CSC Athletics
Kaleb Center, Sports Information Director
CHADRON – For the first time since 2011, the Chadron State College football team has scheduled a game against its nearest in-state rival, the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
The kickoff is set for November 7, at 3 p.m. Central time, at Cope Stadium in Kearney, Nebraska. No specifics are available at this time, but fans are expected to be allowed, in some capacity. Tickets will likely be made available near the week of the game.
The intra-state series, played annually from 1960 to 1980 and from 1996 to 2011, will be renewed for the first time since UNK left the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference to join the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 2012. Dating back to the first meetup in 1921, Kearney holds a 49-21-1 advantage over the CSC program.
Guided by fourth-year coach Josh Lynn, who holds a coaching record of 15-19 at his current school, the Lopers are coming off the program’s winningest season since they last met the Eagles. In 2019 they defeated seventh-ranked Northwest Missouri State en route to a 6-5 regular season record, before winning the Mineral Water Bowl over Winona State, by a score of 50-33. UNK finished tied for fifth in the MIAA standings, and returns six starters on each side of the ball from last year’s team.
CSC returns eight starters on offense, including four of five on the offensive line, and six on defense, from a team that also went 6-5 in the 2019 regular season. The Eagles started the season 1-4 before rallying to win five straight and preserve their third consecutive winning season. Senior quarterback Dalton Holst returns for his fourth season as starter, and Cole Thurness, the fifth-leading receiver in the RMAC last season, also returns as a senior. Defensively, the Eagles are led by the league’s leading tackler, Travis Wilson.
Both schools recently announced an abbreviated fall season, in which games will count toward NCAA statistics and win-loss records, but not toward any conference or NCAA championships.