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By David Boyce  |  Northwest Missouri vs. Emporia State  |  Saturday, Nov. 26, 2016  |  1 p.m.  |  Bearcat Stadium - Maryville, Mo.
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MARYVILLE, Mo. - Thoughts on Saturday's Division II second-round playoff games raced through Jack Young's mind on Thanksgiving Day.
 
Young savored everything about his final Thanksgiving as Northwest Missouri State safety. Family, friends, food, football and sharing stories are the ingredients that makes this particular holiday one of the best in this country.
 
Sure, the Bearcats were focused on Emporia State early Thursday morning. Northwest is working on a game plan that will help slow down the Hornets when the two teams square off at 1 p.m. Saturday.
 
Emporia State is riding a 10-game winning streak into Bearcat Stadium and is coming off an impressive 59-26 over Minnesota Duluth last week in the first round. In the victory, Emporia State sophomore quarterback Braxton Marstall threw for 481 yards and five touchdowns.
 
"Their quarterback is playing phenomenal," Young said. "He is very quick with his reads. They have athletic players all over the field. It is going to be a great challenge for us. We look forward going into it and competing against them."
 
So two days from the Bearcats first playoff opportunity to defend their national title, the players spent the morning practicing. But Thanksgiving means so much more to Young than being on one of 16 Division II teams left in the playoffs.
 
Preparing for a second-round playoff game gives the Bearcats more quality time with each other.
 
After the Thursday morning practice, Northwest coach Adam Dorrel allows players who live reasonably close to go home and spend time with their families. The players don't have to return until 2 p.m. Friday.
 
The option is available Young, who grew up in Jefferson City, Mo. It is a 3 hour, 40-minute drive home for him. Young, though, stays in Maryville and has Thanksgiving dinner at the home of one of the coaches.
 
One of the family things the Northwest coaching staff does each season that the team is still playing is have players over who live far away and can't get home. It is important to Young to be there for teammates who are hundreds of miles away from home.
 
"I love spending Thanksgiving with the guys," Young said. "That one year in 2014 was definitely a big disappointment of not moving on in the playoffs. It is fun to hang out with the coaches and everything and being able to eat Thanksgiving together is special. We look forward to it.
 
"Be able to practice on Thanksgiving I think is very special as a football team. At this point in the season, if there is any way we can get closer, this is definitely the way to do it."
 
Once again, the Bearcats have a tight bond on and off the field. You see it on the football field, particularly when a play didn't go their way. Instead of pointing fingers, they rally together to make the next play better.
 
Off the field, it is even easier to see the bond, especially at another sporting event. They sit together in groups and root for other student-athletes.
 
A week ago, Young, Edward Richey, Kevin Berg and Jarrod Bishop got together and watched the Emporia State playoff game. As they go through the process of trying to win a national title, they enjoy the process each step of the way. That bond is why Young was in Maryville all day Thursday.
 
"If I wanted to go home, I could," Young said. "Usually I hang out with the Florida kids or the kids from Chicago. I like staying with them and letting them know this is definitely bigger than football. I see them as brothers. I choose to stay up here. I get to have dinner with them and let them know they mean so much to this football team. I appreciate their commitment to come so far away to play football here."
 
Unity is vital this time of the season. All 16 teams left have talent and most, if not all, have the same characteristics as Northwest. Sometimes a playoff game that is decided by one or two plays will come down to team chemistry.
 
Young is one of the players for Northwest that contributes more than just the four interceptions and 41 tackles he has this season.
 
"He is very good at the energy brings each day to practice," Northwest coach Adam Dorrel said. "He is an energy giver every day. He can sense a lull in practice from our guys. When he senses that lull, he revs up and gets people going. He has worked really hard to get himself where he is."
 
Young welcomes the challenge of facing a team with a good passing attack. It forces him to be even more locked in. Dorrel said the play of Young and Berg will be important on Saturday. But he doesn't want them to try to do more than asked.
 
"The big thing for him at his position is do his 1/11," Dorrel said. "The biggest thing for him and Kevin is they have to get us in the right coverage, the right formation. We have to be physical with their receivers, try to reroute them and don't let them have all kinds of windows to catch and run. The big thing is after the catch, we have to be able to tackle."
 
This is the time of the season in which each game means so much. A win puts a team a step closer to the national championship game. A loss ends the season. Seniors have an acute awareness of this fact.
 
"For me personally, that is the end of my football career," Young said. "We are looking at Emporia and are excited to play against a great football team and great school. We are excited to play at home and go out there and give it all we have.
 
"I am so blessed to be in the position I am today, coming up here as a walk-on and I get to play for such a special community and environment and people who care so much about football. It has been the perfect home for myself."