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Author: Dave Riggert

MIAA hands out weekly football awards

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Emporia State’s Tyler Eckenrode, Central Missouri’s Latavius Davis and Washburn’s Devon Conners were named the MIAA Athlete of the Week as voted on by a three member SID panel.

Offensive Athlete of the Week
Tyler Eckenrode, QB, Emporia State

Eckenrode has helped lead Emporia State to a 3-0 record for the first in five years as they picked up a 42-14 win over Central Oklahoma. He threw for over 300 yards for the third straight game going 22 of 39 for 310 yards and four touchdowns. He added 57 rushing yards on 13 carries also scoring a touchdown. He now has 1,185 yards of total offense on the season and has moved into third in career total offense at ESU with 5,905 yards. The 6-0 senior quarterback is a native of Houston, Texas where he competed at The Woodlands High School.

Defensive Athlete of the Week
Latavius Davis, DE, Central Missouri

Davis had nine total tackles, 4.5 tackles for a loss setting Lindenwood back 25 yards, three sacks and three forced fumbles as UCM earned a 35-28 victory. His first sack and forced fumble went for 20 yards and drove the Lions out of Mule territory. He also had a pass break-up on the drive from his defensive end position. His second sack and forced fumble of the night set up UCM at the LWU 12 yard line in the second quarter. His final sack and forced fumble drove LWU back to their own 28 yard line late in the game and forced a third and long that would result in a turnover sealing the UCM win. The 6-3 senior defensive end is a native of Blakley, Ga. where he competed at Early County High School before transferring to UCM from East Central Mississippi Community College.

Special Teams Athlete of the Week
Devon Connors, DB, Washburn

He blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown to give Washburn a 14-10 lead with 14:54 to play in the first half as they pulled out a 24-20 victory over Northeastern State. He also had five solo tackles in the game adding a pass break-up and an interception to seal the victory for the Ichabods. The 5-10 junior defensive back is a native of Aurora, Colo. where he competed at Overland High School.

— MIAA Press Release —

KSU’s Locket earns Big 12 weekly honor

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Following his third career kickoff-return touchdown last week against North Texas, Kansas State kick returner Tyler Lockett has been named the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week, the conference office announced Monday.

It was the Wildcats’ second honor in as many weeks as Collin Klein picked up the offensive award following his performance against Miami. Since last year, K-State has a Big 12-leading 11 league player-of-the-week honors, including three by Lockett. The Tulsa, Okla., product was also named the special teams player of the week following the Kansas and Oklahoma State contests last season.

Last Saturday, Lockett answered a touchdown by the Mean Green with a 96-yard return for a score on the ensuing kickoff, which propelled the Wildcats to a 35-21 victory. The return for a touchdown was the third in Lockett’s career as he is now in sole possession of second place in the K-State record book and is two away from tying Brandon Banks’ record of five (2008-09).

The sophomore also ranks second nationally among active players in career kickoff return touchdowns. He finished the night with 119 yards on two kickoff returns, while he also caught one pass for six yards. Lockett was joined by Texas quarterback David Ash (offensive) and TCU linebacker Joel Hasley (defensive) in earning weekly honors from the Big 12.

No. 13 Kansas State (3-0) hits the road for the first time in 2012 and opens Big 12 play at No. 5 Oklahoma (2-0) Saturday night at Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla. The game, which kicks off at 6:50 p.m., will be shown to a national audience as FOX College Football’s Game of the Week with Gus Johnson, Charles Davis and Julie Alexandria on the call. Additionally, the game will be shown by FOX Deportes, FOX’s Spanish-language channel, while fans can also hear the action on the K-State Sports Network.

— KSU Sports Information —

Griffon soccer team rallies to defeat Lindenwood in OT

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The Missouri Western women’s soccer team picked up its first MIAA victory of the season scoring two unanswared goals coming away with a 2-1 overtime victory against Lindenwood. Katie Kempf scored the game winner in the fourth minute of overtime helping the Griffons improve to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in MIAA play.

