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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Clay McKenzie
35
Winner Emporia State ESU 7-4 , 7-4
28
Central Oklahoma UCO 7-4 , 7-4
Winner
Emporia State ESU
7-4 , 7-4
35
Final
28
Central Oklahoma UCO
7-4 , 7-4
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
ESU Emporia State 7 7 7 14 35
UCO Central Oklahoma 0 14 7 7 28

Game Recap: Football | | Chris Brannick

Bronchos Downed By Emporia State

EDMOND – The University of Central Oklahoma football team fell short in a feverish comeback attempt with a 35-28 loss to Emporia State at Wantland Stadium Saturday afternoon in Week 11 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association play.
 
The Bronchos took the opening drive of the game 74 yards to the Emporia 1-yard line before a fumble ended the drive. This became an unfortunate theme for Central Saturday. ESU responded with an 8-play, 99-yard scoring drive to go up 7-0.
 
"We turned the ball over and they didn't and you just can't win when you do that," UCO head football coach Nick Bobeck said after the game. "Part of our plan for success is ball control and we had done such a good job of that up to this point, but we didn't to a good job today and that's why we lost the game. I think we played really hard and were good enough to win, but you can't turn the ball over."
 
UCO responded with an 11-play, 75-yard drive to score a touchdown and tie the game, then took a 14-7 lead with 6:47 to play in the second quarter after a 10-play, 92-yard scoring drive.
 
But the next two Broncho possessions ended with fumbles and one of those resulted in ESU tying the game back up at 14, and Central missed a field goal – the equivalent of a turnover according to Bobeck – with eight seconds left in the first half.
 
Emporia then came out of the locker room after halftime and marched down the field in the blink of an eye to go up 21-14 with 14:09 to play in the third quarter. The Bronchos tied the game for the third time, 21-21, with 5:49 to go in the third, but a late rally by the Hornets ended UCO's hopes.
 
ESU scored the go-ahead score with 4:39 to play in the fourth, then grabbed an interception on the next drive and followed that with a 1-play, 46-yard scoring drive to go up 35-21 with 1:18 to play in the game.
 
Central got a late touchdown with just eight seconds left on the clock, but couldn't recover the onside kick and Emporia knelt on the final play for the win.
 
The Bronchos will await their postseason fate. Announcements on the NCAA Division II Playoffs and Bowl Games will be made Sunday. Central is 7-4 on the season, winning at least seven games for the fourth time in five seasons.
 
Clay McKenzie led the Bronchos Saturday. The sixth-year senior from Callisburg, Texas scored three of four touchdowns for UCO. He had a 7-yard receiving touchdown to tie the game 7-7 in the second quarter. He had a 6-yard rushing score to give Central a 14-7 lead in the second. And he added a 2-yard touchdown run to tie the game 21-21 in the third quarter.
 
McKenzie finished the day with 105 yards rushing on 28 carries and had one catch for seven yards. His 112 all-purpose yards moved him over the 4,000-yard mark for his career. McKenzie has 3,306 rushing yards to go with 743 receiving yards. He's just the fourth player in Central Oklahoma history to eclipse the 4,000-yard mark.
 
Will Collins found McKenzie for the first touchdown of the game. He found Ronald Monroe for the second. Collins was 25-for-42 with 265 yards and two touchdowns. He added 138 rushing yards on 24 carries.
 
Ronnie Turner had a game-high nine receptions. He finished with 81 yards. Dustin Basks, Tyrone Howell, and Monroe each had three catches.
 
The Broncho defense, which entered the game with three consecutive shutouts, was led once again by Colton Lindsey. The senior middle linebacker from Norman, Okla. had a team-high nine tackles including one sack. He also forced a fumble on that sack.
 
O'Shay Harris added eight tackles and Chris Pogi six. Pogi also had a sack, as did Noble Lybrand.
 
Central Oklahoma finished with 525 yards of offense, its second straight game with more than 500 and the fifth time in its last six games it had more than 400 yards of offense. It's 32 first downs Saturday was also a season-high.
 
 
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