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By David Boyce  |  Ticket Information  |  Facebook Photo Album

MARYVILLE, Mo. - A 35-20 victory by Northwest Missouri State over Ferris State Saturday evening in the NCAA Division II semifinals ranks as one of the most amazing feats by the Bearcats in their lustrous playoff history.
 
By overcoming three, game-ending injuries in the first half and a second-quarter deficit, Northwest, 14-0 and the defending national champions, will play in its 10th Division II championship game.
 
"As we say all the time, it is that family aspect," said junior running back Jordan Grove. "We stay around all summer and build a bond. We are all brothers out here. We all stick together and believe in each other.
 
"That obviously showed today when JB (Jonathan Baker) stepped up when Kyle Zimmerman got hurt. It is the next-man-up attitude. We all believe in it, and we believe in each other."
 
It is safe to say the crowd of 5,264 at Bearcat Stadium will talk about what Northwest accomplished on Dec. 10, 2016 for quite a while.
 
"It is hard not to get emotional when you talk about our team tonight and their performance," Northwest coach Adam Dorrel said. "I thought it was one of the gutsier performances in Bearcat history.
 
"I've been part of a lot of big games here as an assistant coach and head coach and I don't know if I have seen a team grind out a victory against a better team than we did today. You look at the amount of injuries we had and when they happened."
 
Even though the Bearcats never trailed in the second half, they definitely faced a dire situation when Ferris State scored with 9:51 left in the third quarter and held a slim 21-20 lead.
 
Northwest began the third quarter without Zimmerman, starting cornerback Marcus Jones and starting wide receiver George Sehl. All three were hurt in the first half.
 
"I am really proud of our 16 seniors and the way they kept calm," Dorrel said.
 
Offensively, it was up to junior quarterbacks Jonathan Baker and Randy Schmidt to lead the Bearcats. The duo did quite well in the second quarter, leading Northwest to two touchdowns.
 
They struggled some early in the third quarter. But like the second quarter, when Northwest needed a drive, they delivered.
 
The most important drive of the second half came late in the third quarter when Northwest had the ball on its 16. The drive started with a 28-yard pass from Baker to Grove.
 
"That was huge just to swing the momentum," Grove said. "It could have been anyone. It just happened to be my play."
 
The Bearcats offense was ready to roll. The long reception ignited a 10-play drive that culminated with a 1-yard touchdown run by Cameron Wilcox with 4 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
 
Northwest continued to turn up the intensity on defense, stuffing the Bulldogs drive after drive.
 
"There were some injuries to key guys on offense, but they were playing their hearts out," said Northwest senior linebacker Jacob Vollstedt. "We changed field position and then at that point, we told each other it was on us.
 
"We have a little saying that brings us together. We talk about one of our fallen friends and what he would have done for us. You know he brings everything he can to every snap and every play so we go out and do it for him, do it for each other and some of the guys who can't be out there because of injuries.
 
"You rally the troops. Nobody tries to do too much. That is really important. We did a phenomenal job of stepping up when our number was called."
 
The Bearcats needed one more score to put the game away. It came with 4:45 left when Phil Jackson II scored on a 10-yard run that increased Northwest's lead to 35-20.
 
No way was Northwest's stellar defense going to give up 15 points in under 5 minutes.
 
"They are a great defense, one of the best that we have seen this year," said Ferris State senior quarterback Trevor Bermingham, who threw for 164 yards and a touchdown. "It is their physicality as a whole. Upfront, they are pretty physical. Their secondary guys made it hard for our guys to get in their routes. They got a couple of pressures on us. Realistically, we didn't get to officially settle in and establish what we wanted to do."
 
In the second quarter, the Bearcats were just as amazing. Northwest put together one of its most impressive 10-minute stretch in recent memory in the second quarter and it gave the Bearcats a 21-13 halftime lead.
 
For the first time all season, the game situation looked bleak. The Bearcats fell behind 13-7 because of a couple of turnovers.
 
In addition, the injuries to key starters were mounting up.
 
None of that matter to the Bearcats when Baker entered the game when Northwest had the ball on its 30. Behind Baker and Schmidt, Northwest went on a 10-play drive that ended on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Baker to junior Shane Williams.
 
"The situation was not ideal," Baker said. "Zimmerman is our senior leader. He is a guy that not only I follow, but the entire team follows. For that to happen, you could see a little bit of the wind was taken out of our team because of what he means to us.
 
"On the other note, knowing from day one, coaches and teammates believed in me in that backup role. They know when I go out there, I can make enough plays along with my teammates to get drives together and put up points. That is what we did."
 
 The extra point after Baker's touchdown pass put Northwest back in front 14-13 with 8:48 left in the second quarter.
 
"The offensive mindset was we had to step it up," said Northwest senior left tackle Jamie Thieman said. "It was next man up. Injuries happen. We had to fight through it, keeping chugging along. We talked about how we had to change momentum all week. It was a momentum turner."
 
The Bearcats continued to play stellar defense and got the ball back to the offense. Once again, Baker and Schmidt were up to the task. They engineered an 8-play, 75-yard drive that concluded with a 2-yard touchdown run by Cameron Wilcox. The big play on the drive was a 28-yard run by Schmidt.
 
"They killed it," Thieman said of Baker and Schmidt. "They did an awesome job."
 
Indeed. Baker completed all six of his passes in the second quarter and finished the game going 18 for 24 for 139 yards and one touchdown. Schmidt completed four of five passes for 26 yards and rushed the ball 13 times for a game-high 71 yards and one touchdown.
 
"Kudos to Ferris. That is a good football team that gave us a lot of fits. We had a few injuries with our quarterback and another wide receiver," said Northwest offensive coordinator Charlie Flohr. "We always have the mentality of next man up and our kids really believe that and they fought hard all the way."