TAHLEQUAH – Dimonic McKinzy broke NSU's passing record but they would fall 59-21 on Saturday afternoon to #25 Central Missouri at Doc Wadley Stadium.
 
McKinzy finished the contest with 236 yards to bring his season total to 2,563 to surpass Johnny Deaton who had 2,520 yards in 2011.  
 
"It means a lot because it's a record and now I'm in the books at NSU," said McKinzy.  "Moving forward I just plan on going higher from here on out…but ultimately we just need wins because that's what it's all about."
 
The RiverHawks sophomore, had three touchdown passes to bring his total up to 24 for the year and only one season in, McKinzy is tied for third most in a career in NSU's NCAA Division II era.
 
"He (McKinzy) has taken us to another level," said head coach Rob Robinson.  "We are able to utilize all of our offensive weapons. He's a fired up guy and the biggest thing is his sideline demeanor, he was down in the first half and bounced back in the second half for us and figured out ways to put points up on the board for us."
 
Gary McKnight caught two of NSU's touchdowns and was one yard short of the century mark for the afternoon.  The sophomore from Lawton, Okla. has caught nine TD passes for 790 yards and despite missing a game due to injury, McKnight is having the best year for an NSU receiver since Trey McVay had 16 touchdowns and 1533 yards in 2011. 
 
The two interception passes caught by UCM that were returned back for touchdowns put the RiverHawks in a 21-0 hole after the first quarter and at the half NSU went to the locker room trailing by 31 points.
 
NSU played a stronger second half and a touchdown pass to McKnight from 20 yards out brought the score to 38-7.  Following a UCM touchdown, the RiverHawks used good field position and McKinzy connected with Zac King for short TD completion to make the score 45-14 on the opening play of the fourth quarter. 
 
However, the Mules would return the ensuing kickoff back for 93 yards to go up 52-14 on NSU.  The RiverHawks put together a strong drive on the next possession going 71 yards in 1:38 with McKnight catching a 50-yard touchdown pass. 
 
UCM closed the game with a short run from five yards out with 3:34 left on the clock to get the 59-21 final score.

Northeastern State had 289 total yards with Central Missouri picking up 436 on Saturday.
 
Kenneth Davis had a field day on the defensive side with a season high 17 tackles for the RiverHawks.  The senior has 12 unassisted take-downs which was only three short of Keith Miller's record that was set in 1978. 
 
Steffon Herd came up with six tackles and he had one fumble recovery; La'More Wise had nine tackles and an interception for NSU.
 
The RiverHawks will wrap up their season at Central Oklahoma on Nov. 12 at 3 p.m. in the battle for the President's Cup.

Scoring Summary:
1st 07:27 UCM - Crane,Kolesen 66 yd interception return (Greco,Billy kick), , UCM 7 - NSU 0
    03:30 UCM - Zachery,Jaylen 39 yd pass from Fugate,Garrett (Greco,Billy kick), 8-70 1:53, UCM 14 - NSU 0
    01:19 UCM - Rhodes,Diaron 75 yd interception return (Greco,Billy kick), , UCM 21 - NSU 0
2nd 11:09 UCM - Greco,Billy 39 yd field goal, 10-29 4:16, UCM 24 - NSU 0
    00:37 UCM - Zachery,Jaylen 8 yd pass from Fugate,Garrett (Greco,Billy kick), 9-74 2:53, UCM 31 - NSU 0
3rd 10:11 UCM - Fugate,Garrett 5 yd run (Greco,Billy kick), 11-75 4:45, UCM 38 - NSU 0
    07:00 NSU - McKnight,Gary 20 yd pass from McKinzy,Dimonic (Garcia,Eddie kick), 9-73 3:00, UCM 38 - NSU 7
    03:21 UCM - Thomas,Wesley 2 yd pass from Fugate,Garrett (Greco,Billy kick), 8-72 3:27, UCM 45 - NSU 7
4th 14:56 NSU - King,Zac 4 yd pass from McKinzy,Dimonic (Garcia,Eddie kick), 5-31 1:40, UCM 45 - NSU 14
    14:44 UCM - Zachery,Jaylen 93 yd kickoff return (Greco,Billy kick), , UCM 52 - NSU 14
    13:01 NSU - McKnight,Gary 50 yd pass from McKinzy,Dimonic (Garcia,Eddie kick), 6-71 1:38, UCM 52 - NSU 21
    03:34 UCM - McNac,Marquel 5 yd run (Greco,Billy kick), 11-38 5:33, UCM 59 - NSU 21