ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - Missouri Western football lost a back-and-forth battle with Nebraska-Kearney at Spratt Stadium on Saturday, as the Lopers rallied from a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter and stunned the Griffons, 24-23, on Missouri Western's Homecoming.

Nebraska-Kearney's Kyle Failing connected on a 33-yard field goal with two seconds remaining to give the Lopers a win. Nebraska-Kearney, down 23-21 with 2:32 remaining, drove 69 yards on 11 plays on the final drive to get within field goal range.

Saturday's game started out in topsy-turvy fashion. Nebraska-Kearney got the ball to start the game, but on the very first play from scrimmage, quarterback Reagan Jones was blindsided by Missouri Western's Grant Finley, which resulted in a fumble. The fumble was recovered by Brandon Johnson.

On the very next play, MWSU quarterback Branden Berwald completed a pass for 16 yards to Tyler Carey, who fumbled the ball at the goal line, but then recovered his own fumble in the endzone for a touchdown. The ensuing point-after attempt, however, missed off the upright.

That's how it got started. 6-0 Missouri Western in the first 17 seconds.

Things settled down after that to some extent, as both offenses got things going and put points on the board. Missouri Western went in front 17-14 at halftime, thanks to a 37-yard field goal from Cody Watson with 1:32 left in the second quarter.

The Griffons got the ball to start the second half, and got a spark in the form of a 63-yard kick return from James Noel to set MWSU up at the UNK 37. Three plays later, though, Berwald threw a pass that went off of Carey's hands and was intercepted by Nebraska-Kearney's Kendall Brewer.

Both teams had a turnover and a turnover on downs in the third quarter, but neither team could take advantage, as the score remained 17-14 entering the fourth.

The Griffons had five possessions in the second half that ended in UNK territory without points. The toughest of those, perhaps, was a second-and-goal play at the 4-yard line, where quarterback Jaron Saunders fumbled the ball from under center, and UNK's David Lilly recovered.

The Griffons had the ball and were driving in Loper territory to begin the fourth. Missouri Western did score on that drive with a six-yard touchdown pass from Berwald to Carey. The point-after was blocked, but Missouri Western was ahead 23-14 with 10:42 to go.

Nebraska-Kearney turned it over on downs just four plays later, setting the Griffons up on the Lopers' 33-yard line with 9:01 remaining. Watson then attempted a 42-yard field goal a minute later, but it was blocked by the Lopers. On the very next play, Jones uncorked a 75-yard touchdown bomb to Reggie Anderson, pulling the game to a 23-21 margin.

Missouri Western achieved two first downs on the ensuing drive and was able to burn some clock, but a holding penalty and a sack stalled the Griffons' progress, and Western punted the ball back to UNK with 2:32 remaining, ultimately setting up the Lopers' winning drive.

Jones, UNK's quarterback who played the same position in 31 games over three seasons at Missouri Western from 2021-2023, finished Saturday's game with 312 all-purpose yards and three all-purpose touchdowns for the Lopers. He completed 17-of-32 passes for 279 yards, and ran the ball 14 times for 33 yards and a score as well.

Berwald had another solid outing for Western at QB, completing 17-of-28 for for 214 yards and two touchdowns and an interception. Berwald also ran for 48 yards on 10 attempts. Jonas Bennett was again a top target, as he hauled in seven passes for 101 yards. Bennett has now finished with over 100 yards receiving in four consecutive games.

Carey caught four passes for 58 yards and two touchdowns, giving him eight TD grabs on the season. Defensively, Grant Finley finished with a career-high three solo sacks. Kienen Gaskin had a team-best seven tackles.

Missouri Western will have a bye week this coming Saturday, and then are back home to host Central Oklahoma in the Rogers Pharmacy Hall of Fame Game on Saturday, November 2.

Kickoff in that game is set for 2 p.m. The game will be available to watch on the MIAA Network, and available to listen to on the Varsity Network App and GoGriffons.com/listen.