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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Dillon Hall
28
Winner Central Oklahoma UCO 1-1 , 1-1
23
Nebraska-Kearney UNKFB 1-1 , 1-1
Winner
Central Oklahoma UCO
1-1 , 1-1
28
Final
23
Nebraska-Kearney UNKFB
1-1 , 1-1
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
UCO Central Oklahoma 7 0 0 21 28
UNKFB Nebraska-Kearney 3 7 7 6 23

Game Recap: Football | | Chris Brannick

Another Dominant Fourth Quarter Propels Bronchos To Victory

KEARNEY, Neb. – The University of Central Oklahoma football team picked up its first win of the 2019 season Thursday night, using a huge fourth-quarter comeback to earn a 28-23 win over Nebraska-Kearney at Cope Stadium in Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association play.
 
The Bronchos trailed 17-7 entering the fourth quarter, but after UNK missed a field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter, the tables turned and Central moved to 1-1 on the season.
 
UCO head coach Nick Bobeck on the win:
 
"We needed to come from behind last week and we did, but came up short. And we needed to come from behind again tonight and we did, and fortunately, we stayed on top this time. That's a credit to our young men and their resolve. We need to play better all four quarters, but we'll take the win tonight."
 
UNK's missed field goal to start the fourth quarter was its second such of the game. The Bronchos then went 80 yards on 12 plays and scored on a Will Collins touchdown pass to Tyrone Howell to cut the lead to 17-14.
 
Central then had one of its best defensive series of the game, forcing a 3 & out. UNK gained a bit of momentum with a 64-yard punt, however, that only set up the biggest drive of the game for the Bronchos. UCO then went 93 yards on nine plays and scored a 5-yard touchdown run by Chandler Garrett to go ahead, 21-17.
 
If the 3 & out wasn't the biggest defensive stand of the game, the next drive was.
 
UCO first got a huge tackle on the kickoff, as Jakarri Hunt ran down and smothered the Loper return man at his own 10-yard line. Then on Kearney's first play from scrimmage, UCO knocked loose the ball and Dillon Hall picked up the fumble for the turnover. Garrett punched in another score two plays later from five yards out and UCO led 28-17.
 
Kearney made one last march down field to and scored to make it 28-23, but Daniel Baughman intercepted the two-point conversion attempt. Central Oklahoma then recovered the onside kick and took a knee for the win.
 
"Our defense played really well tonight," Bobeck said. "Kearney is so hard to stop and they eat up so much clock, and then they made some big plays too. But to hold them the way we did tonight was big for our defense. They deserve a lot of credit."
 
Hall led UCO's defensive effort with seven tackles on the night to go with his one fumble recovery. The senior from Edmond has two fumble recoveries in two games this season. O'Shay Harris and Jeremiah Hill each added six tackles. Marlo Hughes chipped in a pair of tackles behind the line scrimmage. UCO had five stops behind the line Thursday.
 
Nebraska Kearney got the ball first Thursday and drove 67 yards on nine plays and ended the drive with a field goal to go up 3-0. Central responded.
 
The Bronchos went 70 yards on just six plays – highlighted by a 40-yard touchdown by Amonte Phillips – to go ahead 7-3 with 8:06 to play in the first quarter.
 
But the score would remain there until just one minute was left on the clock in the second quarter. That's when UNK went up 10-7 after a 15-play, 80-yard touchdown drive.
 
In the second half, after a short drive by the Bronchos, UNK countered with a big, 11-play, 85-yard scoring drive to go ahead 17-7 in what appeared to suck the life out of the Bronchos.
 
UCO had one more possession in the third and only managed 21 yards before punting back to Kearney.
 
But then the fourth quarter happened.
 
On UCO's first of three scoring drives in the final stanza, a handful of big plays highlighted the rejuvenated Bronchos.
 
Will Collins scrambled for eight yards on 3rd & 7 for a key first down. On the next play, he hit Dustin Basks for a 29-yard first down. Central was still faced with more obstacles. The Bronchos had 4th & 1 on the UNK 20-yard line before Garrett punched through for a first down. He ran for four more yards on the next play before Collins hit Howell on a back-shoulder throw in the corner of the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown.
 
After the 3 & out, UCO kept the pressure coming.
 
T.J. Roberts rushed for 13, 8, and 18 on the next drive. And all of that surrounded a spectacular catch by Dustin Basks, who made an improbable reception on the UNK sideline. The senior from Claremore, Okla. jumped over his defender and spun in the air to work around him at the same time, all while hauling in the catch that measured 40 yards.
 
After Roberts' 18-yard rush from the UNK 20, Garrett punched it in for the score that put UCO ahead 21-17.
 
Garrett got his second touchdown on a 2-play, 8-yard drive just moments later.
 
Roberts led UCO in rushing on the day, totaling 98 yards on 18 carries. Garrett finished with 27 yards on eight carries and two touchdowns. Collins also had 54 yards on seven carries.
 
Collins went 13-for-24 with 200 yards Thursday. The junior quarterback from Lawton, Okla. hit Basks four times for 85 yards. Phillips added three catches for 57 yards and a score.
 
Central Oklahoma, which was outgained 504 yards to 379, and allowed time of possession to favor UNK 33:42 to 26:18, found a way to win in the end.
 
Over Central's last three games, including a bowl game in 2018, the Bronchos have outscored their opponents 70-19 in the fourth quarter.
 
UCO will return home in Week 3 to host Lincoln. The Bronchos renew an inter-conference matchup with the Blue Tigers of Jefferson City, Mo. after a five-year layoff. Central beat LU in its only two contests ever in 2012 and 2013.
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