---

By David Boyce

TOPEKA, Kan. - In a regular reason that ended perfect for Northwest Missouri State football team Saturday afternoon at Yager Stadium, the Bearcats were not quite flawless in their 49-13 victory over Washburn.
 
"I thought we were resilient, and it wasn't easy today and we weren't expecting it to be easy against Washburn on senior day," Northwest coach Adam Dorrel said.
 
The outcome was a testament to just how dominant the Bearcats were this season as they rolled through the MIAA Conference with an 11-0 record and inched their way to the top spot in the AFCA top 25.
 
"It is a big accomplishment for us," said Northwest senior quarterback Brady Bolles said. "Coach said we are the third team since 2004 to go undefeated in the regular season.
 
"To be able to do that with the tradition we have, that is big for us, especially for the seniors. We talked about it at the beginning of the season of how we wanted to go out. This is pretty special."
 
The most important thing about the perfect regular season is Northwest will likely earn the No. 1 seed in Super Region Three, which means a first-round bye in the NCAA Division II playoffs.
 
"A lot of people wrote us off before the season even started," said Northwest senior defensive lineman Brandon Yost. "Seeing this team come together means a lot.
 
"If you look at us and see the way we react to each other, spend time with each other, you can tell this team really cares for each other. That is what is really making us go right now."
 
The playoff picture comes into focus starting at 4 p.m. Sunday in the NCAA Football Selection Show, shown live on www.NCAA.com/live.
 
Coming into the game against Washburn, the Bearcats knew the significance of getting a win. But it was going to be hard for Northwest to top its performance from a week ago when it beat Emporia State 44-10.
 
The Bearcats, though, wound up doing a lot of things well against Washburn. The defense was stout, Bolles passed for a career high in passing yards for the second week in a row and the special teams blocked a punt that led to a touchdown.
 
Bolles finished with 402 yards passing, the first time since 2011 a Northwest quarterback has thrown for over 400 yards.
 
"That's a tribute to the offensive line and the receivers," Bolles said. "They have been doing a great job all year. These last couple of weeks we rededicated ourselves to get a good game plan and be ready to go.
 
"Statistics are great, but the only statistic I care about right now is 11-0."
 
As well as the Bearcats finished, they started a bit sluggish offensively.
 
Northwest managed one good drive in the first quarter and it bogged down at the 1. The Bearcats settled for a 19-yard field goal by Simon Mathiesen midway through the first quarter.
 
Defensively, the Bearcats dominated in the first half, limiting Washburn to 92 total yards. The stellar defense allowed the offense to find its stride in the second quarter.
 
Northwest increased its lead to 9-0 on a 9-play, 80-yard drive that concluded with a 26-yard touchdown pass from Bolles to junior wide receiver George Sehl.
 
Late in the second quarter, Northwest struck again on a 37-yard touchdown pass from Bolles to Shane Williams, making it 15-0 with 1:19 left until half.
 
The Bearcats weren't done. Junior defensive band Kevin Berg intercepted his eighth pass of the season. Northwest quickly moved into field goal position. Mathiesen booted a 30-yard field goal on the last play of the half.
 
"Our defensive line and front seven kept putting the pressure on the quarterback and the quarterback is throwing them up for us and we are trying to come down with them," Berg said.
 
When halftime stats arrived, it turned out Northwest dominated the first 30 minutes more than it appeared to the eyes. The Bearcats had 317 total yards, which was 225 yards more than Washburn.
 
The little glimmer of hope Washburn might have had at the start of the third quarter was quickly extinguished by the Bearcats. They took the opening drive on the third quarter and marched into the end zone, increasing their lead to 25-0.
 
Game over.
 
"I thought what really set the tone was the first drive of the third quarter," Dorrel said."The fact we came out and scored I thought was huge. As a football team as a whole, we played a lot better in the third and fourth quarter."
 
There was still 11:40 remaining in the third quarter, but there was no way Washburn was going to score 26 points on the Bearcats defense and hold Northwest scoreless the rest of the way.
 
The Ichabods continued to play hard and eventually reached the end zone. In fact, they had a 7-minute span in the third quarter when they actually outplayed Northwest.
 
Northwest snapped out of its lull with a blocked punt by sophomore Edward Richey, his fifth of the season. Sophomore Jordan Bishop scooped up the ball and raced into the end zone, making it 32-7.
 
"It has been a lot of weeks since I got one," Richey said. "Before the game coach Dorrel was teasing me, asking me when I was going to get another block. I said I got you this week. I was glad I was able to fulfill my promise."
 
In the end, it was another impressive team effort from the Bearcats. They once again showed the importance of sticking together through the good and bad plays during a game.
 
"We just trust each other," Berg said. "We are going out there and doing our job. No one is going out there trying to make too many plays. That is the biggest thing right now. Everybody is doing their 1/11."