Northwest upsets Wildcats

The Northwest Missouri State Bearcats have played in three consecutive Division II title games, and they played like it Saturday.

Joel Osborn threw for 247 yards and two touchdowns, and LaRon Council ran for two more as No. 3 Northwest Missouri State knocked off the No. 2 Wildcats 45-36 in a Division II quarterfinal Saturday at Shotwell Stadium.

Backup quarterback Blake Bolles also threw for a touchdown and ran for another as the Bearcats handed the Wildcats their first loss of the season.

ACU was playing in the Division II quarterfinals for the first time in school history. The Wildcats have played in two championship games in its history — the last was an NAIA title game in 1977.

Northwest Missouri (12-1) hosts North Alabama (12-1) at 3 p.m. in the semifinals next Saturday.
“There’s no doubt these guys have been here before,” Northwest coach Mel Tjeerdsma said. “Last week, that wasn’t quite so apparent, because a lot of our younger guys thought since we beat Pitt 35-10 the first time, they’d just come in there and lay down.”

The Bearcats had to score a touchdown with 55 seconds left in the game to beat Pittsburg State, 38-35, last week in Maryville.

“We got a great lesson last week in what happens in the playoffs and how good of effort you get from the other team,” Tjeerdsma said. “We turned that around this week, and we gave that kind of effort this week because the role was reversed.”

This time around, the Bearcats had respect for their opponent — a team that beat them 44-27 in the season opener in Maryville.

“On the sidelines last week against Pitt, at times it seemed liked we were kind of panicking,” Osborn said. “We just took a totally different mindset into this game, because we knew it was going to be a high-scoring game.

“They’re such a great team. I think the mindset really helped us. We kept our focus, and we just controlled what we could control. I thought we did a great job.”

When the Bearcats needed a big play, they usually got it. Northwest Missouri converted 9 of 15 third-down plays and 2 of 3 fourth-down plays.

That allowed the Bearcats to score on four of six possessions in the first and the first three times they had the ball in the second half.

Granted, the third score in the second half was a field goal, but it all but sewed up the game. The other scores were touchdowns.

“We’ve got a lot of confidence in what we do, and we have a lot of confidence in our kids,” Tjeerdsma said. “We went for it two or three times on fourth down, and we threw the ball late in the ballgame. We just have a lot of confidence in our kids on both sides of the ball, and I think that makes a tremendous difference.”

ACU, coming off a jaw-breaking 93-68 victory over West Texas A&M a week earlier, couldn’t match Northwest Missouri’s offense. The Bearcat defense managed to get pressure on quarterback Billy Malone and keep a potent Wildcat offense in check.

Malone completed 21 of 45 passes for 269 yards and two touchdowns. He was sacked twice and threw two interceptions. ACU running back Bernard Scott had 169 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries. Scott is a finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy this year, after finishing second last year. The award goes to the best player in Division II football.

“We knew if were going to have any success on defense today, we were going to have to disrupt their rhythm and keep them from catching the momentum,” Bearcat defensive end Sean Paddock said.

ACU was hampered by 15 penalties for 110 yards — including a few offsides calls, which kept Bearcat drives alive.

“We watch a lot of film, and we felt like there was no doubt we could get them in the neutral zones, and we did a lot of times,” Tjeerdsma said. “I thought that was really key. That was important for our offense, and it was good for us in a psychological standpoint because they were doing what we thought we could get them to do.”

Northwest Missouri’s two quarterbacks, Osborn and Bolles, combined for 316 yards and three touchdowns — and no interceptions. Council had 78 yards rushing and four catches for 62 yards. Bolles had 51 yards rushing on six attempts.

“Both quarterbacks (did) a tremendous job,” ACU coach Chris Thomsen said. “They have a great setup there with that 1-2 punch at quarterback. Osborn does a great job throwing the ball, and the other kid does a good job making plays on the ground.”

Osborn and Bolles each threw a touchdown pass in the first quarter. Osborn hit Abe Qaoud for a 24-yarder on the game’s opening drive, and Bolles threw a 2-yarder to Greg Applegate to give the Bearcats a 14-10 lead with 2:00 left in the first quarter.

ACU got a 47-yard field goal by Matt Adams, and Malone tossed a 9-yard touchdown pass to Johnny Knox. The touchdown pass gave ACU it’s only lead of the day, 10-7, with 7:39 to play in the opening quarter.

Council had a 1-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter, and Osborn tossed a 21-yard touchdown pass to Nick Rhodes for a 21-10 lead with 2:11 left in the half.

Adams booted a 25-yard field goal between Bearcat touchdowns.

ACU got a 6-yard touchdown pass from Malone to Knox to make it a one-possession game, 28-20, 21 seconds before the half.

ACU opened the second half with a five-play, 51-yard drive. Scott ran eight yards for the touchdown, and Adams’ PAT made it a one-point game, 28-27.

But Northwest Missouri answered the bell time and time again in the second half.

After ACU pulled within one, 28-27, on the first drive of the second half, the Bearcats answered with a 5-yard touchdown run by Council.

Bolles hit Ralphael Robinson for an 11-yard gain on a fourth-and-3 play from the ACU 48 to keep the drive alive.

“I thought the biggest play he made was that fourth down to start the second half,” Osborn said. “He came in and completed it to Ralph. That was huge, because it kept our drive going. We ended up going down and scoring.”

Chris LeFlore picked off a Malone pass at the Bearcat 2-yard line to halt the Wildcats’ ensuing drive, and Bolles finished off an 11-play, 98-yard drive with a 14-yard touchdown run that all but doomed ACU.

The scoring drive gave the Bearcats a 42-27 lead with 14:42 left in the game.

ACU would come back to get a 1-yard touchdown run by Scott.

But Tommy Fervert kicked a 32-yard field goal, and E.J. Hawkins picked off a Malone pass at the Northwest Missouri 24 to end any hopes of an ACU comeback.

“I thought Northwest Missouri did an outstanding job,” Thomsen said. “Credit their team for a tremendous game plan, tremendous execution on their part. I’m proud of our team, the way they continued to fight back. But I thought Northwest Missouri did a great job.”

It was a far cry from the first meeting. ACU rallied from a 21-17 first-half deficit to win the game.
“We’re a lot different team, especially on defense,” Tjeerdsma said. “Our two starting linebackers didn’t even travel to the title game last year. They were both redshirt freshmen.  Now, they’re veterans, and they played like it.

“We had a lot better answer for the quick stuff. They really never got anything on us on the quick no-huddle. I thought we did a great job on that. We worked on that all week.”

Added free safety Myles Burnsides: “It was the first week of the season. We were a little shocked, out of shape. We had different guys starting for the first time. Today, we knew it was going to be a full 60-minute game. The D line just played amazing.

Ironically, Tjeerdsma said the team actually felt more pressure in the season opener — not in an elimination game.

“There was no pressure on us today,” he said. “Back in August, there was a lot of pressure on us, especially for our young kids. It was their first game, and it was a huge game — two top 10 teams, and they’re playing their first game in front of a packed house. Today, we just said. ‘We’re in a great position. Let’s keep playing,’ and they did that. We said, ‘If we have to drag you off the field when the game’s over, we’ll do that. But leave it on the field,’ and they did that.”