SEARCY, Ark. – The Northwest Missouri State University football team advanced to the Super Region Three title game with a 28-9 road victory over the Harding University Bisons.
 
Junior quarterback Braden Wright tossed three touchdowns and passed for 231 yards. Senior wide receiver Alec Tatum caught five passes for 124 yards, while senior Kaden Davis tallied four catches for 82 yards and two touchdowns.
 
Northwest dented the scoreboard first on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Braden Wright to Imoni Donadelle with 11:58 left in the first quarter. The Bearcats were set up at the 25-yard line following a fumble recovery by Jackson Barnes.
 
Harding's Omar Sinclair scored on a 22-yard option run with 4:52 on the clock in the first. The Sinclair score capped a 12-play, 75-yard drive that consumed 6:59 off the clock. However, the extra point attempt by Grant Ennis was missed wide left leaving the Bearcats on top, 7-6.
 
Northwest gained possession on the short side of the field after a failed onside kick attempt by the Bisons. However, Northwest could not take advantage as Wright's third-down pass was intercepted by J'Varius Wood at the 15-yard line.
 
The Bisons marched 70 yards in 14 plays following the interception to take a 9-7 lead on a 32-yard field goal by Ennis. The three-pointer capped a drive that took 7:44 off the clock.
 
Northwest went into its two-minute drill mode when it took over at its own 20-yard line with 2:38 to play in the half. Wright engineered an 11-play, 80-yard drive that gave Northwest a 14-9 lead with :12 left in the first half. Wright went 6-of-8 passing on the drive for 81 yards. Facing a third-and-10, Wright connected with Alec Tatum on a 23-yard strike to put the ball at the Harding 33. Following a sack, Wright hooked up with Tatum on passing plays of 12 yards and 15 yards to give Northwest a 1st-and-10 at the 13-yard line. Following a spike to stop the clock with :16 left, Wright found Davis in the back of the end zone for the go-ahead score on 2nd-and-10.

"The momentum flipped right before the half with that drive and touchdown," head coach Rich Wright said. "We were going to try and get it in the end zone. We needed to go up and get the touchdown and we did."
 
The Bearcats carried the momentum over to the second half. Harding kicked off and Northwest took over at the 25-yard line following a touchback. Wright hit Tatum on a deep pass down the sideline for a 63-yard gain to put the ball at the 12-yard line. Senior Al McKeller took it into the end zone from a yard out to push the Northwest lead to 21-9 with 13:52 left in the third quarter. McKeller's score finished off a three-play, 75-yard drive that took 1:08 off the clock.
 
Northwest's defensive unit came up with a pair of stops on Harding's next two possessions. Harding lined up for a field goal, but Jackson Barnes blocked the kick to thwart the Bisons scoring attempt. Then the Bearcat defense stoned the Bisons on a 4th-down attempt at the 20-yard line to begin the fourth quarter.
 
Wright and Davis sealed the road win with a 58-yard catch and run on a 3^rd-and-9 with 4:23 to play. The score gave Northwest a 28-9 lead.
 
Senior Drew Dostal tallied his team-leading fifth interception of the season with 2:10 on the clock to lock up the road victory.

"Defensively as the field started to constrict, we were able to not give up points," Wright said. "We were fortunate to win the football game today. Our tenacity and toughness was on display."
 
Northwest will play for the Super Region Three title next Saturday at Ferris State in Big Rapids, Mich.
 
NOTES: The first quarter touchdown was the seventh receiving score this season by Donadelle and 15th of his Bearcat career … Davis tallied his team-leading eighth touchdown grab before half and added his ninth in the fourth quarter … Davis has 10 career touchdown receptions for Northwest … Wright's three touchdown passes give him 56 in his career, which ranks him tied for the fifth-most in Bearcat history … Wright surpassed Travis Miles's total of 54 from 1997-2000 and equaled the mark of 56 set by Brady Bolles from 2007-2010 ... Jackson Barnes tallied a game-high 15 tackles, 1.5 tackles-for-loss, a fumble recovery and a blocked field goal ... Harding out-gained Northwest, 274-255 ... Northwest registered its 14th playoff road victory in school history ... Northwest is 6-1 on the road this season ... Northwest is 52-18 all-time in the playoffs ... Harding had its 14-game home win streak snapped.