Kearney, Neb. – The Nebraska Kearney football team looks to get back on the winning track this Saturday with a road game at Missouri Western State.

The 25th all-time meeting between the Lopers (2-7, 2-7) and Griffons (5-4, 5-4) kicks off at 1:30 p.m. in St. Joseph. Check the Loper schedule page for media and ticket links.

MWSU has won five straight over UNK, by an average score of 36-21, but still trails in the series, 16-8. The Lopers last win over Mo Western came back in 1988, 29-14. The two programs met every year from 1970-88 and then played three out of conference tilts in the late 1990's.  

Last year at Cope Stadium, the Griffons got out to a 21-0 lead but needed a fake punt in the 4th quarter to keep a drive alive en route to a 31-19 victory.

Current junior running back Raphael Spencer finished with 171 yards on 27 carries for Western while Loper QB Bronson Marsh (Millard South H.S.) had himself a day. He finished with 435 total yards of offense, including rushing TD's of nine, 19 and 52 yards.

Both defenses will obviously be keyed in on Spencer and Marsh this Saturday. Spencer enters as the MIAA's third leading ball carrier (101.0 ypg) and needs 91 yards to record another 1,000 yard season. On the other side of the field, Marsh has had a hand in 20 of UNK's 21 offensive TD's and is among the national leaders in rushing yards (736) and rushing TD's (11) by a QB.

With Spencer leading the way, MWSU is seventh in the league in scoring (19.4) and 10th in total offense (296.6 ypg).

Redshirt freshman Skyler Windmiller (6-3, 190 lbs.) is completing 54% of his passes while throwing five TD's and nine INT's. Averaging 142 passing yards per game, he has been sacked only 16 times. The Griffon line features the offense's only senior starter in right tackle Christian Orduno (6-3, 295 lbs.).

A deep receiving corps has four different players between 20-27 catches, led by junior Stephon Weaver (27 recep., 363 yds., two TD's).

Marsh and Co. will try and navigate against one of the MIAA's top defenses. The Griffons, with six senior and four junior starters, have forced a staggering 23 turnovers (eight fumbles & 15 INT's) and recorded five TD's.

Having 65 TFL's, including 25 sacks, Western features senior backer Stephen Juergens (87 tackles, 8.0 TFL), senior safety Meshack Kennedy (74 tackles, three PBU's) and junior corner Michael Jordan (34 tackles, four INT's & eight PBU's).
 
Jordan is one of three Griffons to bring back a pick for six points with Juergens hav­ing one of the team's two fumble returns for scores. Finally, junior MLB Yomi Alli has a team-best 9.0 TFL with reserve backer Cody Lindsay first in sacks (4.5).
 
On special teams, senior John Schmiemeier has been one of the nation's busiest kickers, having made 15 of 21 field goals. That includes a 5 of 10 effort from beyond 40 yards, including a long of 50 yards. He also is 17 of 17 on PAT's and averages 57.7 yards on kickoffs.

There's no drop off in the punt game as Australian senior Scott Groner is one of the MIAA's best, averaging 42.1 yards an attempt with 13 travelling over 50 yards. Finally, starting receiver Josh Walker is the top return man, averaging 10.4 yards on the punt team and 29.5 on kick returns.
 
Besides limiting Spencer and working around the stout Griffon "D", UNK hopes to play a strong four quarters of football.

The Lopers have led Pittsburg State, Fort Hays State and Central Missouri at half time, only to lose each contest. Kearney also was tied with Washburn at the break, 7-7, and trailed Missouri Southern State, 7-3, at intermission and ended up dropping those games as well.

Limiting teams to just 79 points (8.7) in the first half this season, UNK has seen the opposition tally 170 (18.9) in the second half. Offensively, Kearney is averaging a little over 10 points in the 1st half while producing eight points in the 2nd half.

Besides Marsh, juniors Romero Cotton (Hutchinson, Kans.) and Allen Sampson (Tampa, Fla.) have been key parts of the offense. The nation's No. 1 wrestler at 197 lbs., Cotton has 139 carries for 610 yards (4.4 ypc) and one TD while Sampson leads UNK in catches (33) and receiving yards (337).

Defensively, sophomore ILB Tyke Kozeal (Sargent) needs just four tackles to break his single season school record of 118, set just last fall. Among the national leaders in tackles, Kozeal also has an MIAA-best three forced fumbles, four PBU's, four QB hurries, 15 TFL (2.5 sacks) and two rushes for 19 yards on two successful fake punts.
 
One of his running mates, redshirt freshman Devontay LeFlore (Omaha Central H.S.), is now third on the team in stops (48) from his strong safety/OLB spot. LeFlore is one of six true or redshirt freshmen that have made at least 10 tackles this year. Currently, UNK has just one senior starter on defense in end Matt Bowman (Kearney Catholic).
 
The Lopers do have a senior punter in Davis Brendel (Denver, Colo.). The former QB now is tied for fifth in UNK history, with Craig Wegner ('76), for career punt attempts (141). Besides his punting duties, Brendel has completed a 28-yard pass and rushed two times for a total of 10 yards on fake punts.

Next week, Kearney hosts Emporia State at 1:00 p.m. to close out the 2014 season. The Hornets are 4-5 heading into a home game with NW Missouri State.