ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - The Northwest Missouri State University football team used an all-around effort to knock off the Missouri Western Griffons for the 10th straight time in a 27-23 victory Saturday at Spratt Stadium.

Northwest flashed an entire team effort from start to finish in the four-point road victory. Northwest passed for 310 yards and running back Jay Harris reached the 100-yard mark for the seventh straight time this season. The Bearcat defense held the MIAA's top rushing offense to minus-17 yards rushing. Northwest's defense also came up big on MWSU's final two possessions by stopping the Griffons on fourth down and then adding an interception to clinch the triumph. The Bearcat defense racked up a trio of quarterback sacks as well.

The Griffons came into the contest averaging a league-best 222.5 yards per game on the ground. Northwest slammed the door on the MWSU running game by holding the Griffons to minus-17 on the ground. The Griffons were forced to be one-dimensional in the second half that had them produce only two yards on the ground in the final 30 minutes. 

Northwest moved its season mark to 4-3 overall and leveled its MIAA record at 3-3. Missouri Western falls to 5-2 overall and 4-2 in league play.

Missouri Western scored first on a 47-yard field goal by Cody Watson with 7:07 left in the first quarter. The Griffon scoring drive consisted of 13 plays for 22 yards and took 7:07 off the first quarter clock to give them a 3-0 advantage. 

The Bearcats answered back with a field goal of their own. Noah Guastella booted a 36-yarder with 1:00 left in the first quarter to tie the game at 3-3. The Bearcats went 45 yards in nine plays and took 3:16 to do so.

The Griffons scored their only first-half touchdown on a quarterback sneak by Reagan Jones from the one-yard line with 12:44 remaining before halftime. Jones's score capped a seven-play, 65-yard drive to put the Griffons on top, 10-3.

Bearcat quarterback Mike Hohensee got the offense revving with three straight drives that concluded with him throwing touchdown strikes. Hohensee hit Tank Young on a screen pass that resulted in a 40-yard touchdown with 9:13 to play in the second quarter. Hohensee then hooked up with Trevon Alexander who tapped a toe in the back of the end zone to secure a 29-yard touchdown with 5:25 left in the half. Hohensee's third touchdown pass went to Kashan Griffin on a 49-yard scoring play with 1:37 on the clock in the second quarter. Griffin's score gave Northwest a 24-10 lead into intermission. Hohensee's first half numbers showed him at 13-of-16 passing for 237 yards and three touchdowns.

The Bearcats were looking to make it a three-score game early in the third quarter. Northwest had marched the ball from its own 24-yard line to the MWSU 12-yard line and were poised to make this one a laugher. However a Hohensee pass was picked off by MWSU's Desmond Green at the 10-yard line and he returned it 90 yards for an interception return for a touchdown. The pick-six pulled the Griffons to within 24-17 with 9:24 to play in the third.

Northwest went three-and-out on its next possession but the Bearcat defense was able to force a punt and kept the lead at seven.

The Bearcat offense fed Harris the ball five times for 30 yards on the ensuing drive. Hohensee hit Young for a 23-yard passing play and a facemask penalty was tacked on to set the Bearcats up at the 10-yard line. After a holding penalty stalled the drive. Guastella knocked in a 37-yard field goal to put Northwest up 27-17 with 1:14 left in the third quarter.

After the Bearcats forced another Griffon punt, the Northwest offense could not generate a first down and had to give the ball back to MWSU on a punt of its own at the 40-yard line.

MWSU marched 60 yards in nine plays and the drive was capped by a 13-yard touchdown pass from Armani Edden to Traveon James. The MWSU extra point was missed and the Bearcats held a 27-23 lead with 7:40 to play in the game. 

Northwest generated two first downs on the ensuing drive but could not get past midfield and were forced to punt. Cole Lammel hit a 15-yard punt that gave the ball back to MWSU at the Griffon 36-yard line with 3:26 to play in the contest. Facing a 4th-and-4 at the 42-yard line, MWSU's Chris Floyd Jr. caught a pass with his knee on the ground short of the first down marker to turn the ball over on downs back to Northwest with 1:57 remaining.

Harris rushed for seven yards on first down and one on second down, leaving a 3rd-and-3 with 1:47 left on the clock. Harris took the next carry over the left side and gained the necessary yardage to move the chains, but the fall was pried away from Harris before he hit the ground and MWSU's Dakari Streeter fell on the fumble to give the ball back to the Griffons.

Edden hit Jonas Bennett for a nine-yard gain that went out of bounds on first down to stop the clock. On 2nd-and-1, Northwest's Shane Fredrickson recorded an interception at the MWSU 41-yard line to ice the Bearcat road win over the Griffons. Hohensee and the Bearcats took a knee two times to run out the clock and give Northwest a 27-23 victory.

Harris carried the ball 22 times for 105 yards. He had a long carry of 22 yards, but did not find the end zone against the Griffons. He also caught two passes for one yard.

Hohensee went 20-of-30 passing for 310 yards and three touchdowns. It was the fourth 300-yard passing game of Hohensee's career and the eighth time he has thrown three touchdown passes in a game. 

Young surpassed the 100-yard receiving mark for the first time in his career. Young caught five passes for 102 yards and a touchdown. Young accounted for a team-best 115 all-purpose yards.

Jake Fisher tied for team-high tackles honors with six. Fisher tallied two quarterback sacks and amassed 2.5 tackles-for-loss. Fredrickson also netted six tackles in the game-clinching interception. Isaac Vollstedt was credited with a sack and he notched four stops on the day.

Northwest will head into Homecoming this week against the Pittsburg State Gorillas. Northwest and PSU will meet Saturday at 2 p.m. at Bearcat Stadium.

NOTES: Northwest leads the all-time series with Missouri Western, 31-13 ... Northwest has won 10 straight in the series ... Northwest has won 19 of the last 21 meetings between the two schools ... Northwest won its seventh straight game at Spratt Stadium ... Northwest is 49-0 when leading at halftime under head coach Rich Wright ... overall, Northwest has won 77 straight games it has led at the intermission ... since 2017, Northwest has held 17 opponents to 20 yard rushing or less ... MWSU is the seventh team to be held to minus rushing yards against Northwest since the start of the 2017 season ... Hohensee has passed for 49 career touchdown passes, which ranks him No. 9 on Northwest's all-time time list ... Hohensee surpassed John McMenamin's career total of 48 on Saturday ... Young is the second Bearcat receiver to reach the 100-yard receiving mark this season (joining Kashan Griffin - 111 yards at Missouri Southern) ... Northwest came into the contest having allowed only 23 first downs rushing this season, which ranked No. 9 in the nation ... MWSU gained four first downs rushing Saturday ... Northwest has produced 21 come-from-behind victories in head coach Rich Wright's tenure at Northwest ... Northwest faced a 10-3 deficit in the second quarter Saturday before rallying for a 27-23 win ... it marks the 10th time in coach Wright's tenure that Northwest has overcome a deficit of six points or more to win the game.