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By David Boyce  |  Northwest Missouri vs. Northeastern State  |  Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016  |  1:30 p.m.  |  Bearcat Stadium - Maryville, Mo.
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MARYVILLE, Mo. - For five years, senior Kyle Meyer conscientiously worked hard and diligently perfected his craft to finally earn a starting spot on the offensive line this season at Northwest Missouri State.
 
A year ago, Meyer started a couple of games.
 
"But I was more or less in the backup role," he said. "This year it was looking like the same thing, but through hard work, I was able to work my way up. I have really enjoyed it. It is truly an honor to start for such a great coach and such a great team. It is a blast."
 
When Northwest, 6-0 and ranked No. 1 in the AFCA Top 25, takes on Northeastern State, 1-5, at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Bearcat Stadium, Meyer, #64, will be starting at left guard.
 
"We are very proud of him," Northwest coach Adam Dorrel said. "He has had to work very hard to get in the position he is in. He is detailed oriented. He is very mature for his age."
 
Meyer showed his maturity Tuesday at the weekly media luncheon. Each week, Dorrel brings two or three football players to talk about the upcoming game to various media outlets. Also, there are student-athletes present from the other fall sports.
 
Most of the student-athletes will show up in the clothes they wear to class or are wearing t-shirts and shorts. Meyer, making his first appearance at the media luncheon, wore a nice shirt, slacks and a tie. He made sure he represented himself, the football team and the way he was raised in proper fashion.
 
"He is a really good team guy," Dorrel said. "He might not show it here, but he brings a lot of humor to the position meeting and to the locker room before the game. He is a good guy to have in the locker room."
 
Meyer let a little of his humor slip through when he talked about meeting with family members on the field after a game.
 
"Regardless of the type of game you have, they say you played so well," Meyer said. "I say, 'yes, thank you, I am sure you were watching the quarterback and receivers.'
 
"It is fun to see them. Usually we will go out to eat afterwards. It is great to see the family."
 
A strong sense of family by Meyer was one the things that the Northwest coaching staff liked about him. The coaches saw his toughness when he played at Morgan County R-2 High School in Versailles, Mo.
 
"We saw a kid who could play a couple of different positions," Dorrel said. "He is a family-oriented guy. That was one thing that drew us to him and vice versa. It seemed to be a natural fit."
 
Indeed, the feeling is mutual.
 
"People always talk about the tradition we have, playing as a family," Meyer said. "It is true. A lot of schools try to claim that, but we truly put that to meaning.
 
"Even though things haven't worked out the way you wanted to at times, I would not trade it for anything else."
 
Because of his hard work and patience, Meyer is now blocking for one of the most dynamic offenses in Division II. The Bearcats have scored over 40 points in all six games.
 
Northwest has beaten teams using the run like it did two weeks ago in a 42-17 victory over Central Missouri and destroyed teams with long passes like last week in a 56-10 win at Central Oklahoma.
 
"Last week it was a blast for those guys to catch those balls," Meyer said. "It made the drives really easy."
 
Through all the success by the skill position players, the high profile players have remained humble, Meyer said.
 
"They truly are humble," he said. "You think about a guy like Shawn Bane. He is an incredible nice guys. Through all the accolades he has received and will receive this year, he never let that change him. We have great guys like Dre Washington and George Sehl. You never know who is going to be the target for this week. It seems like each week somebody pops out."
 
The receivers certainly notice the work the O-line puts in to give them the chance to make big plays.
 
"When we have our down time in practice, they are in their corner, focusing on pass rushing and doing 1-on-1 with the defense," Bane said. "They don't go unnoticed at all.
 
"The O-line is huge. That is where all the plays start. They have to be physical upfront and hold their blocks so we can be able to execute play after play."
 
As good as the Bearcats looked last week, there is still plenty of room for improvement for this week's game.
 
"Our emphasis this week is playing with better fundamentals," Dorrel said. "Believe it or not, after watching the game, our fundamentals were not good down there. The way we blocked. The way we tackled at times. It was not good."
 
Thankfully for the Northwest coaching staff, the players will take that criticism to heart and work to improve in those areas for the game against Northeastern State.
 
Meyer will definitely look for ways to improve. That is how he has worked himself up from a backup to a starter.
 
Meyer has taken the same approach in the classroom. He is majoring in nutrition and dietetics and will graduate in the spring.
 
"I've been talking to the head of the health department in my home town," Meyer said. "We've been talking about a potential job afterwards. It is exciting."