WARRENSBURG, Missouri – The No. 3-ranked Northwest Missouri State University football team took it to the University of Central Missouri Mules from the start and cruised to a 47-7 victory at Walton Stadium.
 
Northwest moved its season mark to 2-0, while Central Missouri fell to 0-3 overall.
 
Sophomore quarterback Mike Hohensee was responsible for six Bearcat touchdowns as he passed for four scores and rushed for two others. Hohensee went 14-of-18 passing for 260 yards. He also rushed for 30 yards. Senior Kaden Davis tallied his second career 100-yard receiving game with four catches for 103 yards and two touchdowns.
 
Central Missouri won the coin toss and deferred. Northwest then took the opening possession of the game to the end zone. Hohensee led the nine-play, 83-yard drive and capped it off with a 32-yard touchdown run. Hohensee converted on a pair of third downs on the drive with one pass going to Kaden Davis on a 3rd-and-5 and the other going to Alec Tatum on a 3rd-and-10.
 
Northwest's defense forced a punt on UCM's initial possession of the game. Northwest marched 77 yards in five plays to up the lead to 14-0. Hohensee hooked up with Kaden Davis on a 41-yard scoring play with 6:57 left in the opening quarter.
 
UCM struck for a 53-yard pass play to move the ball to the 22-yard line. However, the Bearcat defense responded with the first turnover of the game. Linebacker Jackson Barnes intercepted a pass and returned it 15 yards to turn away the Mules drive.
 
The Bearcat offense used the momentum of the turnover and turned it into instant points. Hohensee hit running back Al McKeller with a pass down the middle for a 44-yard touchdown pass. The McKeller score gave Northwest a 21-0 lead with 4:17 left in the opening quarter.
 
The Bearcats dominated the first quarter with a yardage advantage of 262-88. Northwest rushed for 95 yards in the opening quarter, while UCM was held to 10 on the ground. Northwest held the ball 10:06 in the first, while UCM ran 13 plays and had the ball 4:54.
 
Northwest extended the lead to 27-0 two minutes into the second quarter. Hohensee scored his second touchdown of the game on the ground from three yards out on 3rd-and-goal. The extra point attempt failed.
 
The Bearcat blowout was on after Jake Fisher blocked a UCM punt. Peyton Plunkett scooped up the ball and returned it 22 yards for a Northwest touchdown with 10:33 left in the second quarter. The PAT failed again to leave Northwest with a 33-0 lead.
 
Northwest upped the comfortable lead to 40-0 on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Hohensee to Davis with 10:59 left in the third. The four-play drive covered 61 yards in 1:46.
 
Hohensee accounted for his sixth touchdown of the day on a 17-yard scoring pass to Imoni Donadelle with 6:28 left in the third quarter that gave the Bearcats a 47-0 lead. It's the ninth career receiving touchdown of Donadelle's collegiate career.
 
The Mules broke through for their first score of the game with 4:12 left in the third quarter. UCM's Koby Wilkerson scored on a nine-yard run to cut the Northwest lead to 47-7.
 
Northwest passed for 263 yards, while rushing for 248 to total 511 total yards.
 
Jackson Barnes led the defensive effort with 11 tackles, two tackles-for-loss and an interception.
 
Northwest will play its first home game at Bearcat Stadium next Saturday at 1:30 p.m. against the University of Central Oklahoma.
 
NOTES: The blocked punt by Jake Fisher was the first blocked punt by a Bearcat since Zach Pierce blocked a punt at Pittsburg State (Oct. 6, 2018) … Northwest is 30-0 when leading at the half under head coach Rich Wright … the Bearcats improved to 27-2 when scoring first under Wright's leadership …. Northwest moved to 26-2 when allowing 19 or fewer points in the Wright era … Northwest is 13-1 in the month of September under coach Wright … former Bearcat offensive coordinator and current UCM head coach Jim Svoboda fell to 1-11 all-time against Northwest … today's game marked the 450th consecutive football game called by long-time Bearcat radio announcer John Coffey.