Saturday Morning Sports – Bearcat’s Season Ends at Foster Field, Loper Football Battles Northwest on Homecoming, Husker Football Faces Top 25 Illinois, Nebraska Volleyball Tangles with Maryland, Local Sports Schedule

BEARCATS SEASON ENDS AT FOSTER FIELD:

A strong, balanced offense pushed Millard South over Kearney to end a stellar Bearcat season at Foster Field Friday night, as Kearney fell 35-21 to close out their season. 

The Bearcats end the year at 7-3 with a strong nucleus of junior starters returning to bring another batch of success into 2023. 

LOPER FOOTBALL CIRCLES IN ON NORTHWEST HOMECOMING MATCHUP:

The 31st/22nd-ranked Nebraska Kearney football team has quite the Homecoming foe as longtime national powerhouse Northwest Missouri State visits Ron & Carol Cope Stadium this Saturday.

The game between two 6-2 squads kicks off at 2 p.m. This is basically a “playoff elimination” game as Super Region 3 is loaded with a bevy of teams that’ll finish between 11-0 and 9-2.

No. 13/14 Northwest, with a defense scarier than Freddy Kreuger, leads D2 in rushing yards per game (31.9) and rushing yards per carry (1.2).

Offensively, QB Mike Hohensee leads what’s been a banged-up unit. He was 14 of 18 for 270 yards and three TD’s (9, 15, and 55) last year vs. UNK while also rushing for 68 yards and a score. The fourth-year junior is completing 70% of his passes this year and had 13 TD tosses.

UNK comes in leading the MIAA in every rushing category; yards (271.8), yards per carry (5.8), TD’s (23) and attempts (372/46.5 per game). The option-based Lopers run 77% of the time it has the ball with QB TJ Davis at 874 yards and 11 scores with five backs combining for 1,079 yards and eight TD’s.

HUSKER VOLLEYBALL LOOKS FOR BOUNCE BACK AGAINST MARYLAND:

The No. 1 Nebraska volleyball team returns home for a 7:30 p.m. match on Saturday against Maryland at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

Saturday night’s match will be Nebraska’s Title IX celebration. Nebraska volleyball will honor the program’s first head coach, Pat Sullivan, as well as team members from 1974-75, between sets two and three.

Nebraska (18-2, 10-1 Big Ten) had an 11-match win streak come to an end at No. 5 Wisconsin on Wednesday night in a 3-0 loss. The Huskers remain tied atop the league standings with the Badgers and Ohio State. 

Maryland (13-10, 4-7 Big Ten) is coming off a 3-1 win at Iowa on Thursday night. The Terrapins have won four of their last six Big Ten matches, and all four wins have come on the road. 

LOPER WOMEN’S HOOPS SHOT DOWN BY HAWKEYES:

All-Americans Caitlin Clark and Monika Czinano combined for 34 points to help fourth-ranked Iowa win an exhibition game over Nebraska Kearney, 108-29, Friday night in Iowa City.

This was the Lopers 25th exhibition game against a Division I school with Iowa having downed D2 Truman (Mo.) State, 102-32, last fall.

UNK trailed 12-6 midway through the first quarter on the strength of threes from seniors Elisa Backes (Salina, Kan.) and Klaire Kirsch (Rapid City, SD). Iowa then revved up its offense and grabbed its first double digit lead, 19-9, soon after and never looked back.

UNK heads to Kansas City next weekend to face the Southern Nazarene (Okla.) Crimson Storm and then West Texas A&M Lady Buffs. Both teams won over 20 games last season.

FORMER HUSKER VOLLEYBALL STAR BANWORTH OUT AT OLE MISS:

Ole Miss and volleyball coach Kayla Banwarth have mutually parted ways. The school formally announced the move Thursday afternoon.

Banwarth was in her third season leading the Rebels. She was placed on leave last Thursday, “as (the athletics department) conduct(s) a review of the program,” the statement read.

Last season, Banwarth took the Rebels to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2010, as Ole Miss finished with a 21-9 record. It was the program’s first 20-win campaign since 2013.

Banwarth played collegiately at Nebraska from 2007-10 before becoming an assistant for three seasons with the program beginning in 2017. The Cornhuskers won the national championship in 2017. Banwarth also played professionally and was a member of the U.S. National Team, winning a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics.

ASTROS COLLAPSE UNDER FIVE-RUN LEAD; PHILLIES LEAD SERIES:

Even with a 5-0 lead, Justin Verlander couldn’t get his first World Series win.

Perfect through three innings, he was utterly fallable in the fourth and fifth. Nick Castellanos started Verlander’s downfall with a run-scoring single, and Alec Bohm and J.T. Realmuto each hit a two-run double that pulled the Philadelphia Phillies into a 5-5 tie with the Houston Astros in Friday night’s opener.

Phillie would end the game winning 6-5. Game 2 begins tonight with first pitch at 7 PM.

Local Results & Schedules:

THIS WEEK IN LOCAL SPORTS:

FRIDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • Football: PLAYOFFS v. Millard South @ Ron & Carol Cope Stadium
    • MILLARD SOUTH 35-21
  • UNK:Women’s Basketball: @ Iowa (Exhibition)
    • IOWA 108-29

SATURDAY:

• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • Volleyball: District Final – 1 PM @ Kearney Catholic High School
    • #7 KCHS v. #10 Ogallala
• UNK:
  • Football: v. Northwest Missouri State @ Ron & Carol Cope Stadium – 2 PM (Homecoming)
  • Volleyball: @ Northwest Missouri State – 3 PM
• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • Nebraska Football v. Illinois (10:30 AM – 9:30 PM; KGFW)
  • Nebraska Football v. Illinois (1:45 PM – 7:45 PM; KQKY)

SUNDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a
• UNK:
  • N/a
• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • N/a