Box Score Kearney, Neb. - Sophomore quarterback Brent Wilson threw four touchdowns and the Emporia State defense came up with several stops in the fourth quarter to hold off Nebraska-Kearney, 34-21, Thursday night in Emporia, Kans.
 
The Hornets improve to 2-0 (2-0) while the Lopers fall to 0-2 (0-2). ESU has now won six straight to trail in the all-time series, 11-7.
 
Wilson, who accounted for five scores last Thursday at Fort Hays State, helped Emporia get out to leads of 21-0 and 34-7 as he tossed scoring passes of five, 11, 29 and 46 yards in the first half. He finished 23 of 34 for 297 yards and also ran 16 times for 39 yards.
 
UNK seemingly had the ball the entire fourth quarter to finish with 434 yards on 91 plays. The Lopers had several chances to cut into the Hornet lead but saw three fourth quarter drives stall at the ESU 24, seven and 32 yard lines.
 
Two of the drives ended on fourth down, the other saw Emporia pick off a pass. UNK also failed on a fourth down from the ESU 24-yard line in the first half.
 
Having one of the busier days by a Loper signal caller in school history, sophomore Bronson Marsh finished 31 of 51 for 257 yards, two TD's and two INT's. For the second straight game, he was the team's leading rusher with 17 carries for 92 yards.
 
The 31 completions are three shy of the school record with the 51 attempts five short of the UNK mark.

Also on the ground, 2013 133 lbs. national champ Daniel DeShazer carried the rock 13 times for 51 yards with Merna senior Stephan Rush at 47 yards on just six totes.
 
All three Loper TD's were scored by true freshmen as Luke McNitt (Kearney H.S.) had two-yard run in the second quarter and caught a one-yard pass in the final minute. In the third quarter, Lincoln North Star graduate Noah Housh caught a 35-yard TD pass from Marsh.

The only other true freshmen to score TD's in the Darrell Morris era (2000-present) were RB's Rustin Dring and Ricky Trinidad and QB Sean Flanagan.

McNitt and Housh were two of the 10 Lopers to catch a pass from Marsh; only one of these players is an upperclassmen.
 
Defensively, Sargent redshirt freshmen inside backer Tyke Kozeal had 13 tackles with senior Kellen Werner (Grand Island) providing nine tackles, a blocked field goal and fumble recovery. This pair, along with Madison senior Drew Wagner, each came up with sacks.

Besides Wilson for Emporia, running back Dozie Iwuagwa ran 19 times for 123 yards and receivers Ray Ray Davis and Austin Willis combined for 14 catches for 230 yards and three scores. On defense, Jordan Sanders and Tariq Allen each had 13 tackles. 
 
UNK hosts nationally-ranked Missouri Western State next Saturday at 3:00 pm..