Kearney, Neb. – Fourteen Loper seniors and a graduate student will wrap up their collegiate football careers when Nebraska-Kearney hosts rival Fort Hays State Saturday at Ron & Carol Cope Stadium at Foster Field.

The game kicks at 2:00 p.m. The contest can be heard live locally (KRNY 102.3 FM) and over the internet at www.krny.com. To watch the action, log on to UNK's Stretch Internet page; cost is $9.95 or $69.95 for a season pass. Finally, live stats will be available HERE.

The 63rd all-time meeting between UNK and Hays has postseason implications as the Tigers (6-4) have a shot at one of the two bowl games the MIAA has ties with. FHSU has won the last four meetings but still trails in the series, 34-26-1. Note the 1961 game, a 24-0 Tiger win, was forfeited by Hays.

Prior to the coin flip, UNK will honor the 2016 Senior Class, a group that includes a variety of positions and years of service.

The fifth-year seniors are offensive linemen Zach Beard (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.), Luke Browne (Ft. Lupton, Colo.) and Nick Wenz (Grand Island H.S.), linebacker turned defensive end Trey Andersen (Kearney H.S.), linebacker turned running back Andrew Jensen (Gretna) and linebacker Tyke Kozeal (Sargent).

Fourth-year juniors Conner Beard (tight end) and Jake Filsinger (offensive line) will be hanging it up after tomorrow with special team starters Payton Fluckey (Springfield) and Jacob Runge (Lincoln Southeast H.S.) having also spent the past four years in Kearney.

Next, starters Preston Foley (wide receiver/kick return), Antwan Hadley (corner/safety), Julian Navarrette (tight end/h-back) and Darian Thomas (corner) have all been Lopers the past two falls.

Finally, receiver D'Andre Hood (Hot Springs, Ark.) was UNK's first-ever graduate transfer. The former NAIA all-conference performer saw his lone UNK season cut short due to injury. 

These seniors will face a Tiger defense that ranks second in the MIAA in most categories. Last week, Hays bludgeoned Northwest quarterback Kyle Zimmerman en route to holding the Bearcats to season-lows in both points (28) and yards (318).

The headliners are senior linebacker Alex Schmidberger (124 tackles), senior end Sie Doe Jr. (15 TFL's, including 14 sacks, and five forced fumbles) and senior corner Raheeme Dumas (five INT's).

Hays allows just 22.7 points and 372 yards per game. They have forced 22 turnovers, racked up 31 sacks and the opposition to convert only 30% on third down.

Offensively, the Tigers are led by 2015 All-American running back Shaquille Cooper (5-10, 190 lbs.). He has over 2,400 career rushing yards and, this year, amassed 1,131 all-purpose yards and scored eight TD's.

Junior Jacob Mezera (6-4, 210 lbs.) has had a productive first-year as the starting QB, averaging 234 yards per game with 16 TD's and only six INT's. However, he was injured early last Saturday against the Bearcats. Senior Brad Schnecker (6-3, 200 lbs.) took over and may get the start against UNK. This year, he is 10 of 27 for 150 yards, one TD and one INT.

Cooper is one of six Tigers to have caught at least 21 balls this fall. Among the balanced corps is 6-2 redshirt freshman Layne Bieberle (396 yards & a team-best five TD's).

On special teams, junior Brandon Brown has made 31 of 33 PAT's and converted 15 of 21 field goals. Going 7 for 7 between 30-39 yards, Brown's 15 makes are tied for first in the MIAA.

He also shares punting duties with freshman Justin Flanagan. Brown has a 41.1 yard average and had one punt blocked with Flanagan coming in at 38.0 per punt with 11 landing inside the 20-yard line.
 

Finally, Hays has allowed an 83-yard punt return for a score but allows just 18.8 yards on kick cover.

The Lopers look to win at Cope for the second time this season and also win a season finale for the second time since joining the MIAA in 2012.
 
Offensively, junior receiver Malcolm Moore (Excelsior, Minn.) needs just four receptions to become the eighth Loper to have 60 in a single season. It's been a decade since any UNK player has reached the 60-catch total.
 
On the ground, sophomore workhorse Luke Quinn (Scottsdale, Ariz.) needs just 95 rushing yards to reach 1,000 in his young career. He has a team-best 896 all-purpose yards and had a hand in 13 of UNK's 26 offensive TD's.
 
Defensively, Kozeal is 13 tackles from reaching the ridiculous total of 600 for his career. And, with four TFL's, he'll break the school record of 53, set by linemen David Cunningham in the late 1990's.
 
The Lopers start spring ball in March 2017 and host Emporia State on Thursday, August 31st, to start the 2017 regular season.