As Northwest Missouri State football players gathered in a massive circle following the annual Green and White spring football game, starting quarterback Brady Bolles delivered verbal zinger to starting defensive end Matt Longacre.
“16-0,” Bolles said.
Bolles played for the White team that came away with a 16-10 victory Saturday afternoon at Bearcat Stadium over the Green team, which Longacre was on.
“It has been a fun little rivalry,” Bolles said. “We have been going back and forth every day in spring practice. He plays defensive end and on some of our right plays, I am reading him. If I beat him, I let him know about it and if he beats me, he definitely lets me know about it, too.”
Technically, spring football is part of the 2013-14 school year, a year in which the Bearcats went 15-0 and won the 2013 NCAA Division II National Championship. Bolles is still a sophomore athletically and Longacre is a junior.
In reality, spring football is the beginning of the 2014-15 school year. Bolles and Longacre were voted this week as captains along with D.J. Gnader, Zach Williams, Eric Reimer, Bryce Young and Marcus Wright.
“That means the world to me to know my team is behind me and they trust me to be a face in this program,” Bolles said. “We have big goals for next year. It is always great to win the national championship. But the teams that have character are the ones that stay on top. That is what we are trying to do for this upcoming year.”
On a beautiful Saturday afternoon, the 2014 Bearcats gave their fans a small sampling of what to expect in the upcoming season.
As expected, the defense was strong. Northwest also proved it has a special placekicker. Sophomore-to-be Simon Mathiesen booted field goals of 27, 44 and 50 yards to give the White team a 9-3 lead after three quarters.
Bolles and redshirt freshman quarterback Kyle Zimmer (Green team) really couldn’t show their complete arsenal because the defense weren’t allowed to tackle them.
Still, Northwest fans were able to see why Northwest coach Adam Dorrel and his staff didn’t recruit a quarterback in the 2014 signing class.
True freshmen Jonathan Baker, Randy Schmidt and Brad Strauss all saw action and they didn’t have the protection of the red jersey that they wear in practice.
Each player took a few hits. In fact, the three freshmen quarterback must have looked like raw meat to some starving Bearcats on defense.
“We tease them and say it builds character,” Dorrel said.
“Honestly, we try to let them be athletes. All three of those guys are dual-threat guys.”
All three had at least one nice run. Strauss had a 21-yard run, Baker, a 15-yard run and Schmidt rushed four times for 51 yards. It was Baker, a native of Maryville, who gave the hometown fans something to talk about near the end of the game.
With under 30 seconds left in the game and the Green trailing 16-3, Baker tossed a beautiful 87-yard touchdown pass to freshman wide receiver Shane Williams for the final points of the game.
“It is always a good feeling when you can execute a play like that,” Baker said.
Even if Baker finished the game without a touchdown pass, he would have been happy.
“Going through as many practices as we have as a team and putting in all the hard work, it was great to get in there and get a feel for game situations with the clock running, calling in plays and that sort of thing,” Baker said. “It was good for all of us.”
What about getting tackled a few times?
“You definitely got to be ready,” he said. “You have to be ready to protect yourself. It brings you back to that game feel because in practice we are not getting hit. Once you get that first hit out of the way, you are back to reality and ready to keep playing.”
The spring game represented the next chapter in the storied Northwest football program. As wonderful as the 2013 championship season was and will live in the memories of many for years to come, it is time to create new moments.
It was kind of hard to do that Saturday afternoon. When Schmidt ran onto the field in the No. 15 jersey, it was easy to think of last season’s starting quarterback Trevor Adams. Adams, though, is now in Dallas, moving into the next phase of his life, going to chiropractor school.
New leaders will emerge. Bolles understands he must be one of them.
“It is a little different,” Bolles said of spring practice this year. “Last year I could get away with the attitude that I am not the guy. I am still the backup. Now, it is just the mentality. Every day I am making sure the offense is moving and is ready for practice.
“This was a good way to wrap up spring ball and we will go into summer with the same mentality we have now.”
Dorrel was pleased with what he saw Saturday afternoon.
“Big thing is you don’t want to see dumb penalties as far alignment and procedure,” Dorrel said. “I think we had two of them today. For the most part, the penalties were guys being aggressive. That is going to happen in a football game.
“The big one is to stay healthy. We did that today.”
For the rest of April and into the first week of May, Dorrel wants his players to concentrate of schoolwork.
“After that, it is really important that for two weeks we send them home,” Dorrel said. “They get mentally refreshed. They spend time with family and friends.
“We will come back in mid May. We need to get bigger and stronger. We need a lot of work in our passing game. We need timing in our passing game. That is going to be on Brady and our receivers. I can’t do it. Coach Charlie Flohr can’t do it. They have to do it on their own. Those are the things you want to see in the summer, guys building that camaraderie.”
— David Boyce, Northwest Sports Information —