Football 10/7/2023 4:32:00 PM Chris Brannick

Bronchos Outrun By Bearcats

Central Oklahoma Falls 34-21 At Northwest Missouri In Week 6 MIAA Clash

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Central Oklahoma couldn't keep pace with the running Bearcats and lost 34-21 at Northwest Missouri Saturday afternoon in MIAA play.

UCO fell to 2-4 on the season with the loss. Northwest improved to 3-3.

"We just couldn't keep the big plays away," UCO head football coach Adam Dorrel said. "They kept breaking big plays and that killed us today. We did a good job on offense, but it's hard to keep pace with a team without getting stops."

Northwest Missouri running back Jay Harris ran the ball 22 times for 273 yards and four touchdowns. The sophomore had scores from 14, 54, 45, and 44.

Central Oklahoma finished the game with 305 yards of total offense, having 241 through the air and 64 on the ground.

Dawson Herl came in for an injured Stephon Brown in the first quarter and was 17-for-29 passing with 198 yards and two interceptions. Trevon Woolfolk ran the ball 13 times for 32 yards. He did score twice to help the Bronchos.

Oscar Hammond led the UCO receivers with five receptions for 67 yards. Eight different receivers caught a pass for the Bronchos.

Johnathan Mosley and J.K. Moore led the defense with six tackles apiece. Jack Puckett had five tackles, two in the backfield, and one sack. Noah West, who didn't make a tackle, had one interception and he returned it for a touchdown.

UCO got the ball first in the game, but punted to Northwest, which went 64 yards on eight plays to take an early lead. Harris scored on a 14-yard touchdown run.

The Bronchos responded though, marching down the field on a big, 17-play, 71-yard scoring drive. Woolfolk found the end zone on a 2-yard touchdown run to tie the game, 7-7, with just over one minute left in the opening quarter.

UCO and Northwest settled into the game after the first two scores. Northwest punted back to UCO, but an interception gave it back to the host Bearcats. The Bronchos then forced a turnover on downs, but UCO punted it back again after that.

Then Harris had a takeover stretch. The sophomore running back had a 54-yard touchdown and a 45-yard touchdown run to give Northwest Missouri a 20-7 lead.

The Bronchos answered to keep in the game. Woolfolk rushed for his second touchdown of the game from 1-yard out to cap off a 7-play, 75-yard scoring drive the Bronchos. That made it 20-14 with 3:57 to play in the half.

Northwest went down the field as the first half came to a close, but the Bronchos made big stops to force a 36-yard field goal. NWMSU missed it wide left and the teams went to the halftime locker room trailing by just one score.

Northwest clamped down in the second half though. The Bearcats went down the field on their first possession of the half and took a 27-14 lead. In the fourth quarter, Northwest made it 34-14 as Harris continued to run away from the Bronchos.

UCO's defense stood tall down the stretch. With under 10 minutes to play in the game, a tipped pass at the line of scrimmage was intercepted by West, who ran 20 yards into the end zone for a pick-six score that made it 34-21.

Central Oklahoma returns home in Week 7 to host Lincoln. The Bronchos welcome the Blue Tigers of Jefferson City, Missouri to Chad Richison Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 14 with kickoff scheduled for 2 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

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

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

#40 Noah West: LB; 6' 3"; Junior

#12 Dawson Herl: QB; 6' 3"; Junior

#0 Trevon Woolfolk: RB; 6' 1"; Junior

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

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

#40 Noah West
: 6' 3"; Junior
: LB

#12 Dawson Herl
: 6' 3"; Junior
: QB

#0 Trevon Woolfolk
: 6' 1"; Junior
: RB