The Omaha Beef proved real men wear pink when they destroyed the Wyoming Cavalry 68-24 Saturday night at the Civic Auditorium. The Beef wore road white uniforms with pink letters and numbers as part of a ladies night promotion in support of breast-cancer awareness. The uniforms were auctioned off to breast-cancer awareness charities. "It's out of respect for breast cancer awareness," quarterback James McNear said. "That's something we wanted to get across tonight." The defense, already one of the league's best, seemed motivated by the pink jerseys and hit hard from the first moment they stepped on the field. "We had to come out tough; we're in pink jerseys," Beef defensive back Cortney Grixby said with a smile before turning serious. "It's for a good cause. We wanted to make a statement in front of the fans tonight, and I think we did that." Following a McNear touchdown run, Travonti Johnson hit kick returner Emery Beckles so hard he did not return to the game. It was game on from there. Johnson had two interceptions on the night in addition to several hits reminiscent of a demolition derby. Grixby and Micheal Phillips (interceptions) and Eric Bingham (fumble recovery) joined the turnover party. "If we can harness that every week, we've got a real good chance of making a run," Beef head coach Andy Yost said. Grixby came out of the gates ready to spark his team. Last week Nebraska Danger refused to kick to the former Husker, instead kicking the ball out of bounds. Saturday night Grixby returned the opening kickoff 30 yards. It was nullified by a holding penalty, but he got another chance to show his game breaking ability on the opening play of the second quarter. He caught a missed field goal four yards deep in the end zone and took it back for his first touchdown of the year. "I haven't taken one back all year," Grixby said. "I took one back that got called back against Chicago so I was hungry. I took the challenge from the team: if they were gonna kick to me, I was gonna try to put it in the end zone." Wyoming decided to avoid Grixby, squibbing the ball instead. One occasion resulted in OJ Simpson returning it to the 2-yard-line that set up McNear's second rushing touchdown. The second time, Grixby picked up the squib and weaved his way 51 yards for another touchdown. Johson had a big hit that opened up the last 10 yards. "I find myself looking for him because he's always trying to peel back and get a big hit," Grixby said. While the defense was dominant, the offense set a season-high scoring mark for the second-consecutive week. "It's fun to have a little cushion and not have a game go down to the wire every time," Yost said. "It makes it exciting for the fans. We've been needing a breakout game, and we got one tonight." Led by all-time Beef passing leader James McNear, the Beef marched down the field on the game's opening drive. McNear was 3-for-3, hitting three different receivers and dove into the end zone on fourth and goal from inside the one. "Our season has been exactly the way that drive was," McNear said. "We've completed passes, we've made yards. I think that was that barrier, and once we broke through that everything opened up." McNear finished the game 17-for-21 with 147 yards and four touchdown passes in addition to two on the ground. "It was a lot of fun, and it was fun from the beginning," McNear said. "That's how you want to play. You want to have fun from the start to finish." RJ Rollins showed why he's the Beef's all-time leading rusher, scoring two touchdowns on the ground and one touchdown catch. He had 48 yards of total offense. The final part of the three-headed monster offense, receiver Maurice Avery scored on two tough touchdown catches and had 61 yards. Matt Hewitt led all defenders with 12 total tackles. Johnson (8), Bingham (6), Phillips (5) and Pig Brown (5) were also among the night's top defenders. Avery even got four tackles of his own. Grixby added three pass breakups to his night, and defensive lineman Byron Wilson Jr. had two pass breakups. "We've just got to keep the intensity up," Yost said. "Keep our practices crisp like they have been, and we have a chance to go on a run." Omaha and Wyoming are now each 5-3 on the year. The Beef face two road tests before returning to Omaha May 21.
