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Truman State University Athletics

Football

'Dogs Use Defense To Knock Out Lopers (Updated)

Box Score

KEARNEY, Neb. – Dallas Grier caught 11 passes for 178 yards including a 20-yard touchdown reception as the Truman Bulldogs defeated the University of Nebraska-Kearney Lopers 16-7 on Saturday afternoon on the road. The Bulldogs move to 4-2 on the season while UNK falls to 0-6.
 
Grier had 143 yards on seven catches in the first half while vaulting to eighth all-time in Truman history in receiving yards passing Mike Berentes (1967-70; 1,658), Lloyd Henry (1975-77; 1,677) and Kevin Collins (1998-00; 1,712) in the process. He caught a 66-yard pass on the first play following Michael Elliott's fifth interception of the year with the Bulldogs trailing 7-3. That would set up a 12-yard strike from Conrad Schottel to Brett Nagel on third down to give the Bulldogs the lead for good at the 6:10 mark of the second quarter.
 
Elliott's INT was the 11th of his career and tied him in sixth place all-time in Truman history with Craig Patton (1977-80) and Brandon Steele (1992-94).
 
On the Bulldogs next possession, Grier used his height advantage to catch a lob pass from Schottel from 20-yards away to put the 'Dogs up 16-7.
 
That would end up being the final score as the Bulldog defense and punter Eric Phillips were key in the second half. The “D” would keep freshman quarterback Sean Flanagan off balance with five of their season-high seven sacks coming in the final 30 minutes. Jeramey Dockery and Connor Nagel each posted a sack and a half while Patrick Blackwell, Matthew Bell, Charlie Heinzmann and Ryan Johnson all had one apiece.
 
The defense allowed a seven-play, 92-yard scoring drive in the first half and a 61-yard drive at the end of the game to account for nearly half of the Lopers 334 yards of total offense.
 
Phillips pinned the Lopers back with his leg as he averaged just shy of 40 yards on seven punts including four inside the 20 and had his fifth punt this season downed inside an opponents' one-yardline.  UNK's average starting field position was their own 17 on the afternoon while the Bulldogs started 20-yards better on average at their own 38.
 
Schottel finished with 273 yards of passing completing 24-of-42 attempts with his two TD passes. Will Mosquera had 23 carries for 43 yards while Grier's 178 yards receiving was the most by a Bulldog in a game since Jeff Amundson's 2004 total of 188 against Northwest Missouri. It was the 10th highest single-game day for a Bulldog receiver and vaulted Grier to eighth all-time in career receptions with 122 passing Tom Geredine (1969-72), Alfonso Pugh (1999-02) and Geoff Jensen (1999-02).
 
Despite having a field goal blocked and another missed, Derek Koon connected from 26-yards on the Bulldog's first possession for his 30th career make.
 
Flanagan, making his first start for the Lopers at QB, finished with 201 yards on 13 completions with his top target being his older brother Tommy. The elder Flanagan had five catches for 102 yards while Ricky Trinidad had 110 yards rushing with a long of 42 to set-up the Lopers lone score in the second quarter.
 
The Bulldogs improved to 4-2 (3-2 MIAA) on the season while keeping the Lopers winless (0-6; 0-6 MIAA) in their first campaign in the MIAA.
 
Truman will return to the road next Saturday to face nationally-ranked Washburn (Kan.) University at 1:00 p.m. in Topeka. The Ichabods won 51-18 over Lincoln (Mo.) on Saturday.   
 

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