Home teams dominate first round of Division II playoffs

At least in terms of seeding, upsets were few and far between in the opening round of the Division II Playoffs.

Including fourth-seeded Northwest Missouri State's 35-0 win over fifth-seeded Harding Saturday in Super Region 3, seven of the eight favored teams advanced.

The lone first round upset was No. 6 seed West Texas A&M's 38-30 win over No. 3 seed Chadron State 38-30 in Super Region 4.

MIAA champion Missouri Western, a No. 3 seed, barely survived its first round encounter with No. 6 seed Minnesota-Duluth 57-55 in triple overtime.

The rest of the higher seeded teams won by at least 10 points.

One of the other teams to get bounced in the first round was Lone Star Conference co-champion and No. 8-ranked Midwestern State. The Mustangs lost to No. 18 Indianapolis 31-14 in a four-five matchup in Super Region 4.

Also of note, No. 15 Shippensburg slammed No. 10 Bloomsburg 58-20 in a top 15 matchup of Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference teams out of Super Region 1.

Un-ranked West Alabama blasted No. 23 Miles 41-7 in a four-five game from Super Region 2.

Of the 16 teams remaining in the Division II playoffs, 12 have at least 10 wins on the season and six are undefeated.

All of those can be found in Super Regions 1, 3 and 4.

Super Region 2 contains no double-digit win teams and all four have at least two losses, including top-seeded Valdosta State (8-2).

The winner of that region plays the winner of Super Region 3 in the semifinals.

Northwest (10-2) and Missouri Western (11-1) are each on the road for the second round of the playoffs to play undefeated opponents.

The Bearcats match up with Northern Sun Conference Champion Minnesota St.-Mankato (11-0) Saturday.

Western travels to play Great American Conference champion Henderson State (10-0).

Should both of the MIAA's top teams win, they would meet each other in the Super Region 3 finals Dec. 1 in St. Joseph.

Williams emerges

A reserve member of one of the nation's premier front four's, Northwest Missouri State junior defensive lineman Zach Williams had the most active game of his Bearcat career Saturday against Harding.

Williams, a graduate of Kansas City Center, tied for the team lead and set a new career-high with 11 tackles and recovered his first career fumble which ended Harding's potential game-tying scoring drive in the first quarter.

No other Northwest defensive lineman, including first team All-MIAA selection Travis Chappelear, had more than six tackles in the game.

Linebacker D.J. Gnader matched Williams' total with 11 and safety Nate DeJong totaled 10 tackles.

Coming into play, Williams had made three or less tackles in 10 of the first 11 games. His previous career-high was 10 tackles against Central Oklahoma.

Williams is a back-up to redshirt freshman Brandon Yost and Chappelear at defensive tackle.

Legitimate No. 1

With Northwest Missouri State's two leading rushers limited to only one carry Saturday, senior receiver Tyler Shaw helped fill the play-making void, catching five passes for 119 yards and a touchdown.

It was his third 100-yard receiving game of the season and first since totaling a career-high 175 yards against Central Oklahoma in week six.

The stat line further solidified this as Shaw's most productive year at Northwest.

He took over the team lead in receptions from Simmons with 52 and needs just one more catch to match his career-high of 53 set as a redshirt freshman in 2009.

Shaw also set a new career-high for receiving yards in a season, beating his former mark of 815 on his first catch of the game.

Shaw's updated season total of 931 yards is tops on the team by 457 yards over Simmons.

Scoring-wise, Shaw's 26-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter bumped his career-best season total to 11, six more than anyone else on the team.

Second round tickets on sale

Tickets for Northwest Missouri State's second round playoff game against Minnesota St.-Mankato went on sale through the MSU Mankato ticket office Sunday.

The stadium box office will open at 10:30 a.m. on the day of the game. Any tickets purchased online may be picked up Saturday near the main entrance labeled "Advance Ticket Purchase Pick-up."

Tickets are $15 for reserved seating, $10 for adult general admission and $5 for youth and senior citizens. Student tickets will be available for $3 and children 5 and under are free.