October 4, 2008

Football Rolls in Pueblo, 41-10

Dring Has Record Setting Run; Two Picks for Mandelko

     Kearney, Neb. –  The Nebraska-Kearney football team got 250 all-purpose yards from freshman running back Rustin Dring and scored 21 first quarter points to beat Colorado State-Pueblo, 41-10, Saturday afternoon.

    With the win at the ThunderBowl, UNK gets back to the .500 mark (3-3, 3-1 RMAC) while the Thunderwolves (2-3, 1-3 RMAC) lose a third straight game. This is CSU-Pueblo’s first year back on the grid iron since 1984; they reinstated football as an intercollegiate sport about one year ago.

   For UNK, head coach Darrell Morris improves to 29-16 on the road as Lopers head coach. He also sports a 29-16 home record, making him 58-32 in his coaching tenure.

    A much more experienced UNK football team wasted no time against the young Thunderwolves as they got an interception from junior safety Jake Mandelko (Lexington) on the second play from scrimmage. The Lopers then went 23 yards in eight plays, finishing the drive with a one yard scoring run from redshirt freshman quarterback Jake Spitzlberger (Lakewood, Colo.).

   The drive also featured a two yard run from Dring on 4^th and one from the CSUP 14-yard line.

    The next time the Lopers got the ball, Spitzlberger directed a 10 play, 60-yard drive that ended with a 12-yard scoring pass to sophomore Brandon Dondlinger (Waverly). Spitzlberger was the workhorse of this possession as he completed 5 of 6 passes for 53 yards.

    The UNK defense then go into the scoring column three plays later when senior safety Dusty Loeffelholz (Amherst) sacked Pueblo quarterback Joe Vigil for a 16-yard loss and also jarred lose the football. Sophomore defensive tackle Josh Rohde (Eddyville) jumped on the unclaimed pigskin for a 21-0 UNK lead.

   This is UNK’s fifth defensive touchdown over the last six years; all five have TD’s have come on the road.

    Early in the second quarter, a 39-yard punt from Pueblo pinned the Lopers at their own seven yard line. After Pueblo tackled Dring for a five yard loss on first down, the Kearney High graduate galloped 98 yards down the sidelines for a score and the longest run in school history.

    In a 1958 win over Dana College, former head coach Claire Boroff had a 97-yard scoring run.

   Pueblo did get on the scoreboard when Kyle Major hit a 27-yard field goal with 5:10 left in the second quarter. The two teams would then each fail to score in the third quarter; UNK has tallied just six third quarter points all season.

   Senior Geoff Carnahan (Kearney Catholic) broke the scoring drought when he made a 46-yard field goal early in the fourth. The 11 play, 56-yard drive was led by backup quarterback Bobby Adamson (Byers, Colo.).

    Later in the quarter, a 45-yard punt return from sophomore Kyle Kaiser (Broomfield, Colo.) setup a short UNK drive that ended when Adamson threw a five-yard TD pass to sophomore running back Riley Newcomer (Morrison, Colo.).

    Carnahan tacked on another three pointer, this one from 47-yard out, to finish the day’s scoring. Of his 10 made field goals this year, seven have come from 44 yards out or more.

    And with his 11 point today, Carnahan moves past Boroff (224) and all-time leading rusher Mike Miller (228) into fifth place on the UNK career scoring list (229 points).

    Dring finished the day with 181 yards rushing on 25 carries. He also led the team in catches (four) and receiving yards (69).  For the season, Dring has amassed 704 yards (579 rushing, 110 receiving) and seven TD’s.

     Overall, ten different Lopers caught a pass in the game with Franklin redshirt freshman Shane Carraher (23) joining Dring as players with at least 20 receiving yards.

    In two quarters of work, Spitzlberger was 8 of 14 for 81 yards, one TD and one interception. Adamson played the entire second half and was 10 of 15 for 74 yards and one TD.

     For Pueblo, Vigil went 22 of 42 for 181 yards through the air but was picked off three times. Mandelko had two of the interceptions with junior corner Mike Neal (Brentwood, Calif.) having the other.

     Thanks to six sacks, Pueblo had only 23 yards rushing in 30 attempts. A fourth quarter 28-yard scoring run from Layton Dickerson helped the Thuderwolves have positive rushing yards against the UNK defense.

    In addition to his two picks, Mandelko has seven tackles and a pass breakup. Senior inside linebacker Charlie Rudeen (Overton) had six tackles, as did senior outside linebacker Brian Malicky (Columbus).

   UNK hosts New Mexico Highlands on “Homecoming” next Saturday. Pictured below are Dring-Mandelko-Rohde-Carnahan.