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By David Boyce

MARYVILLE, Mo. - For over 28 minutes in the first half, Northwest Missouri State played near-perfect football for the 9,082 fans who showed up Saturday to Bearcat Stadium for the Homecoming game against Fort Hays State.
 
The 35 points Northwest scored in that span was more than enough to carry the Bearcats to a 45-24 victory that once again showed why Homecoming at Northwest is a special occasion.
 
"We knew we had to come out guns blazing," said Northwest senior quarterback Brady Bolles. "They are a really good team. They just knocked off Emporia. We knew they were going to be ready to play. It was a big emphasis for us to come out and get to a fast start."
 
There were plenty of stars. Junior running back Phil Jackson rushed for a career-high 150 yards and two touchdowns.
 
"That was great, but I have to give it up to my offensive line," Jackson said. "The wide outs were out there blocking like crazy. Without them, I can't do what I was doing today."
 
Bolles threw for a career-high 329 yards and three touchdowns. Bolles' performance earned him the Don Black Award, given to the MVP of the Homecoming game.
 
"I am very humbled by it," Bolles said of winning the award. "It is a great experience to come out and play for the fans for Homecoming. Bearcat nation is something else. You don't experience something like this at the D II level.
 
"This award could have gone to multiple players on our team today. A lot of guys stepped up and played great. Some of the guys who come to mind are Phil Jackson, Kevin Berg, Shawn Bane, guys who played their tails off. This is a team trophy. If we win, it is a great day in Bearcat nation."
 
The Bearcats truly showed their team spirit several minutes after the game. They gathered around senior defensive lineman Brandon Yost when he proposed to his girlfriend of five years.
 
"When it came towards the end of the game with about 2 minutes left, I was nervous about it," Yost said. "I'm glad she said yes. It was really nice to have everybody down here who was happy for us."
 
From the start, the Bearcats made sure this was going to be a happy Homecoming. Northwest stuffed Hays potent rushing attack of quarterback Treveon Albert and running back Shaquille Cooper limiting two of the top rushers to a total of 48 yards in the first half.
 
The Bearcats had a pick-six touchdown by junior Jack Young. Jackson rushed for two touchdowns and Bolles threw two more touchdowns, all in the first half.
 
The second one, a 6-yard toss to Bane Jr., gave Northwest a 35-0 lead with 1:39 left in the second half.
 
After grabbing a huge lead, Northwest lost a bit of focus, which explains only a 21-point victory.
 
Still, when the game mattered most, Northwest played up to its No. 3 ranking in the AFCA top 25. The win improved the Bearcats to 8-0 in the MIAA.
 
Hays entered the game feeling good about itself. It was coming off a 27-24 victory over Emporia State, which was the Hornets first loss of the season.
 
Right away, Northwest shook the confidence of the Tigers. On the second play of the game, junior safety Kevin Berg intercepted a pass, giving Northwest excellent field position at Hays' 25.
 
"We preach turnover every week," Berg said. "Coming in, we knew they had a great offensive running game. We wanted to shut that down. We felt if we could get some opportunities in the air, we would be able to capitalize on those."
 
Jackson needed just two carries to cover the 25 yards. The first one went for 22 yards and the second one put him in the end zone with 13:44 left in the first quarter.
 
A little over two minutes later, Northwest scored again on a 42-yard interception return by Young, increasing the Bearcats lead to 14-0 with 11:38 remaining in the first quarter.
 
"It felt really good to build off the momentum that my teammate Kevin Berg got on the first pick," Young said. "It was great to get the momentum and get the offense going, keep giving them the ball as much as we can."
 
Northwest continued its domination throughout the second quarter, scoring three more touchdowns.
 
"We came out here with a lot of energy," Young said. "It was real exciting to come out here and play the way we can play."
 
The Bearcats gave up its first points on an 85-yard kickoff return, which made it 35-7 with 1:39 left until halftime.
 
Northwest committed a turnover at the start of the third quarter and that led to another Hays touchdown, making it 35-14 less than 2 minutes into the third quarter.
 
"I think we will be OK," Jackson said of the brief letdown. "Sometimes that happens, but we will be just fine."
 
Six minutes later, the Bearcats answered with a 7-yard touchdown pass from Bolles to Bane Jr., making it 42-14.
 
Northwest was never in danger of giving up the lead, but it certainly wasn't playing up to the level it was for most of the first half when the Bearcats held Hays to 67 totals yards while gaining 331.
 
Statistically, the game was much closer in the second half, but Northwest made an emphatic statement in the first half that it is going to take a special effort to give the Bearcats a loss in the MIAA.
 
Hays, which dropped to 5-3, started the day in a two-way tie for third with Central Missouri. Its other two losses were by seven points to Pittsburg State and five points to Missouri Western.
 
Four seconds into the second quarter, Northwest held a 21-0 lead. The Tigers never got closer than 21 points the rest of the game and that was with Northwest putting it into cruise control for most of the second half.
 
The Bearcats are now ready to cruise down Highway 71 onto I-29 to their geographical rival Missouri Western next Saturday. 
 
"We will celebrate a little bit tonight and tomorrow and then we will get back in the film room tomorrow and get ready for next week," Young said.