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By David Boyce  |  Facebook Photo Album

MARYVILLE, Mo. - Emporia State walked into Bearcat Stadium looking like a team poised to end Northwest Missouri State's school record 26-game winning streak. The Hornets were coming off an impressive 33-point, first-round victory.
 
The Bearcats are a different animal.
 
Northwest quickly showed Emporia State it was in playoff mode, scoring 17 points in the first quarter. That start carried the Bearcats to an easy 44-13 victory Saturday afternoon in the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs.
 
"It was huge," Northwest senior quarterback Kyle Zimmerman said of jumping to a quick lead. "We talked about it all week about trying to come out strong. When we play with a lot energy on offense, we have a lot of success. We came out really energized. We executed really well in the first quarter."
 
A crowd of 5,119 saw Northwest, 12-0, earn another playoff game. The Bearcats will play Harding, 13-0, next Saturday at Bearcat Stadium.
 
"I am really proud of our guys' effort today," Northwest coach Adam Dorrel said. "I thought we beat a really good football team. I felt our guys were very perceptive of the opponent we were playing. They knew the challenge in front of them."
 
Once again, Northwest put together an impressive defensive performance. Emporia State had all the momentum starting the third quarter. The Hornets scored a miracle touchdown just before halftime and then stopped the Bearcats in the opening drive of the third quarter.
 
None of that mattered for Northwest on defense.
 
"Coming into halftime we knew they had the momentum," said Northwest senior defensive end Collin Bevins. "Coach Rich Wright (defensive coordinator) gave us a good talking to. We knew we had to come out and stop the momentum."
 
The Bearcats didn't allow a point in the second half. Emporia State finished with a minus 30 yards rushing.
 
"Their front four," said Emporia State quarterback Braxton Marstall, "is the best in the country. They are good."
 
The Bearcats booted a field goal in the third quarter and another in the fourth quarter to increase their lead to 37-13.
 
And then the defense put the game away when junior linebacker Jarrod Bishop picked off a pass and returned it 65 yards for a touchdown, making it 44-13. The interesting part was Bishop's twin brother, Jordan Bishop had a 52-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter.
 
"It was the first time we both scored a touchdown in a game (at Northwest)," said Jarrod Bishop. "It was something new. I just happened to be there to make a play. It could have been anybody in that situation."
 
Another interesting defensive note in this dominating performance was Bevins recorded 3.5 sacks for 33 career sacks, moving first on the all-time career sack list. The old mark was 30.5 by Matt Longacre, who is now playing for the Los Angeles Rams.
 
"It means a lot," Bevins said. "To be mentioned in the same sentence as Matt Longacre and see what he is doing in the NFL now, it is just an honor for me."
 
Simply put, Emporia State never threatened the Bearcats.
 
When Northwest gave up a Hail Mary touchdown pass with no time on the clock to end the first half, the Bearcats still went into halftime ahead 31-13.
 
Right away, Northwest made Emporia State a one-dimensional offense. The Hornets had a minus 9 yards rushing in the first half.
 
The game started perfectly for Northwest, stuffing the Hornets in three plays and forcing a punt. Northwest got the ball at the 39. The Bearcats needed six plays to cover 61 yards. They scored on a 6-yard shuttle pass from Zimmerman to Shane Williams.
 
Emporia State responded by making its biggest mistake of the first half. The Hornets fumbled the ball and it was recovered by Jarrod Bishop at the 18. Three plays later, Northwest was in the end zone again on a 1-yard run by Zimmerman. The touchdown gave the Bearcats a 14-0 lead with 6:57 left in the first quarter.
 
"We have been really good in the turnover area, and for us to turn it over in our territory was something we haven't done all year," said Emporia State coach Garin Higgins said. "Those things happen. It wasn't the start we wanted to get off to. We felt we needed to get off to a good start."
 
The Bearcats tacked on a 38-yard field goal by Simon Mathiesen with 56 seconds left in the first quarter for a commanding 17-0 lead.
 
Emporia State finally had a response early in the second quarter with its best drive of the game. The Hornets went 75 yards in 11 plays and scored their first points on a 12-yard pass from Marstall to Justin Brown.
 
The Hornets were back in the game until Northwest struck with a little bit of trickery. Randy Schmidt entered at quarterback in a classic Wildcat formation. Instead of running, Schmidt threw a short pass to Jordan Bishop who raced 52 yards into the end zone. It only took the Bearcats 1:13 to go 75 yards to increase their lead to 24-6.
 
"When Randy goes in, he usually runs the ball," Jordan Bishop said. "It was a good game plan to throw a screen and all their linebackers sucked up and that allowed the offensive linemen to get out and get bodies on linebackers. It was green grass from there. Props to the offensive line."
 
With 18 seconds left in the half, Northwest tacked on another touchdown on a 1-yard run by Zimmerman to make it 31-6.
 
It didn't appear that Emporia State had enough time to score before halftime. Northwest helped out with a couple of penalties that gave the Hornets yards and an extra play and they took advantage of it. But it wasn't nearly enough to prevent Northwest from winning its 27^th straight game.