To say the Northwest Missouri State football team is good in the playoffs is a gross understatement.

The Bearcats are 22-6 in playoff games since their first playoff game in 1984. That's a .757 winning percentage against the nation's best. What's even more impressive is the fact that the Bearcats are a perfect 5-for-5 in the NCAA Division II semifinals.

Northwest (12-1) has a chance to make it 6-for-6 this weekend as it hosts the University of Northern Alabama (12-1) at 3 p.m. Saturday. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

Bearcats defensive coordinator Scott Bostwick didn't have a specific answer for why Northwest is so successful in the post season. The Bearcats consistently have a lot of talent, a good coaching staff and an unbelievable preparation. But so does everyone else still playing at this point in the season. That's why they made it this far.

He said it's just the way things are for the Northwest Missouri State football program.

"It's sort of part of being a Bearcat," Bostwick said. "When the playoffs come, it's time for us to shine."

Senior quarterback Joel Osborn said it didn't shock him at all that the Bearcats are just one step away from playing in their fourth-consecutive national championship game.

"To me it's kind of expected because of all we do, not during the season, but like the offseason too," Osborn said. "When you come to Northwest it's a real commitment. The coaches expect to win and get back to this position every year, and so do we. Our fans do too."

He's quick to make sure not to get ahead of himself. The Bearcats face a tough opponent in the Lions.

"I know our senior class, we want to be remembered as going out as national champions," Osborn said. "We can't do that thinking ahead. We've just got to keep going one play at a time."

Maybe that's the attitude that helps the Bearcats keep winning. Bostwick may not be able to pinpoint what makes Northwest so successful, but has the fundamental change down to an exact day.

He said it all started on Nov. 23, 1996. That's the day Northwest defeated the University of Nebraska-Omaha 22-21 and won the first playoff game in school history.

"Matter of fact, (head coach) Mel (Tjeerdsma) and I were the only ones around," Bostwick said.
"Coach (Adam) Dorrell was a short, slightly overweight offensive lineman at the time that was holding on every play."

Dorrell has since become the Bearcats offensive coordinator. The rest of the team is long gone, but that first victory started a chain reaction that turned the Northwest football program into one of the nation's best.

The Bearcats haven't come this far without their fair share of luck as well. Bostwick is still amazed Northwest even made it to the national championship in 1998.

"I'm still not sure how we beat Texas A&M Kingsville," Bostwick said. "I think there's still two guys from that team playing in the NFL right now."

Two weeks ago, Northwest was one play away from ending its season early before a broken play resulted in a first down.

Then there was that 2005 play where Josh Lamberson hit then-freshman Raphael Robinson in the back of the end zone to give the Bearcats a 25-24 victory against non other than North Alabama.

"Ralph (Robinson) made an amazing catch, we got a stop and won a heck of a game on the road," Bostwick said. "It was unbelievable."

The catch made ESPN's Top 10 the next day.

The Bearcats are hoping it won't take a circus catch by Robinson, now a junior, to beat the Lions this year. However, there's no doubt Saturday's game will be a battle.

The Lions have an explosive offense ran through quarterback A.J. Milwee, a Harlon Hill finalist. Bostwick said Milwee is diverse and just as dangerous with his feet as he is with his legs.

"We've got to somehow try to corral him and get him out of tempo and keep him contained a little bit," Bostwick said. "That'll be a big challenge."

Fortunately for Northwest, home-field advantage could have even more of an advantage this weekend than usual.

"They call all their plays at the line of scrimmage," Bostwick said. "The louder, the better for our Bearcat defense. They signal all that to him, and he's got to communicate it to everybody else.
"That's a huge advantage."

Northwest safety Miles Burnsides said the defense is coming off of one of its best performances of the season and a lot of credit goes to the defensive line.

"Our d-line last week played amazing. They got to (Billy) Malone all day," Burnsides said. "The getting to the quarterback makes our job in the secondary so much easier."

It also increases the likelihood of a turnover. The more duress a quarterback is under the more likely he is to make a mistake. Burnsides said it's going to be important to get as many as possible
"We need to win the turnover battle this weekend," Burnsides said.

It won't be easy to win. The Lions forced six turnovers in their quarterfinal victory against Delta. Osborn has played six games throwing 166 passes without an interception.

He said it's a trend that has to continue to hold onto that unblemished semifinal record.
"That's one of the biggest keys to our success right now is we've been taking care of the football," Osborn said as he knocked on wood. "We've got to keep doing that if we want to have success against North Alabama."

The Lions defense won't make it easy. Osborn said the defense is incredibly fast and athletic. His opportunities and time to make decisions will be at a minimum.

"The throwing windows aren't going to be quite as big," Osborn said. "The time I'm going to have to throw won't be quite as long probably. It's going to be one of those things where we're going to have to execute at a high level."