Kearney, Neb. – The Nebraska-Kearney defense got back-to-back sacks from sophomore end Hinwa Allieu in the closing moments to post a 44-40 win over the Loper offense Saturday at Ron & Carol Cope Stadium at Foster Field.

A crowd of around 1,500 watched the 1.5 hour, 90-play scrimmage that pitted the offense (blue jerseys) against the defense (white jerseys). Points were awarded to each side for scores, first downs, turnovers, sacks, and three and outs. This was the first "game" UNK played under head coach Josh Lynn, who took over in January.

"The defense flew around and got after it today. It was a great effort on that side of the ball and I also thought we tackled well at times. They really controlled the interior line of scrimmage," said Lynn.

While the defense led most of the way, including 27-13 at the half, the offense made a late charge to tie things up at 40. The first team offense took the field with 4:30 left and picked up three first downs, getting point 40 after sophomore Lorenz Allen (Manatee, Fla.) ran 13 yards on 2nd and eight.

With reliable senior kicker Brendan Wentling (Grand Island H.S.) already having converted a 37-yard field goal, the offense whittled the clock down and tried to get into his range. After a one-yard plunge by sophomore back Thomas Russell (Millard West H.S.), the offense had the ball at the White 27-yard line.

Allieu (Gaithersburg, Md.), who managed 45 tackles as a true freshman in the fall, recorded sacks of eight and seven yards to tally the final points. Sophomore quarterback Steve Worthing (Elkhorn South H.S.) and the offense had one final chance to win but a 42-yard "Hail Mary" pass was broken up in the end zone by a host of defensive backs.

"We got going there late but we have to establish things earlier. We have to control the line of scrimmage and get our running backs going," said Lynn. "Offensively, we want to establish the run game. Give credit to the defense; we weren't getting a lot of movement inside. I think that was the focal point of our struggles early on."

Lynn's pistol-option offense finished with 63 carries for 241 yards and two scores. Five different QB's played and combined to go 12 of 26 for 243 yards, two TD's and no INT's. They were sacked a combined four times and 11 penalties were called, including nine on the offense.

"We're running a new offense and things like chop block penalties … we have a lot of things to clean up. With what we do, we always talk about staying on schedule. Anytime you get a 10-yard penalty, it gets you off schedule. You have to go to something else instead of relying on a four or five yard runs," said Lynn.
 
Defensively, a new 3-4 scheme managed 14.0 tackles behind the line of scrimmage for a loss of 51 yards. The unit also forced two fumbles, the second resulting in a TD as sophomore OLB Zach Pierre (Canoga Park, Calif.) scooped up a loose ball at the Blue 40-yard and raced for the score. Fellow sophomore OLB Zach Sullivan (Millard West H.S.) caused the turnover midway through the fourth quarter.

Individually, Russell carried the ball 23 times for 89 yards and redshirt freshman back Dayton Sealey (Adams Central H.S.) totaled 50 yards and one TD on 14 carries. Among the QB's, sophomore Alex McGinnis (Crete) had a 34-yard scamper and one-yard scoring plunge.

McGinnis also threw a 52-yard scoring pass to redshirt freshman receiver Breon Michel (Colo. Springs, Colo.) in the second quarter with redshirt freshman QB Logan Anderjaska (Millard West H.S.) hitting sophomore receiver Austan Daniels (Omaha Burke H.S.) for a 51-yard TD right after Pierre's score.

Worthing finished 4 of 8 for 57 yards with redshirt freshman Dylan Reifeis (Evergreen, Colo.) 4 of 9 for 51 yards. McGinnis had a team-best 89 yards as his other completion went 37 yards to Daniels and setup a TD to begin the fourth. Finally, Allen, Daniels, Michel, junior tight end Alex Harms (North Platte H.S.) and sophomore receiver Barry Moore (Gainesville, Fla.) had two catches apiece.

"We'll make a decision on the starting QB early in fall camp," said Lynn. 

Defensively, eight players had between five and eight tackles. Redshirt freshman ILB Quinn Brummer (Millard West H.S.) had a team-high eight (four solo), Sullivan had seven (six solo) as did redshirt freshman OLB Brendan Folk (North Platte H.S.) and sophomore ILB Rakid Hill (Florissaint, Mo.).

Besides Allieu's 2.5 tackles for loss, Folk managed two with senior corner Justin James (Charlotte, N.C.) one of five Lopers to break up a pass.

"We had a great spring season, especially this being our first one. I was really proud of our young men's attentiveness when it came to meetings. And not once did we have to coach effort. Good things will happen when you have guys flying around and going hard as they can," said Lynn.

UNK begins fall camp in early August.

Scoring Summary
 

2nd	03:20	UNKB	Brendan Wentling 37 yd field goal
			10 plays, 36 yards, TOP 5:49
	02:19	UNKB	Breon Michel 52 yd pass from Alex McGinnis (Brendan Wentling kick)
			3 plays, 65 yards, TOP 1:01
3rd	00:00	UNKB	Dayton Sealey 1 yd run (Brendan Wentling kick)
			10 plays, 43 yards, TOP 3:40
4th	10:05	UNKB	Alex McGinnis 1 yd run (Brendan Wentling kick)
			8 plays, 65 yards, TOP 4:50
	08:45	UNKW	Zach Pierre 40 yd fumble recovery
	07:09	UNKB	Austan Daniels 51 yd pass from Logan Anderjaska (Brendan Wentling kick)
			3 plays, 50 yards, TOP 1:36