September 11, 2004

Northern Defeats Football

Battle of Backup QB’s; Two Loper TD’s Called Back 

            Kearney, NE – In a game that featured two backup quarterbacks, Northern State got 117 yards from running back Rudy Jones to defeat Nebraska-Kearney, 20-10, Saturday afternoon in Aberdeen, S.D.

            NSU, members of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, improve to 1-1 while the Lopers fall to 1-2 on the season.

            The loss is the Lopers fifth straight against a non-RMAC opponent outside Nebraska. The team’s last win over such an opponent came back in 1995 (44-28 over Western New Mexico).

            With juniors Casey Samuelson (Grand Island) and Marcus Goldenstein (Gretna) out with shoulder injuries, senior Eric Perry (Kearney) made his first collegiate start for UNK.

            NSU was without star sophomore QB Toby Korrodi due to a pre-game accident that injured Korrodi’s wife. True freshman Andrew Corre of Denver made the start for the Wolves instead.

            Northern took a 13-3 halftime lead on the strength of a 52-yard scoring pass from Corre to Matt Pinto and two field goals by Clinton Ariel-Ryan.

            The first three pointer was setup after UNK fumbled a punt and the second field goal came after a 54-yard kickoff return by Pinto. 

            UNK got on the board late in the half thanks to a 39-yard field goal by sophomore Jessup Pfeifer (Northglenn, Colo.)

            The Lopers seemingly had tied the game at seven all late in the first on a TD pass from Perry to senior Garth Mins but it was called back due to a penalty. Pfeifer then missed the ensuing field goal.

            Mins kept the Lopers in the game as he blocked two field goals in the third quarter. The Lexington native also blocked a field goal last week vs. Wayne State.

            After the second block, NSU intercepted Perry deep in Loper territory and that setup a 13-yard scoring run by Jones.

            UNK out gained the Wolves, 215-125, in the first half but the Lopers’ offense never got on the field in the third quarter as NSU had the ball for just over 11 minutes.

            The Lopers rallied in the fourth as Perry found Mins from 15 yards out to bring UNK within 10 points with 5:51 to go.

            Then, senior RB Mike Miller took a short pass from Perry and scored from about 40 yards out with just over two minutes left that seemed to make it 20-16. However, the play was called back due to a penalty and Perry’s next pass was intercepted. 

            Miller finished the game with 135 all-purpose yards and a career-high five catches. He also went over 4,000 rushing yards for his career (4,043). 

            Perry was 21 of 39 for 241 yards, one TD and three INT’s.

            North Platte junior Kyle Rupp, in the starting lineup for the second straight game, had five catches for 79 yards to pace the receivers. Senior ILB Akil Davis (Aurora, Colo.) led the defense with eight tackles, including three for lost yardage.

                        UNK begins RMAC play next week when Western State (0-3, 0-1 RMAC) visits.