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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Keats Calhoon
29
Central Okla. UCO 4-7 , 4-7
30
Winner Central Mo. UCM 4-7 , 4-7
Central Okla. UCO
4-7 , 4-7
29
Final
30
Central Mo. UCM
4-7 , 4-7
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
UCO Central Okla. 7 0 14 8 29
UCM Central Mo. 7 13 0 10 30

Game Recap: Football | | Chris Brannick

Bronchos Come Up Short In Season Finale

WARRENSBURG, Mo. – Alex Quevedo missed a 52-yard field goal as time expired and the University of Central Oklahoma lost its final game of the 2021 football season Saturday at Central Missouri, 30-29.
 
Quevedo, a fifth-year senior from Azle, Texas who scored a touchdown on a fake field goal in the first quarter, and is No. 5 on Central's all-time scoring list with 271 points, was short on what would have been not only a career long for the right-footed kicker, but also a new UCO record.
 
"One play doesn't define you," UCO head football coach Nick Bobeck said after the game. "I think it's important we acknowledge everything that young man did for this program for the past five years. We had our chances and it didn't go our way. That's kind of how this year went for us. We were close a lot, but didn't get it done."
 
Central got the ball at its own 25-yard line with 45 seconds left in the game and marched down the field to get into position for the distant kick.
 
Keats Calhoon hit Markiese King for a 6-yard gain on 2nd & 10 and UCO called its first timeout. Calhoon then scrambled for a 5-yard gain on the next play. He then hit Quindon Lewis for a 3-yard gain after that and Central called its second timeout before a 2nd & 7 from its own 39-yard line.
 
Calhoon hit Josh Moore out of the timeout for an 8-yard gain and then spiked the ball to stop the clock on 1st & 10 from the UCO 47. He hit Moore again for an 18-yard gain to put the ball at the Central Missouri 35-yard line with three seconds left and the Bronchos used their last timeout to ready their kicker.
 
Quevedo, who successfully kicked 36 field goals and 156 PATs since 2017, lined up on the left hash. But a gentle south wind and 40-degree air were the only things keeping the Bronchos from the win column this Saturday. The ball looked on target as it flew through the air, but fell short by no more than two yards and Central Oklahoma suffered defeat.
 
Quevedo scored nine points in the game to wrap up his career with 271, the fifth-most by any player in school history. He has the second-most points by any kicker to ever wear the Bronze & Blue.
 
Earlier Saturday, with the Bronchos trailing 7-0 in the first quarter, Central Oklahoma defensive tackle Sesi Salt got his hand on the quarterback as he threw the ball and UCO safety Dylan Buchheit snagged his third interception of the season. UCO only needed 33 yards to score.
 
It appeared Central Missouri would hold the Bronchos to a field goal though. But on 4th & goal from the UCM 8-yard line, Quevedo lined up for his first field goal of the game. But Johnny Bizzell IV, who has held for the Bronchos for the latter half of his career, took the snap from Casey Base and flipped it over his shoulder to Quevedo, who darted to off the right hash and into the end zone for a touchdown.
 
It was the first career touchdown for Quevedo and he followed with the PAT to tie the game, 7-7.
 
Central Missouri responded with a solid second quarter and took what felt like a commanding 20-7 halftime lead. UCM hit field goals of its own from 27 & 41 yards and also had a 6-play, 46-yard touchdown scoring drive in between the two.
 
But the Bronchos had an answer in the second half.
 
Stephon Brown scored on a 4-yard touchdown run to cap off a 2-play, 49-yard scoring drive (Payton Scott ran for a season-long 45 yards on the first play of the drive). That touchdown brought it to 20-14 with still over 10 minutes to play in the third quarter.
 
Brown scored again on a 2-yard touchdown run. This time he capped off a monster 12-play, 76-yard scoring drive and put the Bronchos in the lead, 21-20, with two and a half minutes to play in the third stanza.

Central Missouri added another field goal, this one from 32 yards out, to go back in front 23-21, with just under 14 minutes left in the game.
 
After a UCO punt, UCM missed a field goal, but the Bronchos also threw an interception on the next drive to give it back. Then UCM fumbled the ball back to the Bronchos with 5:14 to play. Tre'Vaughn Craig recovered the loose ball forced by Kobey Stephens and returned it 30 yards to the UCM 5-yard line with 5:14 left in the game.
 
Brown followed with his third rushing touchdown of the game – the second time this season the junior quarterback from North Carolina has accomplished such a feat. Calhoon added a successful rush for the two-point conversion and the Bronchos led 29-23 with 3:48 left in the game.
 
Central Missouri however kept the wild back and forth affair going with a 9-play, 71-yard scoring drive that ended with a touchdown with 45 seconds to play and the Bronchos trailing 30-29.
 
­­­Calhoon took most of the snaps in the final game of his career. He was 24-for-42 passing with 207 yards. Brown, who was 1-for-1 with 11 yards, added nine carries for 28 yards and three touchdowns.
 
Calhoon hit six different receivers in the game. Josh Moore had a game-high 10 receptions for 95 yards. It was the second game in a row Moore hauled in 10 passes. Daunte McGee also had five receptions for 25 yards while Lewis and King each caught four passes.
 
Scott was UCO's leading rusher Saturday. He had nine carries for 74 yards. He also had one catch for five yards. Jayce Gardner, who left the game in the second quarter with an injury, had one reception for 17 yards and one carry for one yard.
 
Central Oklahoma's defense was led by Buchheit, who made nine tackles to go with his one interception. Elijah Wright had eight tackles in the game and Johnathan Mosley had seven tackles, including one for a loss.
 
Derrick Shaw, Dontez Fagan and Michael Slater each had six tackles. Shaw had one stop behind the line of scrimmage while Fagan had two pass breakups in the secondary. Slater, who already led the league in tackles for a loss coming into Saturday's game, added 2.5 more stops behind the line of scrimmage, including one sack, for a combined loss of 16 yards.
 
Craig had five tackles to go with his fumble recovery and Stephens had five tackles to go with that forced fumble.
 
Central Oklahoma concluded its 2021 campaign Saturday in Warrensburg. The Bronchos finished the regular season 4-7 and in a tie with Central Missouri for eighth place in the final MIAA standings.
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