---

By David Boyce  |  Northwest Missouri vs. Harding  |  Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016  |  1 p.m.  |  Bearcat Stadium - Maryville, Mo.
FREE Live Video  |  Live Stats  |  Live Audio  |  NW Notes  |  HU Game Notes  |  Fan Primer  |  NCAA Bracket

MARYVILLE, Mo. - Jordan and Jarrod Bishop, twin brothers on Northwest Missouri State football team, are like the rest of the Bearcats during the football season. They focus only on the opponent they are playing Saturday.
 
It means all week they were concentrating on Harding. Harding brings a 13-0 record and its triple-option offense to Bearcat Stadium 1 p.m. Saturday and will try to be the first team to knock off Northwest since the 2014 playoffs.
 
Northwest, 12-0 and ranked No. 1 all season in the AFCA top 25, knows it needs to be in top form for this Division II quarterfinal game. Harding beat Central Missouri 48-31 in the first round of the playoffs.
 
As a linebacker, Jarrod, a 6-0, 208-pound junior, will be counted on to make tackles to slow Harding's running game. On the season, Jarrod has 41 tackles, three sacks and two interceptions, which he has returned both for touchdowns.
 
Jordan, a 5-11, 180-pound wide receiver, is one cog in a highly diverse offense. He has 18 receptions for 259 yards. Like his brother, he also has two touchdowns.
 
In fact, Jordan and Jarrod each had a touchdown last week in the 44-13 victory over Emporia State in the second round of the playoffs. It is the first time at Northwest that the brothers have scored in the same game.
 
"I want to see him succeed and he wants to see me succeed," Jordan said after the game. "When we are both succeeding, it is like a cherry on top. All of our family was here. It was good to really make them proud. They raised us to be good men. To do some good things like that was huge for us."
 
Later in the winter, after the football season is over, the Bishop twins might reflect more on what took place on Nov. 26, 2016, but not this week. Nor are they thinking too much about what might take place next week on Dec. 10. If the Bearcats beat Harding, they will play in the semifinals for the right to return to the national championship game on Dec. 17.
 
December 10 is also the Bishops' birthday.
 
"It is one game at a time," Jarrod said. "That is all we are looking at. It is just what our coaches instill in us. We take it one game at a time and play Bearcat football and good things will happen."
 
Because of the success Northwest has sustained over a number of years, the Bearcats have a huge target on their backs. The Bearcats relish being the hunted because it brings the best out of them each week.
 
"That is the biggest thing," Jordan said. "We know they are going to give us their best shot and we have to give them our best shot. Everybody wants to beat Northwest. We understand that. That is why we go into each game prepared. We take every game seriously no matter who we play."
 
Added Jarrod, "We love having the target on our backs. We are going to get the best competition out of every team and that makes us better. We don't have teams who lay down because we are Northwest. They want to knock us off. We prepare every week like we could lose and we don't want to lose. We want to do whatever we can during the week to prepare the best can. We don't take any team lightly."
 
One reason Northwest has maintained its success is because of the family culture. The players in each position group watch film together and talk about what they see. Every week, Jarrod is watching film with other linebackers and with safeties Kevin Berg and Jack Young. Before they hit the field on Saturday, they are already on the same page.
 
"We always watch film together," Jarrod said. "We are always talking because on defense, they (Berg and Young) give us all the calls for the secondary. We have to be on the same page. When we are watching film, we try to get in there together so when we see something, we can talk. When we go out to practice, we know what we are going to do. It is not new to us."
 
As close as Jordan and Jarrod are to their teammates, nothing tops the relationship of playing college football with your twin. Coming out of Kirkwood High School in Kirkwood, Mo., they made it clear they were a package deal.
 
"We haven't been separated our whole lives, and we don't plan on being separated after college," Jarrod said. "You always have that best friend when you come up here. Some kids come up here and they don't know anybody. Just knowing I had him next to me the whole time and could always count on him and he could always count on me. You have that support system with you when you go away from home."
 
Jarrod and Jordan have learned that the support at Northwest is strong and that contributes to the success of the Bearcats year after year.
 
"We are a family," Jordan said. "It is all about not being selfish. That is what our group is. It is very rare to see a receiver on our team with over five catches in a game. We do so much with to eight different guys. Being able to come here and understand that is huge. That is why we are successful."