Box Score Kearney, Neb. – The Central Missouri Mules racked up 561 yards of total offense and scored touchdowns on five straight first half drives to beat Nebraska-Kearney, 56-0, Saturday afternoon at Ron & Carol Cope Stadium at Foster Field.
 
UCM (5-4, 4-4) wins for a third straight week and also takes a 3-2 series lead over the Lopers (3-6, 3-5).
 
Last year on "Senior Day" in Warrensburg, UNK upset the Mules, 24-18.  

This UCM squad is better, having suffered late losses to No. 2 NW Missouri State (26-23) and to No. 12 Missouri Western State (28-24), to start the year and then sustaining a 31-21 setback to current No. 7 Pittsburg State in October.
 
Former UNO QB Hayden Hawk, a 6-1 junior, finished 23 of 26 for 328 yards and four TD's. Over the first two quarters he directed TD drives of 71, 69, 59, 91, 38 and 48 yards to help UCM lead 42-0 at the break.
 
Senior backup QB Mike Petersen was no slouch either, going 7 for 7 for 78 yards. Senior Ronrei Lloyd (12 recep., 188 yds., one TD) and junior Anthony Kirkwood (eight recep., 91 yds., two TD's) were the recipients of most of these passes.
 
On the ground, UCM rushed 53 times for 155 yards and three scores. Junior back LaVance Taylor had 11 carries for 42 yards and then returned the second half kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown.  

He also started the scoring with an eight-yard run at the 9:36 mark of the first quarter.
 
On the first play of the second quarter, senior ILB Kellen Werner (Grand Island) and sophomore safety Boone Anderson (Milford) tackled Mule running back Evan Anderson for a one yard loss.
 
That pushed Werner's career total to 284, making him the Loper all-time leader in UNK's Division II era (1990-present). D.J. Vokolek made 283 tackles between the 1990-92 seasons.
 
Coming in with 280 tackles, Werner had 13 more today with his sidekick, redshirt freshman Tyke Kozeal (Sargent), at a game-high 17. He also recovered a fumble in the first half that was forced by senior linemen Jake Morten (Loomis).
 
Also on defense, Columbus safety Dillon Loschen had nine tackles, including three for a loss of 10 yards.  

Offensively, Omaha sophomore Bronson Marsh returned to the field for the first time since September 28th and was 8 of 15 for 99 yards and rushed 10 times for 33 yards.
 
As a team, UNK had 223 yards, 114 coming through the air.
 
Finally, sophomore back Romero Cotton (Hutchinson, Kans.) had 15 carries for 63 yards with junior Andre O'Neal (Miami, Fla.) and sophomore Austin Smith (Aurora) each catching four passes. O'Neal also had five kick returns for 128 yards.
 
Division II independent South Dakota Mines visits Kearney next Saturday at 12:00 p.m. That will be the Lopers final home game of the 2013 season.