ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Northwest Missouri State University football team used a 227-yard all-purpose performance from Tank Young and a defense that tallied five sacks in a 33-23 victory over the Missouri Western Griffons Saturday at Spratt Stadium.
 
The triumph clinched Northwest's 29th consecutive winning season. Northwest moved to 6-4 overall and 5-3 in MIAA play, while Missouri Western dipped to 3-7 overall and 2-7 in league action.
 
The Bearcats defeated the Griffons for the 11th straight time with its 10-point victory. It also marked the eighth straight victory for Northwest over Missouri Western at Spratt Stadium.
 
Young registered 135 rushing yards and 92 receiving yards to go with two rushing touchdowns to power the Bearcat offensive attack. Young produced his third career 100-yard rushing game on Saturday.

Quarterback Chris Ruhnke passed for 225 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown pass to Eric Richardson.
 
Northwest's defensive charge was led by Jake Fisher. Fisher made five stops on the day – all were tackles-for-loss – that included two quarterback sacks. Fisher also added a blocked punt in the second half. Northwest limited MWSU to 22 rushing yards on 21 attempts.
 
Senior defensive back Austin McKinney put a halt to the MWSU comeback plans as he latched on to an interception with 3:10 to play. The Griffons had sliced a 30-13 deficit down to 30-23 and had the ball back with 3:40 left when McKinney provided his heroics.
 
Kicker Noah Guastella made four field goals to tied for the second-most made field goals in a game in Bearcat history. Only Simon Mathieson's five made field goals against Harding on Dec. 3, 2016 is higher on the Bearcat record book.
 
Guastella accounted for the Bearcat scoring in the first quarter as he knocked in field goals from 26 and 37 yards. Guastella's two field goals staked the Bearcats to a 6-0 lead. MWSU's Cody Watson connected on a 53-yard field goal with 3:06 to play in the first quarter to slice the Bearcat lead in half at 6-3.
 
Watson knotted the game at 6-6 on a 20-yard field with 14:03 left in the second quarter. MWSU took possession in Bearcat territory when Northwest quarterback Chris Ruhnke threw his 14th interception of the season.
 
Guastella's third field goal of the contest gave Northwest a 9-6 lead. Guastella connected on a 32-yard field goal with 4:13 left in the second quarter.  
 
The Griffons took their first lead of the game 13-9 on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Brandon Berwald to Traveon James with 3:13 left in the second quarter.
 
The Bearcats reclaimed the lead on a 15-yard touchdown strike from Ruhnke to Eric Richardson. Ruhnke hit Richardson just inside the endzone on a low throw to give Northwest a 16-13 lead with 1:18 left before the break.
 
Tank Young burst through the right side on a 3rd-and-2 for a 46-yard touchdown scamper with 9:50 left in the third quarter. Young's longest rush of the season gave Northwest a 23-13 advantage.
 
Young recorded his second rushing touchdown of the game with a 10-yard run up the middle on a 1st-and-goal with 4:20 left in the third quarter. Young's score upped the Northwest lead to 30-13.
 
MWSU's Watson made a 37-yard field with 11:55 left in the fourth quarter to slice the Northwest lead to 30-16.
 
The Griffons pulled to within one score on a 41-yard touchdown pass from Berwald to Jake Berry with 5:57 left. The Griffon touchdown trimmed the Bearcat lead to 30-23.
The Bearcats punted the ball back to the Griffons with 3:40 to play after failing to gain a first down on its ensuing possession after the MWSU touchdown.
 
Missouri Western took over at its own 46-yard line trailing by a count of 30-23. However, on MWSU's second play of the drive, McKinney pulled in his first career interception to extinguish the Griffons's hopes. McKinney returned the pick to the MWSU 25-yard line, setting up the Bearcats with a short field goal and looking to run out the clock.
 
The Bearcats bled 1:44 off the clock and settled for Guastella's fourth field goal of the game – a 22-yarder with 1:26 left in the game. Guastella split the uprights for a 33-23 Bearcat lead.
 
The Griffons gained 23 yards on his final drive but did not threaten to score as the Bearcats claimed a 10-point victory.
 
Northwest will wrap up the 2024 regular season at home against Pittsburg State. Kick is set for 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Bearcat Stadium in Maryville, Mo.
 
NOTES: Northwest is 56-0 when leading at the half under head coach Rich Wright … … Northwest leads the all-time series, 32-13 … Chris Ruhnke has thrown at least one touchdown pass in all 10 games this season … Eric Richardson caught his team-leading sixth touchdown reception on the season … Jake Fisher added two sacks to give him 20.5 sacks in his career … Fisher ranks No. 8 in school history in quarterback sacks … it is the 23rd time Northwest has scored a come-from-behind win in the Rich Wright coaching era as Northwest trailed 13-9 in the second quarter.