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TOPEKA, Kan. -- The No. 20-ranked Washburn Ichabods opened up the 2012 season with a 24-14 win over MIAA newcomer Nebraska-Kearney in Yager Stadium at Moore Bowl Thursday night. The Ichabods will travel to Hays, Kan., to face Fort Hays State on Sept. 8 at 7 p.m.

Nebraska-Kearney (0-1, 0-1 MIAA) jumped on the board first after both teams were scoreless in the first quarter when Adam Lehner pulled down a pass from Aric Kaiser with 11:28 to play in the first half capping a 12-play, 64-yard drive.

Washburn (1-0, 1-0 MIAA) responded with a touchdown of their own as Mitch Buhler making his first start connected with Matt Kobbeman on a 14-yard pass with just over nine minutes to play. After the teams traded four drives with no success, Washburn's T.J. Shine picked off Kaiser with 1:23 to play in the first half.

Washburn reached the Loper 3-yard line before a false start on a third and goal stalled the Ichabods drive and Jeremy Linn put the Ichabods up 10-7 just beofre the half with a 25-yard field goal.

The Ichabods kept the momentum going taking the opening second half kickoff and marching 75 yards and in 10 plays when Hayden Groves scored on a 1-yard plunge with 11:14 to play in the quarter for his first Washburn touchdown putting the Ichabods up 17-7.

Nebraska-Kearney came right back on its next drive as Kaiser hit Adam Lehner on a 5-yard touchdown pass with 5:12 to play in the third quarter.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Buhler hit Alec Steuber out of the backfield for a 6-yard score putting Washburn up 24-14 to wrap up the scoring in the game and the victory for the Ichabods. In the fourth quarter, the Ichabods held the Lopers to 38 yards on 13 plays while the Wahburn offense held possession for 8:43 of the quarter.

Groves led the Ichabods on the ground with 44 yards on 15 carries and the lone score while Kameron Stewart had seven carries for 33 yards. Buhler finished 13 for 24 passing for 179 yards and two touchdowns. Joel Piper was 3 of 8 for 33 yards.

Washburn had nine different receivers catch a pass and seven with two each. Groves led the receivers with 57  yards while Connor Crimmins had two for 38 yards.

Defensively the Ichabods were led by Jahmil Taylor who had 14 tackles with eight solo stops while Bryce Atagi had 11 with six solo stops and two for loss. Jayveri Kelly had nine tackles with three solo stops and three tackles for loss with a sack.

For the Lopers, Tommy Flanagan had 64 yards on 12 carries while Kaiser was 23 of 34 for 203 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Lenher had six catches for 75 yards. Ryan Lendrum had nine tacklels with six solo stops.

Each team finished with 21 first downs as the Lopers led in total offense 349 to 291. The Ichabods had 212 passing compared to 203 for the Lopers. On the ground the Lopers had 146 yard on 46 carries for a 3.2 yard per attempt average compared to the Ichabods who had 79 on 35 attempts averaging 2.3 yards per carry.

Notes:
* The Ichabods won their fourth straight over the Lopers and the first since a 29-12 win over UNK on Oct. 8, 1988 in Kearney.
* Washburn trails in the series 14-7 all-time.
* Washburn improved to 12-12 all-time in MIAA openers and 7-4 in conference openers under head coach Craig Schurig.
* All-time the Ichabods improved to 72-43-6 in their first game of the season.