---

By David Boyce  |  Facebook Photo Album

MARYVILLE, Mo. - In all honesty, it is disrespectful to the players on Northwest Missouri State football team and the players for Northeastern State to say the Bearcats played a sloppy first half. After all, Northwest went into halftime with a 31-point lead.
 
Northwest, though, has established such a high standard on the football field that even the slightest miscue appears to be a major mistake.
 
In winning its 22^nd straight game, Northwest's 74-29 victory over the RiverHawks Saturday afternoon in front of 7,296 fans at Bearcat Stadium did come with a few blemishes.
 
But the Bearcats had some amazing performances on Military Appreciation Day at Northwest. Sophomore wide receiver Shawn Bane Jr. caught four passes for a career-high 157 yards and two touchdowns.
 
"I tried to put a big emphasis on special teams this weekend," Bane said. "But it really didn't feel like I got that many yards."
 
Senior quarterback Kyle Zimmerman completed 16 of 22 passes for 270 yards and five touchdowns and he ran for another one.
 
"I feel like offensively, the trust we have in one another right now, the trust I have in the offensive line to pick up the blitzes, the trust in the receivers running the right routes, it is at all-time high right now," Zimmerman said. "It is a credit to the whole unit working hard all summer and into the fall camp to build that trust in each other."
 
One of the best traits for the 2016 Bearcats is they truly savor each victory because they understand nothing is guaranteed.
 
"I feel like we played well," said Northwest senior offensive lineman Jamie Thieman said. "There is always more stuff we can get better on. But we played really well this week."
 
But for the fourth time in seven games, Northwest, ranked No. 1 in the AFCA Top 25, faced a deficit in the first quarter. Less than a minute into the game, the RiverHawks briefly stunned Northwest with a 75-yard touchdown pass. It gave Northeastern State a 6-0 lead with 14:07 remaining in the first quarter.
 
"The first play, we were only in a four-man rush," Northwest defensive coordinator Rich Wright said. "It was a plain old coverage bust. The linebacker got his eyes in the backfield.
 
"A couple of the other touchdowns, I do have to credit them. They made some 1-on-1 catches and they were really well thrown balls. But where we got to get better is we have to get it tackled."
 
Of course, Northwest wasn't going to allow the RiverHawks to hold a lead for a long period of time. Northeastern State has only won one game. The Bearcats needed 2:26 to go 61 yards. They scored on a 17-yard pass play from Zimmerman to senior wide receiver Dre Washington.
 
The extra point by senior Simon Mathiesen gave Northwest a one-point lead that the Bearcats would never relinquish.
 
"We always stay calm, cool and collected," Bane said of the early deficit. "We just executed the game plan. I guess it kind of puts a fire under us."
 
Northwest tacked on two more touchdowns in the first quarter. One came on a 4-yard run by Zimmerman and another on a 3-yard pass from Zimmerman to junior Jordan Grove.
 
"It just makes it easy," Theiman said of blocking for this offense. "Even a tiny hole, it looks like a massive one when we have Phil Jackson, Cameron Wilcox and Jordan Grove running through them. It is unreal."
 
With a comfortable 21-6 lead, Northwest got sloppy again. Two pass interference penalties against the Bearcats led to Northeastern State scoring its second touchdown early in the second quarter.
 
But the RiverHawks weren't disciplined enough to build on their momentum. Northwest blocked the extra point. Marcus Jones picked up the ball and raced down field into the end zone for two points.
 
So despite a poor series defensively, Northwest received the kick off with a 23-12 lead. Two minutes later, Northwest was back in the end zone on a 4-yard run by junior quarterback Randy Schmidt, giving the Bearcats a 30-12 lead with nearly 13 minutes left in the second quarter.
 
With such a big lead, it was easy for the Bearcats to lose focus. Northeastern State benefitted from a face mask penalty that set up a 39-yard field goal by the RiverHawks.
 
The Bearcats quickly made sure Northeastern State had no chance of making an improbable comeback. After a 3-yard run, Zimmerman tossed a 76-yard bomb to Bane for a touchdown. The ball traveled about 40 yards through the air and then Bane made some great moves to get into the end zone.
 
Northwest tacked on one more touchdown and a safety to go into halftime ahead 46-15. By almost any measure, it looked like a dominating performance by the Bearcats. Northwest compiled 352 yards of offense while allowing 148 yards, and half of those yards came on one play. Still the Bearcats seemed just a little off.
 
But the offense was clicking on all cylinders for Northwest. It only took 39 seconds into the third quarter to put the game completely out of reach. Once again it was Zimmerman connecting with Bane for a 57-yard touchdown pass. The extra point put Northwest up 53-15.
 
"I am just really proud," Northwest offensive coordinator Charlie Flohr. "They come into a Sunday meeting and they are ready to go every week. I like the way they prepare themselves every single week, coming out at practice and trying to get better every day.
 
"We try to focus just on doing the things we can do better and not worry about what the defense is doing."
 
Although Northeastern State scored two touchdowns in the third quarter, the Bearcats played many of their reserves the rest of the game.
 
"I am not going to use it as an excuse," Wright said of giving up points with a big lead. "We try to really focus in on playing series by series and not looking at the score. We are always trying to add new kids in as the game goes along and build our depth."
 
In the end, Northwest scored its most points so far this season. The Bearcats led by more than four touchdowns at halftime and they once again were able to play their backups for most the fourth quarter. Zimmerman continued to sparkle. He has now thrown 23 touchdowns without an interception.
 
"I am really proud of Kyle," Flohr said. "He really understands the game and what we got on our side of the ball. He will take the chance when we need to, but when things aren't there, he is smart enough to check down."