Football 11/11/2026 2:00:00 PM Chris Brannick

UCO Hosts Griffons In Season Finale

Bronchos Welcome Missouri Western For Senior Day, Military Appreciation Day

EDMOND – Central Oklahoma hosts Missouri Western in the final football game of the 2026 season Saturday at 1 p.m.

UCO is 4-6 this season with a 3-5 record in the MIAA. The Griffons of St. Joseph, Missouri are 3-7 overall and 2-6 in the MIAA.

"It'll be a tough test," UCO interim head football coach Cody Swanson said. "They have a great offense and have been in a lot of high-scoring games. We have been really good on defense too this year so this is a good matchup."

Central Oklahoma has a group of 17 players competing in their final game on Saturday and will honor that group, plus support personnel, prior to kickoff.

UCO is averaging 24.5 points per game this season as the Bronchos put up 349.0 yards per game. Central averages 244.7 passing yards and 104.3 rushing yards per game.

Defensively, the Bronchos give up 24.1 points per game having outscored the opposition 245-241 through 10 games this season. UCO allows 326.8 yards (171.0 passing and 155.8 rushing) per game.

Central's defense has led the way this season, keeping UCO in striking distance during the losses and leading the charge in victory.

Reese Roller leads that group. The senior linebacker has played in all 45 games since arriving on campus in 2023. He leads the Bronchos with 96 tackles this season, including 11 behind the line of scrimmage. Roller has two sacks, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, three QB hurries, five passes broken up, and two interceptions.

Chris Fitzpatrick is second on the team with 50 tackles and second with three sacks this season. David Williams leads the secondary with 45 tackles this season while Bryant Coley and Marcus Works have 37 each, and Christian Cooper and Antwan Gilbreath have 35 each.

Coley and Williams lead the group with five PBUs, Gilbreath has four, Cooper two, and Works one. Coley also has two interceptions while Works and Williams have one each. Coley also has three fumbles recovered with one returned for a touchdown. Gilbreath has one fumble recovery this season.

Cameron Done has 41 tackles to lead all UCO defensive lineman. The senior defensive end has 9.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage and leads the Bronchos with eight QB sacks this season. Done also has four QB hurries, and he adds one forced fumble and one fumble recovery to his credit this season. The senior defensive end ranks 12th in the country in total sacks.

Offensively, Central Oklahoma has used four quarterbacks this season. Senior All-American Jett Huff has thrown for 7,341 yards and 60 touchdowns in just under three seasons at UCO. He is just the second player in school history to throw for 7,000 career yards and is just 70 yards shy of the record set by Chas Stallard (2014-18). Huff already owns the school records for career touchdown passes (60), 300-yard passing games (10) and 400-yard passing games (three). This season, Huff is 142-for-229 (62.0 pct.) with 1,533 yards, eight touchdowns, and six interceptions this season.

Junior Makel Paiva and freshman Tahkari Bethel are leading the way in the pass game for the Bronchos. Paiva has a team-high 56 receptions with 562 yards and four touchdowns. He tied the UCO single game record with 15 receptions last month at Central Missouri. Bethel has a team-high 703 yards on 40 receptions and has four touchdowns. He scored two touchdowns in Week Zero and two more in Week 9. Andrew Carney has 289 yards receiving and two touchdowns, C.J. Williams has 207 with one score, and Zayden Martinez has 168 with one score. Javohn Thomas, who has 10 receptions for 97 yards, has three receiving touchdowns.

Carney is a fifth-year Broncho, a team captain, and a versatile weapon for Central Oklahoma. The Collinsville native has 94 carries for 371 yards and 12 rushing touchdowns in 44 career games at UCO. He has 43 receptions for 512 yards and four receiving touchdowns.

Central Oklahoma averages 104.3 rushing yards per game this season. Junior running back Ja'Daniel Nettles leads the team with 530 rushing yards and averages 4.3 yards per carry with two touchdowns. Dev Mathews, who has played in 7 of 10 games, has 243 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns.

On special teams, the Bronchos have bright spots on the defensive side as well as in the kicking game. Matthew Ciers recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for a touchdown in Week 1 against Central Arkansas. The block was credited to Cannon Wood, who shoved a UCA player into the kick. It was the first special teams touchdown since 2024. UCO also has a blocked field-goal attempt in Week Zero, a blocked PAT and another punt in Week 7, and a second blocked field-goal attempt in Week 8.

Central Oklahoma freshman Bradley Thao has been named MIAA Special Teams Player of the Week presented by FieldTurf twice this season and was named to the Fred Mitchell Award midseason watchlist. The Bixby, Oklahoma product is 27-for-27 on PAT attempts and 13-for-20 on field goals this season. Thao has a season-long 46-yarder against Northwest Missouri in September. The rookie also averages 61.5 yards per kickoff with 19 touchbacks on 48 kicks this season.

Senior punter Cade Dowd handles the punting responsibilities for Central this season. He has 47 punts and averages 41.7 yards per punt with a long of 54. Dowd also has two touchbacks, and 14 punts inside the 20. Tyler Madsen has two punts this season and averages 42.5 between the two. He has one touchback and one faircatch. Madsen's long is 48 yards.

Missouri Western owns a 9-6 advantage in the all-time series with the Bronchos, though Central Oklahoma has won the last two meetings. The Bronchos won 37-34 in overtime in 2024 and then posted a 54-10 win in 2025. Both of those meetings were in St. Joseph, Missouri. The Griffons' last win came in 2023 in Edmond, 34-31.

MWSU averages 31.8 points per game this season on 453.9 yards of total offense per game. The Griffons split that with 339.7 passing yards and 114.2 rushing yards per game. Defensively, Mo. West gives up 40.9 points per game on 480.6 total yards per contest. Opponents average 287.8 passing yards and 192.8 rushing yards per game against the Griffons.

UCO is looking to go 4-0 at home this season with a win on Saturday. It would be the 10th undefeated home season in school history. The Bronchos have won 200 home games at Chad Richison Stadium since Central began play at the current location in 1965.

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Players Mentioned

#18 Andrew Carney: TE; 6' 1"; Senior

#31 Matthew Ciers: DB; 6' 1"; Redshirt Freshman

#5 Bryant Coley: DB; 6' 1"; Senior

#0 Cameron Done: DL; 6' 5"; Senior

#40 Chris Fitzpatrick: LB; 6' 0"; Senior

#14 Antwan Gilbreath: DB; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#3 Jett Huff: QB; 5' 8"; Senior

#7 Zayden Martinez: WR; 6' 4"; Sophomore

#6 Dev Mathews: RB; 6' 0"; Junior

#33 Reese Roller: LB; 5' 11"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#18 Andrew Carney
: 6' 1"; Senior
: TE

#31 Matthew Ciers
: 6' 1"; Redshirt Freshman
: DB

#5 Bryant Coley
: 6' 1"; Senior
: DB

#0 Cameron Done
: 6' 5"; Senior
: DL

#40 Chris Fitzpatrick
: 6' 0"; Senior
: LB

#14 Antwan Gilbreath
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: DB

#3 Jett Huff
: 5' 8"; Senior
: QB

#7 Zayden Martinez
: 6' 4"; Sophomore
: WR

#6 Dev Mathews
: 6' 0"; Junior
: RB

#33 Reese Roller
: 5' 11"; Senior
: LB