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By David Boyce

MARYVILLE, Mo. - Humboldt State received the opening kickoff and got its first taste of Northwest Missouri State's nasty defense. A minus 5 yards in their first three plays left the Lumberjacks with a bitter taste.
 
After the punt, the Bearcats took the ball at Humboldt's 35. Northwest methodically covered those 35 yards in 9 plays and scored on a 3-yard run by senior quarterback Brady Bolles.
 
Northwest rolled on from there, beating Humboldt 54-7 in the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs Saturday afternoon in front of 4,160 fans at Bearcat Stadium.
 
"This was awesome," said Northwest junior running back Phil Jackson II. "We needed that week off. We had a lot of guys banged up. We got healthy. I think that is why we played so well."
 
The 47-point margin of victory was the biggest in Northwest's storied playoff history. The previous high was 38 in 2013 when the Bearcats beat St. Cloud 59-21.
 
"It really started with our kickoff teams," said Northwest senior linebacker Brock Sherman. "They pinned them deep and then the defense did a great job of three and out and our offense had good field position and did a good job of punching it in."
 
Northwest held Humboldt to a paltry 48 yards of total offense in 45 plays. Meanwhile, Northwest gained 468 yards in 80 plays.
 
"It is going to take a very good team to beat them in 2015," said Humboldt coach Rob Smith. "Northwest is an outstanding football team. You can see that in everything they do.
 
"We couldn't get a thing going the entire first half. We played on one half of the field."
 
It was once again a total team effort by Northwest, including athletic director Mel Tjeerdsma, who used a shovel to remove ice off the bleacher seats before fans arrived.
 
The win puts the Bearcats, 12-0, into the quarterfinals. Northwest will return home and face Emporia State next Saturday. It is a rematch of the Nov. 7 game, which Northwest won 44-10 to clinch the outright MIAA title.
 
Simply put, Northwest has been in playoff form since the calendar flipped to November.
 
"I am just really proud of our team," Northwest coach Adam Dorrel said. "I felt like we used the bye week to our advantage. I thought we played well in all three phases.
 
"The thing I was happy about is I felt we fixed our kick coverage today. That has been a sore spot. It is something we worked on all week."
 
The Bearcats showed no rust from the week off. They were facing a hot Humboldt team. The Lumberjacks won 45-31 last week against Augustana in the opening round of the playoffs.
 
Humboldt's sophomore running back Ja'Quan Gardner rushed 44 times for 246 yards. Gardner found out quickly he wasn't going to have that type of success against the Bearcats.
 
Gardner gained no yards in 2 carries in the first drive and a minus 3 yards in the second drive. The second straight three and out once again gave Northwest great field position.
 
"It really set the tone for the whole game," said senior defensive lineman Brandon Yost. "Our coaches talked about being physical. Stopping a good back like Ja'Quan really did help our defensive line play hard all game."
 
Starting at Humboldt's 42, the Bearcats needed seven plays to reach the end zone for the second time. Jackson gave Northwest a 14-0 lead on a 1-yard run with 3:07 remaining in the first quarter.
 
The way Northwest was playing defense, it had plenty of time to score again before the quarter ended. The Bearcats forced another three and out and on the punt, Humboldt fumbled the ball.
 
Northwest recovered at Humboldt's 3. Three plays later, Northwest scored on a 1-yard touchdown pass from Bolles to sophomore running back Jordan Grove, making it 21-0 with 22 seconds left in the first quarter.
 
On the next play from scrimmage, Northwest senior safety Bryce Enyard intercepted a pass and ran it back to Humboldt's 10.
 
"He ran a slant route," Enyard said. "As soon as he ran that slant, I backed off a little bit. He bobbled the ball. I saw it loose and I took the opportunity to take it from him."
 
 The Lumberjacks finally stopped Northwest from reaching the end zone. The Bearcats settled for a 21-yard field goal by junior Simon Mathiesen, making it 24-0 with 14:08 remaining in the second quarter.
 
The next time Northwest got the ball, the Lumberjacks stopped the Bearcats and that must have made the Northwest offense angry.
 
After the Bearcats did their job again on defense, Northwest struck with a 75-yard touchdown pass from Bolles to freshman wide receiver Shawn Bane Jr. The extra point increased the Bearcats' lead to 31-0.
 
"It was just a true blessing," Bane Jr. said. "They didn't have anybody over me so I looked back quick and he (Bolles) put it on me and I finished the play."
 
Northwest added a 41-yard field goal by Mathiesen on the last play in the second quarter and went into halftime with a commanding 34-0 lead.
 
It was complete domination by the Bearcats. Humboldt managed only 25 yards of total offense in 29 plays. The Lumberjacks had four first downs. In contrast, Northwest had 229 yards of offense and 10 first downs.
 
The Bearcats continued to pour it on in the third quarter, particularly the defense. Offensively, Mathiesen booted his third and fourth field goals of the game, which was a single-game high for him.
 
 Northwest still found the end zone in the third quarter. With 14 seconds left, Jackson scored his second touchdown of the game.
 
 The Bearcats had such a commanding lead that they were able to rest most of their starters in the fourth quarter, and the backups had some nice plays, particularly freshman running back Emanuel Jones, who had a 49-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.
 
"Anytime during the season and especially in the playoffs when you don't have to play the entire fourth quarter and take those extra hits to the body, it helps" said Bolles, who completed 26 of 33 passes for 276 yards and two touchdowns. "It was huge for our guys to be able to rest a little bit and get the backups in."