Football 10/26/2023 9:40:00 PM Chris Brannick

Central Oklahoma Visits Fort Hays State

Bronchos Play Saturday Afternoon In MIAA Road Game

HAYS, Kan. – Central Oklahoma visits Fort Hays State Saturday for an MIAA football game at Lewis Field Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.

The Bronchos head to Hays, Kansas with a 4-4 overall record and a 3-4 mark in the MIAA. Fort Hays State, which is receiving votes in the AFCA Top 25, is 6-2 overall and 5-2 in the MIAA.

"They're a very good football team," UCO head football coach Adam Dorrel said. "They've got good players and are well coached. Playing at their place is hard too. You have to be ready to go and limit your mistakes."

Central Oklahoma has a two-game win streak against Fort Hays State, winning at Hays in 2021 before topping the Tigers in Edmond in 2022. Dorrel is 1-0 against Hays at UCO but 6-0 against FHSU in his career.

UCO leads 9-6 in the all-time series against Fort Hays State. The Bronchos won the first six meetings and were 6-1 before the teams became MIAA rivals. Central won the first-ever MIAA meeting between the two in 2014 before Hays reeled off five straight wins from 2015-19. UCO is 5-2 in games played in Hays.

The Bronchos take a two-game win streak to Hays Saturday. UCO is coming off wins over Lincoln and Northeastern State. Central has seen increased numbers after those two contests.

The Bronchos are averaging 30.7 points per game through eight games this season. The offense ranks third in the MIAA averaging 438.5 yards per game, and UCO splits that 257.1 passing and 181.4 rushing per game. Defensively, UCO allows 29.1 points per game and gives up 382.4 yards of total offense. Opponents split that with 225.0 passing yards and 157.4 rushing yards per game against UCO.

The rushing leaders in the MIAA have four teams with 188.9 yards and 181.4 yards per game. The Bronchos rank fourth with the latter. Trevon Woolfolk leads that charge.

Woolfolk is second in the league in rushing attempts, rushing yards, and is tied for third in rushing touchdowns. The junior from Georgia has five 100-yard games this season. Woolfolk has ran the ball 121 times for 735 yards and nine touchdowns. His 6.1 yards per carry is also atop the MIAA.

Dawson Herl has emerged a weapon for UCO playing in place of injured Stephon Brown. The junior Herl is 84-for-141 with 1,200 yards and 10 touchdowns. He made appearances against Central Missouri and Missouri Western before making his first start for the Bronchos in Week 4 at Emporia State when Brown was out. There he threw for 363 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Herl played most of Week 6 at Northwest Missouri when Brown went out with a separate injury, and has started the last two weeks.

Brown still has 797 yards passing and two touchdowns to go along with 192 yards rushing and three touchdowns despite playing limited time this fall. The senior from North Carolina is on the heels of the No. 10 spot in school history for career total offense. Brown has 4,116 total yards (3,119 passing, 1,047 rushing) and is 129 shy of Joshua Birmingham's 4,295 yards from 2010-13 when the running back had 4,276 rushing and 19 receiving yards.

The wide receivers have benefited from both Herl and Brown in the backfield. Terrill Davis leads UCO with 34 receptions on the season and he has a team-high 478 yards receiving. Oscar Hammond is second in both categories with 31 catches for 455 yards. Hammond leads the team with four touchdown receptions while Davis has three.

Jacob Delso has 22 receptions for 307 yards, Darius Melton, with two touchdowns, has 17 receptions for 225 yards, and Christian Romero adds 15 catches for 222 yards and one score. Madison Ridgeway (4-73) and Jaylen Cottrell (9-66) both have touchdown catches too.

On the defensive side of the ball Connor Johnson leads the team with 45 tackles. The sophomore from Tulsa has four tackles for a loss and one sack. He also has two passes broken up and one quarterback hurry.

Zane Adams, Jack Puckett, and Rae'Quan Wicks, a defender from each level of the defense, are all tied for the second-most tackles with 36 stops. Adams has 21 by himself, three in the backfield, and one sack. Puckett has been in on 24 stops, including a team-high 6.5 in the backfield, and a team-high 3.5 sacks. Wicks has 27 solo tackles in the secondary where he also has three pass breakups.

JK Moore, Johnathan Mosley and Kobey Stephens have 32, 31, and 30 tackles respectively, and the trio has 16 combined pass breakups. Moore has a team-high seven breakups, Stephens has five, and Mosley has four. Moore also has two interceptions and both Moore and Mosley have interceptions returned for a touchdown. Noah West, who has 18 tackles, five in the backfield and 2.5 sacks, also has a pick-6 for the Bronchos this season.

In special teams, Nicky Quevedo leads the way handling field-goal duties with an 8-for-10 mark this season. He is 5-for-5 inside 30 and 6-for-7 inside 40. That is also his long this season.

Quevedo and Grayson Miller have both handled kickoff duties. Miller took over in Week 4 and is averaging 57.1 yards per kick with 10 touchdowns. Quevedo averaged 60.9 yards per kick with five touchbacks through the first three-plus weeks.

Miller and David Vargas have both handled punting duties this season. Vargas has a 42.1 yards per punt average on 17 kicks with a long of 58 yards. He put five inside the 20, had three of 50-plus, and three touchbacks. Miller has 11 punts since Week 5 with a 42.0 per punt average. He has four inside the 20 and two 50-plus yard kicks with a long of 55.

Fort Hays State is 6-2 on the season and welcomes UCO to Kansas on a four-game win streak. The Tigers have the fifth-best scoring offense (32.8 points per game) paired with the second-best scoring defense that holds opponents to just 18.0 points per game. Fort Hays State has the top-ranked defense in the conference allowing just 262.5 yards per game.

With just three weeks left in the 2023 season, Central Oklahoma looks to finish strong with two of those games away from home. The Bronchos visit Hays Saturday and finish the year at Pittsburg State on Nov. 11. UCO hosts Washburn in Week 10, November 4, for a Military Appreciation Game that is also Senior Day.

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Players Mentioned

#57 Zane Adams: DL; 6' 1"; Junior

#2 Stephon Brown: QB; 6' 5"; Senior

#20 Jaylen Cottrell: RB; 6' 2"; Sophomore

#8 Terrill Davis: WR; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#1 Jacob Delso: WR; 6' 0"; Junior

#23 Oscar Hammond: TE; 6' 4"; Sophomore

#21 Connor Johnson: LB; 6' 3"; Junior

#2 Johnathan Mosley: DB; 6' 1"; Junior

#30 Jack Puckett: LB; 6' 1"; Redshirt Freshman

#96 Nicky Quevedo: K; 6' 4"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#57 Zane Adams
: 6' 1"; Junior
: DL

#2 Stephon Brown
: 6' 5"; Senior
: QB

#20 Jaylen Cottrell
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: RB

#8 Terrill Davis
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: WR

#1 Jacob Delso
: 6' 0"; Junior
: WR

#23 Oscar Hammond
: 6' 4"; Sophomore
: TE

#21 Connor Johnson
: 6' 3"; Junior
: LB

#2 Johnathan Mosley
: 6' 1"; Junior
: DB

#30 Jack Puckett
: 6' 1"; Redshirt Freshman
: LB

#96 Nicky Quevedo
: 6' 4"; Junior
: K