Nebraska-Kearney converted three Wayne State turnovers into 14 points and the Lopers held off a late drive by the Wildcats to hold on for a 28-21 non-conference college football win in the season opener for both teams Thursday evening at Cunningham Field in Wayne before a crowd of 2,101 fans.
            After UNK opened the game forcing a three-and-out on Wayne State, the Lopers used a big scoring play on their opening drive to open the scoring as running back Isaiah Harris sprinted 55 yards to the end zone putting the visitors in front 7-0 just 1:49 into the contest.
            The Wildcats responded later in the quarter as sophomore quarterback Bennett Dannenbring found tight end Dane Petersen for a seven-yard scoring strike knotting the score at 7-7 with 2:12 remaining in the opening quarter.
            Nebraska-Kearney regained the lead midway through the second quarter following a Wildcat turnover as the Lopers intercepted Dannenbring at the WSC 42 to set up the scoring drive.  Loper quarterback Daron Bryden connected with Jaden Jude for a 13-yard scoring play with 8:20 to play in the half putting UNK back in front 14-7.
            Wayne State came back again following the Loper score and tied the score just before halftime as Dannenbring and Petersen teamed up on a 24-yard scoring pass to even the score at 14-14 at intermission.
            Neither team scored in the third quarter.  UNK opened the half with the ball but missed a 47-yard field goal.  WSC had the ball for just 3:59 of the quarter ending with an interception that led to more Loper points.
            Early in the fourth quarter, sophomore quarterback Abram Scholting scampered into the end zone on a four-yard run to put the Lopers back in front 21-14. 
            After the two teams traded punts, Wayne State got the ball back with 10:45 remaining and marched to the UNK four-yard line but was stopped on fourth and goal turning the ball over on downs to the Lopers.
            UNK ran a play and the ball was ruled down but a challenge by the Wildcats revealed the ball was fumbled and recovered by Wayne State's Kaden Sutton at the UNK six-yard line.
            The 'Cats took advantage of a Loper personal foul to get a fresh set of downs and junior running back Dawson Forgy rambled into the end zone from one yard out to tie the score again at 21-21 with 5:13 to go in regulation.
            On the ensuing drive the Lopers marched down the field, highlighted by a 41-yard run from Harris to set up UNK at the WSC 3, and Scholting capped the drive with a three-yard scoring run with 1:07 to play giving UNK a 28-21 advantage.
            With just one timeout left, Wayne State had one last chance and thanks to a leaping reception from Wayne sophomore Alex Phelps for 31 yards, the 'Cats moved the ball to the UNK 29-yard line with 20 seconds to play.  But on the following play UNK intercepted Dannenbring at the Loper nine-yard line to end the contest.
            Nebraska-Kearney held a 329-281 edge in total offense over the Wildcats.  WSC had just 56 yards rushing and 225 passing while UNK gained 211 yards on the ground and another 118 through the air.
            Forgy was Wayne State's top rusher with 31 yards on 13 carries and one TD.  Dannenbring completed 19 of 33 passes for 225 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions.  Junior tight end Dane Petersen was the top WSC receiver with six catches for 94 yards and two scores.  Phelps added three receptions for 51 yards.
            Defensively sophomore linebacker Jes Krcil accounted for 15 tackles while senior linebacker Alex Kowalczyk added 11.  Junior defensive tackle Luke Lambert had eight tackles with 3.0 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks for 10 yards.  Mitchell Andersen had an interception while Kaden Sutton recorded a fumble recovery. 
            The Wildcats are at home again next Saturday evening, September 6^th, hosting the University of Mary in the Family Day Game set for 6 p.m. at Bob Cunningham Field.