Lopers Rally Falls Short on Senior Day, 38-24

 Redshirt freshman lefty quarterback Donovyn Omolo threw for 394 yards and three touchdowns to help Central Missouri beat Nebraska Kearney, 38-24, Saturday afternoon at Ron & Carol Cope Stadium at Foster Field.

This was the regular season finale with UNK ending up at 6-5 (4-5 MIAA) and the Mules at 5-6 (5-4 MIAA). The Lopers and Emporia State tied for sixth place in the league standings.

Omolo came in with nearly 3,000 yards of total offense and 21 TD's and showed why as he completed 27 of 40 passes and wasn't sacked. Completing passes to eight teammates, his scoring tosses covered 79, 14 and 14 yards. Backs LaAngelo Bell (1-yard) and Keyon Butler (8-yards) then ran for scores with sophomore Will Peacock adding a 34-yard field goal.​

"In this league you cannot fall behind like that. We were able to survive it one game two weeks ago (vs. Central Oklahoma) but you just can't live in those waters," said UNK head coach Ryan Held. "Both sides just didn't make the plays when we had our chances. And they made some plays and hit us on a few big ones. You're not going to beat a team like that when you don't hit your plays and they do."

UNK tried to come back from a 31-6 third quarter hole via the big play. Redshirt sophomore safety Saieed Hasan (Peoria, Ariz.) had a 44-yard pick six, junior receiver Dwayne Moorhead (Chicago) caught an 81-yard pass from junior QB Daron Bryden (Enfield, Conn.) and sophomore back Trey Kennedy (Kennesaw) blocked a fourth quarter punt. However, the Loper offense settled for three field goals by senior Kyle Failing (Port Orchard, Wash.) and didn't get points after reaching the UCM 29-, 31-, and 21-yard lines during the day (missed field goal and two turnovers on downs).

"Their quarterback is a good player, and they schemed us up a little bit. They did some nice things and hit on some plays. At the end of the day, our defense played so well all year. They got off to a good start (two three-and-outs) and we've got to be able to score more points and help them out" said Held.

UCM out gained UNK by a 476-339 margin, ran eight more plays and was 7 of 15 on third down. Once the Lopers trailed, Bryden came in to throw the ball and was 18 of 36 for 251 yards. Starter Abram Scholting (Pierce) was 4 of 7 for 34 yards with the pair finding nine teammates. That included Alabama junior receiver Jaden Jude (six recep., 75 yards) and Waverly senior Zane Schawang (five recep., 47 yards).

"We moved the ball and kicked some field goals, but you have to score touchdowns," said Held. "A little here, a little there that we just didn't take advantage of our opportunities."

Northwest Missouri State transfer Jake Weber (three catches, 106 yards) led the Mules pass catchers with Bell having a team-best 52 rushing yards on 14 carries. Finally, senior safety Talon Sanders and junior rover Drew Kaufman had five tackles apiece.

For UNK, junior back Stone Wilson (Dodge City, Kan.) had 52 rushing yards with Failing hitting from 29, 31 and 45 yards. Lineman Jaylen Harris blocked a 46-yard effort in the first half, but Failing is the first kicker with triple field goals in a game since Oct. 2016. Defensively, junior backer Parker Wise (Kearney) had nine tackles including two for lost yardage, junior corner Ife Current (Kennedale, Texas) and Ja'Mareion Gipson (Houston) combined for 12 stops.

"This is the fourth winning season since we joined the MIAA (2012), we have a lot of good players returning and we appreciate the seniors who did a great job in this program," said Held. "We got better as a program this year. Our two non-con wins (Chadron State and Wayne) ended up being pretty good for us and we beat some MIAA teams that we didn't last year."

UNK begins spring ball in March 2026.