Northwest Missouri State Athletics

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By David Boyce    |    Facebook Fan Album

MARYVILLE, Mo. - In the first half, Northwest Missouri State limited Lindenwood to just 30 total yards. On the other side of the ball, the Bearcats had 341 yards of offense.
 
Sometimes the scoreboard does not reflect the disparity in offensive yards. Saturday afternoon at Bearcat Stadium was not one of those occasions. Northwest took a 34-point lead into halftime and duplicated the effort in the second half for a 69-0 victory in front of 6,594.
 
"Our goal every week is to come out and hang zeros," said junior defensive tackle Collin Bevins, who had 3.5 tackles for losses and one sack. "Sometimes it doesn't happen. This week was nice pitching a shutout."
 
Even though Lindenwood dropped to 1-5, the Lions were competitive in their first five games. They beat Washburn in the first game of the season and nearly knocked off No. 18 Emporia State last week before falling 20-13.
 
"We wanted to come out and get on these guys early," said Northwest senior quarterback Brady Bolles, who completed 23 of 35 passes for 240 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. "They have been playing good football all year. We felt like we had a good game plan. It was great to come out and execute."
 
Right now, the Bearcats are a more ferocious animal than the RiverHawks and Lions. For the second week in a row, Northwest looked like a team deserving of its No. 3 ranking in the AFCA Top 25. Northwest improved to 6-0 and has now outscored its last two opponents 128-7.
 
Like in last week's 59-7 win at Northeastern State, the Bearcats dominated Lindenwood from start to finish. The Lions received the ball to start the game and on the third play, completed a 16-yard pass. Through four plays, Lindenwood had 22 yards of total offense. The Lions managed eight more the rest of the half.
 
"We have been short guys and had injuries and nobody said a word. It has been next guy up," said Northwest defensive coordinator Rich Wright, whose defensive unit held Lindenwood to 78 total yards. "I am very proud of them. I am proud of the way they battle. We have guys who are unselfish, change positions and do whatever it has taken to put a good product on the field each weekend. They deserve all the credit because they really flew around and did a great job today."
 
After stopping the Lions, Northwest got the ball at its 31 and went on a 13-play drive that ended with a 36-yard field goal by junior Simon Mathiesen with 8:19 left in the first quarter.
 
As it turned out, Lindenwood played its best football in the opening 7 minutes. In the Lions next drive, they ran three plays for a negative four yards.
 
Freshman Shawn Bane Jr. gave Northwest great field position after a 51-yard punt return to Lindenwood's 28.
 
"We preached field position all week," said Bane Jr., who also caught six passes for 107 yards.. "We said he has a loose foot. He is going to kick across his body. "When I picked it up, I thought let's give us some good field position and have good ball security.
 
"I'm just trying to be part of the team and benefit us in a positive way."
 
 Seven plays later, the Bearcats were in the end zone on 13-yard touchdown pass from Bolles to sophomore running back Jordan Grove.
 
"It is always good to get up early," Grove said "We want to get out there and execute. The first couple of weeks we had some good stuff going, but we were a block away or dropping passes or missing cuts. But we finally put it together and put together good drives."
 
The touchdown gave Northwest a 10-0 lead with 3:33 left in the first quarter. The Bearcats were in such a dominating mode that they had time to stop Lindenwood, get the ball and score another touchdown before the first quarter ended.
 
With 43 seconds left in the first quarter, junior running back Phil Jackson scored on an 8-yard touchdown, increasing the Bearcats' lead to 17-0.
 
Amazingly, Northwest scored its next touchdown one minute and 47 seconds later and it came without a turnover. The Bearcats stopped Lindenwood on three plays and forced a punt.
 
"We saw some things we could really exploit," Bevins said. "Once we decided what was working, we settled into a good groove for our defense."
 
Northwest got the ball on its 39 and needed two plays to go 61 yards for its next score. The first play was a 48-yard pass from Bolles to Bane Jr. Grove concluded the scoring drive with a 13-yard touchdown run, increasing Northwest's lead to 24-0 with 14:03 remaining in the second quarter.
 
"It is great to have the guys back there to run the ball like that," Bolles said. "Our O-line gets the credit today. They did a great job upfront, opening up big holes. It is easy to run through holes.
 
"Grove did a great job, Phil Jackson did a great job and all of our running backs did a great job today."
 
If it were a heavyweight fight, the game would have been stopped out of mercy after Grove's second touchdown. And if this were a Missouri high school game, a running clock would have been used.
 
Unfortunately, for the Lions, neither rule applies in a MIAA football game. Northwest played even better in the third quarter, outscoring the Lions 21-0 for a 55-0 lead entering the last quarter.
 
It definitely looked like Lindenwood gave up at the start of the fourth quarter. Two miscues led to two quick touchdowns by Northwest's backup players. With 12:55 still remaining in the game, Northwest built its lead to 69-0.
 
Part of the reason the Lions looked hapless in the fourth quarter was because of the energy the reserves brought once they got into the game for Northwest.
 
"It was great to see," Wright said. "We really try to emphasize the energy just in general on our sideline. Our older guys stay engaged about what is going on, and talking about it. Doing those things make it so those young guys know they are being watched.
 
"It is not mop up time. It is the next guy up. That is how we develop depth around here."