Northwest Missouri State Athletics

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By David Boyce  |  Championship Fan Guide

MARYVILLE, Mo. - Clinging to a one-point lead late in the fourth quarter, it felt like Northwest Missouri State had its back against the wall battling the hard-charging West Georgia Wolves.
 
At stake for both teams on a foggy Saturday afternoon at Bearcat Stadium was a trip to the NCAA Division II championship game.
 
Northwest watched an 18-point, halftime lead quickly evaporate on two long touchdown pass plays by West Georgia in the third quarter. The Wolves were dominating on defense throughout the second half.
 
West Georgia even made an attempt to take the lead with 4:45 left in the game on a 53-yard field goal attempt. It sailed wide left.
 
After the miss, the Bearcats showed their championship mettle. On the first play, senior quarterback Brady Bolles hit junior wide receiver George Sehl for a 64-yard touchdown play.
 
"Regardless of the score, we needed to put more points on the board," Bolles said. "AD (head coach Adam Dorrel) and coach Charlie Flohr called the right plays and put us in position.
 
"That was our game plan coming out. We are going to keep playing the way we have been playing and take shots. It worked out well for us."
 
A minute later, senior defensive back Bryce Enyard intercepted a pass and dashed 61 yards for a touchdown with 3:39 left, sealing Northwest's 38-23 victory and the Bearcats ninth trip to the national championship game.
 
"I'm not even sure what to say," Northwest coach Adam Dorrel said. "I am very euphoric right now. What means the most to me is I feel we have guys who play hard. As a coach, when your kids are doing those things it is a great feeling.
 
"My personal feeling is we just beat a really, really, really good football team. It is a dream come true to go to Kansas City."
 
Yes, Bearcat fans, Northwest is headed to Kansas City, a song made popular by several artists in the 1960s:
 
Well, I might take a plane I might take a train
But if I have to walk I'm going just the same
I'm going to Kansas City
 
As Dorrel pointed out, there is no longer a need for fans to spend 18 hours on the road to go to Florence, Ala. The NCAA Division II national championship game is at Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan.
 
Northwest, 14-0, will take on Shepherd, 13-0, on Dec. 19. The Bearcats will try to win their second national title in the last three years.
 
Dorrel admitted he felt some pressure to get the Bearcats to Kansas City simply because Northwest has such a large alumni base in and around Kansas City.
 
A good thing for the Bearcats was the players didn't succumb to that pressure, especially early in the fourth quarter.
 
The Bearcats rose to the occasion when West Georgia faced a 2^nd and goal from the 5 with 12 minutes left and trailing 24-20. Northwest tackled Devontae Jackson for a 3-yard loss and then Telvin Brown for an 8-yard loss. The Wolves had to settle for a 33-yard field goal. But Northwest still had the lead at 24-23.
 
The Wolves still had the momentum and remained strong on defense, stopping Northwest again on three plays.
 
West Georgia took over at its 21 with 8:44 left in the game. The Wolves marched to Northwest's 32. A four-yard loss on a run play proved critical for the Bearcats. It forced Hunter Heck to attempt a 53-yard field goal. He missed.
 
The next play will be another entry into Northwest's storied history of championship plays. With 4:39 left, Bolles hit Sehl for a 64-yard touchdown, which increased Northwest's lead to 31-23.
 
"It is unbelievable," Sehl said. "I remember AD after they missed that field goal, he said, 'we are going to win this game.' He called that play. Brady and I looked at each other and we pretty much said let's go, we are going to do this now."
 
A minute later, Enyard made his pick-six, bringing joy in Maryville.
 
"I was on the sidelines talking to the coaches saying I was figuring these guys out," Enyard said. "We stayed patient. They kept coming at me. We knew we were going to get one of them. I had to keep that mentality."
 
It was a nice redemption play for Northwest secondary, which gave up touchdown passes of 58 and 40 yards in the first 7 minutes of the third quarter.
 
"We knew we had to hit some big-time shots to win this game," said West Georgia senior quarterback Dallas Dickey. "We had some big plays and guys made some great catches down field. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't."
 
Suddenly, a comfortable 24-6 halftime lead turned into a 24-20 nail biter with 8 minutes left in the third quarter.
 
But Northwest was in two close games in weeks three and four and knew how to keep its composure to pull out the win.
 
"It made us grow as a team and as an offense," Bolles said. "Being able to come out with a win in those close ball games early in the year, handle adversity as well as we did definitely helped us out tonight."
 
Stellar defense, solid offense and intelligence all played a role in Northwest taking a 24-6 lead into halftime.
 
"The first thing I want to do is congratulate Northwest Missouri State," said West Georgia coach Will Hall. "What a tremendous outfit. They have a great program. The way they came out and played in the first half really set the tone for the game."
 
Once again, the defense did its job, allowing only 87 yards in total offense in the first half and 46 of those yards came on one long pass play.
 
But unlike the first two playoff games, it was Northwest offense that set the tone at the start of the game. The Bearcats took the opening kickoff and marched 78 yards in 11 plays and scored on a 3-yard run by sophomore running back Cameron Wilcox. The scoring drive took 4:36.
 
Northwest defense did its normal thing in its first opportunity. The Bearcats forced a three-and-out.
 
After a punt, Northwest put together a 15-play, 73-yard drive that resulted in a 24-yard field goal by senior Simon Mathiesen late in the first quarter. The drive took 6:08. The Bearcats went into the second quarter ahead 10-0.
 
"I thought getting those first couple of scores got our confidence up and the momentum going," Dorrel said.
 
The Bearcats increased their advantage a few minutes later, by forcing a fumble at West Georgia's 29. Five plays later, Northwest was in the end zone on a 3-yard pass from Bolles to T.J. Schieber, making it 17-0 with 13:47 left in the second quarter.
 
Down by three scores, West Georgia finally had a significant offensive play. Dickey completed a 46-yard pass to Qa Walker. It led to a 32-yard field goal by Hunter Heck.
 
The Wolves continued to ride that momentum and forced a punt. The snap sailed high over the head of punter Randy Schmidt and into the end zone. This is when Schmidt made a high IQ play. He calmly picked up the ball, spotted a teammate he could throw it to and threw a high incomplete pass.
 
The Wolves' took over at Northwest's 34. It could have been much worse. West Georgia eventually kicked a field goal, closing to 17-6.
 
Late in the second quarter, Northwest took full advantage of West Georgia's punting miscue that gave the Bearcats the ball on the Wolves' 11 with 1:33 left until halftime. Northwest scored with 32 seconds left on a 7-yard run by Bolles.