year, Kuck has returned his 10 INT's for 185 yards. He also moved into third place on the Loper career tackles list (now 246).

UNK hosts Fort Hays State next weekend at 12:30 p.m. The Tigers (4-6, 3-6) lost at home to Central Missouri, 14-12, on Saturday.