By David Boyce
 
MARYVILLE, Mo. ­­- The lightning quick way Northwest Missouri State scored 21 points in the third quarter proved that the Bearcats sputtered on offense in the first half simply to keep their fans engaged in the game beyond halftime.
 
Northwest, ranked No. 1 and owner of the longest current winning streak in NCAA Division II, was the heavy favorite against winless Northeastern State on a cool, fall afternoon at Bearcat Stadium.
 
The Bearcats never trailed, but it took them a while to put Northeastern away. Northwest finally put it all together in the third quarter and rolled to an easy 49-7 victory in front of 6,574 fans on Military Appreciation Day. It was Northwest's 20^th straight victory. The Bearcats are 5-0 and remain in sole possession of first in the MIAA.
 
Northwest head coach Adam Dorrel is a little concerned about the slow start by his offense week after week.
 
A penalty in the first drive prevented Northwest from getting out of its territory.
 
"Obviously, you don't want to start a game like that," Dorrel said. "We have a level of expectation. We don't care who we are playing. I told those guys at half that we have always been really good about showing up each week no matter who we are playing. I was obviously disappointed in the first 30 minutes of the game."
 
Dorrel, though, was very pleased by what he saw from his defense the entire game. The defensive unit allowed time for the offensive unit to find its stride without facing a deficit.
 
"I thought our defense played really well for 60 minutes," Dorrel said. "I thought they were really focused and ready to play right away."
 
Northwest limited the RiverHawks to a paltry 19 yards rushing for the entire game. Simply put, the defensive line was a brick wall.
 
"It is not just us," said junior defensive tackle Brandon Yost. "It was the whole defensive team. The defensive backs did a great job of getting the quarterback off his first read. The linebackers were stopping the run, too. It all plays a part in us being able to do what we do and that's go hunt."
 
The offense matched the defense level of play in the third quarter. The Bearcats got a little help from Northeastern when it failed to convert on a fake punt, surrendering the ball at the 22 early in the third quarter.
 
The RiverHawks must have been thinking that they could fool Northwest twice in one game on the fake punt. It worked once with a glorious result in the form of a touchdown in the second quarter. This time, the fake punt left Northwest just 22 yards from the end zone.
 
Northwest wasted little time upping its advantage to 21-7 when senior Korey Jackson caught a 5-yard pass from Brady Bolles with 9:10 left in the third quarter.
 
Three minutes later, the Bearcats scored again on 35-yard pass from Bolles to Robert Burton III. They added another touchdown in the third quarter on 58-yard pass from Bolles to Alex Visk with still 3:38 remaining in the third quarter.
 
For the game, Bolles completed 19 of 35 passes for 246 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions.
 
Northwest gained 156 total yards in the third quarter, nearly matching the 167 total yards by the Bearcats in the first half.
 
The level of play by the offense from the first half to the second was drastic.
 
"Offensively, I thought we played well in the third and fourth quarters," Dorrel said. "In the first and second quarters, I don't think we were ready to play. I felt like our energy level was down offensively. It is something hopefully, we will learn from. You can't play 30-minute games against good football teams, not taking anything away from Northeastern."
 
Maybe it was the gusty wind or the winless record of Northeastern State that caused the Bearcats offense to look unfocused in the first half.
 
Judged against most teams not in the top 25, the Bearcats' performance was more than adequate. By Northwest's standards, the play of the offense in first half was close to unacceptable.
 
Northwest put together a 50-yard scoring drive in the first quarter and another 50-yard scoring drive midway through the second quarter for a 14-0 lead.
 
The offense had many more opportunities thanks to a hard-hitting, swarming defense that basically pitched a shutout in the first half.
 
The only points by the RiverHawks in the first half came on a well-executed fake punt that went 45 yards for a touchdown, slicing Northwest's lead in half to 14-7 with 6:18 remaining in the second quarter.
 
"The fake punt is something we got to get cleaned up, especially in a big game," Dorrel said.
 
Northwest set the tone on defense in Northeastern's opening drive. The RiverHawks quickly stopped Northwest to start the game and then blocked a punt. They got the ball at Northwest's 13.
 
The RiverHawks didn't come close to scoring.
 
"We have that mentality every week," defensive end Matt Longacre said. "If something happens and they get the ball in our territory, just put the ball down and play each snap like it is the last one.
 
"We played well. We had a great defensive effort. We had a lot of guys get in and they kept the intensity up, which is good to see.