KEARNEY, Neb. – The No. 13-ranked Northwest Missouri State University football team rushed for a season-high 312 yards and overcame a 10-point fourth quarter deficit to produce a 28-24 victory at Nebraska-Kearney.
 
The Bearcats moved to 7-2 overall, while the Lopers fell to 6-3 overall.
 
The Bearcats scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to produce the 18th come-from-behind victory for head coach Rich Wright. It is the third time Northwest has rallied from a double-digit deficit for a victory since Wright took over the program in 2017.
 
Northwest out-scored UNK in the fourth quarter, 14-0. Northwest attempted one pass play for two yards in the final 15 minutes. The Bearcats simply had too much success on the ground to think about passing. Northwest rushed the ball 17 times for 150 yards in the fourth quarter.
 
The Bearcats ran the ball 50 times for 312 yards and four touchdowns in the victory. Senior Jamar Moya led the way with 14 carries for 120 yards. Freshman Jay Harris toted the ball 13 times for 72 yards and three touchdowns. Sophomore Jadon Brady rushed seven times for 48 yards, while junior Mike Hohensee had five carries for 46 yards. Senior Braden Wright had nine carries for 38 yards and the winning touchdown with 5:41 left in the game.
 
UNK got the scoring underway on its first drive of the contest. The Lopers used eight plays and went 75 yards. Quarterback T.J. Davis hit A.J. McPhee on a 13-yard scoring strike with 11:26 left in the first for a 7-0 lead.
 
Northwest bounced right back with a 75-yard scoring drive of its own. The Bearcats used 12 plays and leveled the score at 7-7 on a two-yard rushing score from Harris. Northwest's drive appeared to stall after a 49-yard missed goal by Cole Lammel. However, UNK ran into Lammel after the kick and Northwest was awarded a first down to keep the drive alive.
 
UNK took a three-point lead at 10-7 after a 45-yard field goal from Junior Gonzalez with 13:17 remaining in the second quarter.
 
The Bearcat defense set up the offense with a turnover in the final five minutes of the half. Junior Walker Graves sacked Davis and sophomore Jack Fisher recovered it and returned it nine yards to the four-yard line. Northwest wasted no time in cashing in the miscue into points as Harris rumbled in from four yards out with 4:04 left in the second quarter. Harris's score gave Northwest a 14-10 lead.
 
Davis atoned for his fumble by driving the Lopers down the field and scoring with :37 left in the half. David engineered a seven-play, 73-yard drive that he capped with a 12-yard down run to give UNK a 17-14 lead.
 
Northwest nearly got into field goal position in the final seconds of the half, but Wright was sacked near midfield on the final play of the second quarter.
 
To begin the third quarter, Northwest drove the ball to the UNK 30 but turned it over on downs.
 
The Bearcat defense gave the ball back to the offense after stuffing Davis on a 4^th-and-1 at the Northwest 31. However, Hohensee tossed an interception to give the ball back to the Lopers at the UNK 46-yard line.
 
The Lopers then went 54 yards in four plays to take a 10-point lead at 24-14. UNK's Damien Cearns scored from 30 yards out on the ground with 6:24 left in the third to give the Lopers a two-score advantage.
 
Northwest flipped the field position early in the fourth quarter after stuffing a UNK drive on a three-and out. Northwest took over at the 50-yard line with 14:09 left in the game. Northwest marched 50 yards in four plays – all rushing plays. Moya ran for 16 yards on first down. Moya went for seven yards on the ensuing play. Harris picked up the first down with a four-yard run. Then Harris burst through for a 23-yard touchdown run with 12:34 left in the game. His third score of the days cut the UNK lead to 24-21.
 
UNK's next drive consisted of six plays for 27 yards before Northwest forced a punt. Fisher came up with a five-yard tackle-for-loss of UNK's Montrez Jackson on a 1^st-and-10 that set up the defensive stop. UNK punter Hunter Kraus hit a 38-yard punt that Northwest's Kashan Griffin fair caught at the 10-yard line with 9:03 left in the game.
 
Northwest casually marched 90 yards in seven plays – again all rushing plays – to take the lead for good in the game. Moya broke off a 35-yard run to begin the drive. Harris went for a four-yard gain, before Wright ripped off a 22-yard rush to put the ball at the UNK 29-yard line. Brady hit the Lopers for a 15-yard gain on first down that set Northwest up at the 14-yard line. Moya gained four yards on first down and Wright added a four-yard carry on second down. On 3^rd-and-2 at the six, Wright found the end zone for his 27^th career rushing touchdown, which ranks as the 10^th-best total in Bearcat history. Wright's score came with 5:41 to play in the game and gave Northwest a 28-24 lead.
 
UNK wasn't done yet. The Lopers hit a 60-yard pass play from Davis to Cody Nelson. However, Davis's pass was underthrown allowing Bearcat defender Josh Turner to catch up to Nelson and bring him down at the 8-yard line rather than a game-changing touchdown.
 
From there, the Bearcat defense stiffened. Davis threw incomplete on first down. Davis called his own number on second down and rushed for five yards. Davis was tackled for a loss of two yards on 3^rd-and-goal as Fisher and redshirt freshman Kobe Clayborne corralled him in the backfield. On 4^th-and-goal from the 5, Davis threw incomplete to Nelson and the Bearcats took over on downs.
 
Moya came up huge on a 3^rd-and-9 from the six as he gained 10 yards to give Northwest a 1^st-and -10. Northwest ran three more plays and ran the clock down to :28 before being forced to punt the ball back to the Lopers.
 
UNK's Atoa Fox returned Hohensee's punt for 12 yard to give the Lopers the ball at the UNK 47-yard line with :14 left.
 
Davis his Xavier Delk for a 13-yard gain. But as Delk tried to break free from tacklers, Northwest's Andew Dumas knocked the ball out and it was recovered by Isaac Vollstedt with :04 left to clinch the comeback win.
 
Northwest will play its final home regular season game next Saturday at 1:30 p.m. against the Missouri Southern Lions. Northwest will honor 12 seniors prior to the game.
 
NOTES: Northwest owns a 14-4 lead in the all-time series with Nebraska-Kearney … Northwest is 293-48 as a ranked team … Northwest improved to 9-7 in one-score games under head coach Rich Wright … Northwest's Zach Howard tallied two quarterback sacks to give him 26 in his career … Howard has been credited with 41 career tackles-for-loss to tie for No. 8 all-time at Northwest with Aaron Becker (1996-2000) … Moya secured a team-best 144 all-purpose yards … Moya earned his second career 100-yard rushing game … Moya also nabbed a team-high five receptions … Shane Fredrickson, Josh Turner and Isaac Vollstedt tied for team-high honors in tackles with six each … Northwest generated 435 yards of offense, while UNK had 425 yards of offense … Northwest is 33-0 when gaining 400 yards or more on offense under head coach Rich Wright … Northwest is 44-4 when gaining more yards than the opponent under head coach Rich Wright … Northwest gained 27 first downs … the Bearcats are 31-3 when gaining 20 or more first downs under Wright's direction.