By David Boyce – Northwest Athletics
MARYVILLE, Mo. – A hallmark to Northwest Missouri State’s two decades of excellence on the gridiron is the way someone new steps up when injuries strike.
Sophomore running back Brody McMahon, a Maryville native, sophomore wide receiver Quincy Woods and freshman running back Jordan Thompson stepped into that role in impressive fashion against Missouri Southern Saturday afternoon.
In front of a Family Weekend crowd of 8,479 at Bearcat Stadium, the youngsters ignited an offense that scored 42 points in the first half on the way to a 63-0 victory. Ranked No. 1 in the AFCA top 25, Northwest recorded its third shutout of the season. The Bearcats improved to 4-0 and increased its winning streak to 34.
“If we can get a shutout that is the best thing for us,” said Northwest junior linebacker Ben Althoff said. “A saying on defense that we like to use is if they don’t score, they don’t win.”
It was total domination by the Bearcats, who compiled 651 yards of total offense while limiting Missouri Southern to 69 yards. The Lions never got inside of Northwest’s 40.
“It is a great feeling knowing that all the guys around us have been going hard in practice,” Althoff said. “We focused on stopping the run this week. We kept playing hard no matter who was in the game. We kept doing our 1/11 and stayed focused on the task at hand. It has worked out so far.”
The start by McMahon and Woods was almost enough to overshadow the sterling defensive effort, and the six touchdown passes by senior quarterback Zach Martin, who tied a single-game school record. The only other time this occurred was last season by Kyle Zimmerman.
Still, what McMahon and Woods accomplished early in the game was significant. They showed Northwest has depth at both positions.
Because senior running back Cameron Wilcox was out with an injury, McMahon was going to get more touches. In fact, the loss of several running backs forced Northwest to lift the redshirt off of Thompson, who gained seven yards on his first carry early in the first quarter. Thompson scored two, fourth-quarter touchdowns and finished with a game-high 128 yards rushing in 17 carriers.
In the last few weeks of practice, Thompson demonstrated why he was ready to play as a true freshman, and then he proved it.
“It was important,” Northwest coach Rich Wright said of the play of McMahon, Woods, and Thompson. “I said to the team on Friday that some guys have never done a lot in this program are going to make plays, and I am excited to watch it.”
McMahon gave Northwest a 7-0 lead. On first and goal at the 10, he took a handoff from Martin and weaved his way through holes created by the offensive line for a 10-yard touchdown run.
“I hate to see those guys go down,” said McMahon, who finished with 58 yards on 11 carries. “They helped me out a lot through the years.
McMahon grew up so close to Northwest that from his bedroom he could see the lights of the stadium.
“It is a lot more fun getting out here instead of standing on the sideline and getting tight,” McMahon said. “It has been a dream of mine to score a touchdown for the Bearcats. All my teammates gave me hugs.”
After scoring only 13 points last week at Nebraska-Kearney, the Bearcats needed only 2 minutes, 8 seconds at the start of the game to score seven points.
Six minutes later, Northwest topped 13 points when Martin tossed a 20-yard touchdown pass to Woods, giving the Bearcats a 14-0 with 6:03 left in the first quarter.
“I thought Quincy came out ready to go,” said Northwest wide receivers coach Joel Osborn. “You can see he has some speed, some play-making ability. He has been waiting for this moment. He excelled when his number was called.”
Northwest took complete command of the game early in the second quarter when Martin hit Woods with a 4-yard touchdown pass, giving Northwest a 21-0 lead with 11:53 left in the second quarter.
“It was my first time in three years,” Woods said about his first touchdown. “Coach told me before the game to seize the moment. I have been practicing well and doing things well. It hadn’t happened in a game.
“For it to happen today with my little brother here, my mom, my grandmother and my auntie, it was unbelievable, just a blessing.”
For the rest of the second quarter, Martin was unstoppable. Two minutes after his touchdown to Woods, Martin tossed a 43-yard touchdown to junior Shawn Bane.
Five minutes later, the Bearcats threw some razzle dazzle at Missouri Southern when Martin handed the ball off to McMahon who flipped it back to Martin. Martin threw a long strike to senior Jordan Bishop for a 67-yard touchdown pass.
“They are all special,” said Martin, who completed 24 of 31 passes for 326 yards. “Running the ball helps with the passing game. I like trick plays so if I had to pick one, it was that one. It was a great call on the trick play. I had to get one to my boy Jordan Bishop.”
The Bearcats weren’t done scoring in the second quarter. Northwest added the final piece to its first-half masterpiece when Martin hit Bane on a 5-yard touchdown pass with 9 seconds left until halftime. The Bearcats trotted into the locker room with a 42-0 lead.
“One of the things we talked about all week was playing a complete game in all three phases,” Northwest head coach Rich Wright said. “We challenged our offensive kids not be different from what they did, but just play like they are not afraid to make a mistake. I think you saw the result of that today. They were relaxed and attacked and made plays. It was fun to watch.”
Before Martin took a seat for the rest of the game, he threw one more touchdown, hitting Bane for 22 yards with 6:24 left in the third quarter for a 49-0 lead.
“Two things that stuck out to me watching our offense play was the extra-effort plays,” Wright said. “Jordan Grove was tackled, and he made two guys miss and battled to get the first down. Shane Williams gets hurt trying to drive to the goal line.
“The kids finished today. It was the extra effort. It was Bearcat football. It was fun to watch as a head football coach. Our offensive line played their tails off today. When we can run the football, our offense becomes difficult to defend because of the play-action passing game. I was really proud of their effort today.”
— Northwest Athletics —