Missouri Southern uses turnovers, special teams plays to upset Lopers
JOPLIN, Mo. – The Missouri Southern State Lions used two long scoring drives, a 79-yard punt return and two red zone turnovers to upset the University of Nebraska at Kearney, 24-13, Saturday afternoon in Joplin, Missouri.
"It was not good at all. We did not play well and didn't have the juice. We had two red-zone turnovers again, we had two bad plays on special teams," UNK head coach Ryan Held said on the KRVN Radio post-game show. "We wanted it so bad we ended up melting down a little bit. First time this year I'm truly disappointed. We've got some soul searching to do."
Things started out fine as the UNK defense forced a punt and the offense went 72 yards in eight plays. Quarterback Reagan Jones capped the drive as he scrambled six yards for a 7-0 lead.
It was all Missouri Southern after that. UNK (5-5, 3-5 MIAA) punted on its next six drives, committed two turnovers on the door of the end zone and was stopped on fourth down.
"We didn't have a bad week of practice and we came out good. We were just flat. I said it throughout the week; these guys had a week off, they have good players and you have to respect the game, have to respect preparation," Held said.
Returning All-MIAA quarterback Luke Sampson went 20 of 37 for 242 yards, two scores and found an array of tight ends who caught seven passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns. While UNK sacked Sampson three times for a loss of 25 yards, his teammates rushed for 127 yards. They came in averaging 87 yards per week.
Missouri Southern (2-8, 1-7) had its own 72-yard drive to tie things up and then marched 87 yards in 14 plays to take the lead for good. Sophomore receiver Ayden Robinson-Wayne made it a two-score game early in the third when he brought back a punt 79 yards for a touchdown. On the play, it appeared he might call for a fair catch and four Lopers were in the vicinity. However, he didn't and raced down the sideline for the Lions' first positive punt return of the season.
"We thought he called for a fair catch. You have to make sure you see it," Held said. "Our defense played well in the second half but we didn't click, we didn't execute offensively. They haven't had a great year up to this point defensively but they played well against us."
UNK had several chances to get back into things, but Jones was picked off at the Lions' 2-yard line on the ensuring drive and then the Lopers fumbled at the Missouri Southern 10 to start the fourth quarter.
UNK finally found the end zone when Zane Schwang scored on a 1-yard run with 14 seconds left.
"You can't turn the ball over in the red zone. At the end of the year, we've tightened the penalties up but are now committing turnovers in the red zone and those are even more costly," Held said.
Jones finished 18 of 34 for 176 yards passing and junior running back Isaiah Harris ran for 108 yards, including a 46-yard scamper late in the third quarter. This is his fifth 100-yard effort the season.
UNK hosts 30th-ranked Fort Hays State (7-3, 5-3) next Saturday in the regular season finale.