The first 25 minutes of the first half saw little offensive action, with just 13 total shots combined. The Griffons put three of nine on net, whileLindenwood managed two of four, with one goal.

The Lady Lions took the lead in the first half by a goal off the foot of forward Bailey Cody at the 27-minute mark. Cody collided with Missouri Western’s goalkeeper and recovered before the keeper, giving Cody the chance to put a shot on net, which resulted in her first goal of the season. The scoring would cease for the half with Lindenwood up 1-0.

The second half saw a quick goal by Missouri Western’s Abby Widrig at the 53-minute mark, tying the game up at one apiece where it would stand until the end of regulation.

Just over three minutes into the first overtime the Griffon’s Katie Kempf found the back of the net ending the game with a score of 2-1 Missouri Western.

The Lady Lions now hold a 2-2-1 record for the 2012 season.

The Griffons outshot Lindenwood 18-7 in the game with seven being on goal to the Lady Lions two. Widrig had three shots with all of them being on goal.

The Griffons return to MIAA action on Friday, September 21 when they host the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats in St. Joseph, Mo. Game time is set for 7:00 pm in Spratt Stadium.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Chiefs get run over by Buffalo, 35-17

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C.J. Spiller gladly accepted Fred Jackson’s challenge.

And this time, the rest of the Bills – on offense, defense and special teams – showed up to support Spiller who scored twice and finished with 123 yards rushing to spark a 35-17 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Buffalo’s home opener. It was a much better effort than how Buffalo opened the season with a bumbling 48-28 loss to the New York Jets last week.

The same can’t be said for the Chiefs, who followed up one dud with another a week after opening the season with a 40-24 loss to Atlanta.

Spiller picked up where he left off a week earlier, after he had career-best 169 yards rushing in taking over after Jackson sprained his right knee against the Jets.

”It’s always better to answer the questions when you win,” said Spiller, who giggled several times at the podium. ”Fred Jackson challenged me today, when he told me to put the team on my back. So when that comes down from the leader in our room, you have to step your game up. I was ready to go today.”

With Jackson expected to miss another three weeks, Spiller scored on 17- and 5-yard runs to put the Bills ahead 14-0 early in the second quarter, a lead that would balloon to 35-3 late in the third.

”C.J.’s a stud. That kid can run,” center Eric Wood said. ”We’ve got plenty of weapons, and the good thing is we’re going to get Fred back.”

With 292 yards on 29 carries, Spiller is off to such a hot start that he’s averaging 10.1 yards per rush. That’s the highest average by an NFL player with a minimum of 25 carries through the first two games of a season since 1963, when Jim Brown averaged 11.3 yards (34 carries for 394 yards).

The Bills’ defense finally showed signs of its high-priced potential after failing to make a dent last week.

Kyle Williams had two of Buffalo’s five sacks. Mario Williams – the team’s high-prized offseason free agent – recovered quarterback Matt Cassel’s fumble, which set up Scott Chandler’s 10-yard touchdown catch.

And linebacker Nick Barnett had a momentum-turning play late in the first half. That’s when he forced Kansas City running back Peyton Hillis to fumble at the goal line to preserve Buffalo’s 21-0 lead.

”We had a sense of urgency. It was just different from the very beginning,” Mario Williams said. ”We went out there and put it all on the line. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen last week, but we have to build on this and continue.”

Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick shrugged off last week’s three-interception outing by going 10 of 19 for 178 yards and two touchdowns, including a 49-yarder to Stevie Johnson. And Buffalo’s special teams contributed: Leodis McKelvin returned a punt 88 yards.

It was a complete reversal for the Bills who turned the ball over four times against the Jets, failed to get any pressure on Mark Sanchez and allowed Jeremy Kerley to return a punt 68 yards for a score.

For the Chiefs, it was the same-old sloppiness, for a team that’s been outscored 75-41 and is opening a season 0-2 for the sixth time in seven years.

”I thought that we would be better, and we’re not,” coach Romeo Crennel said. ”So we have to try and figure out what that is. From what I’ve seen, if we do what we’re supposed to do, then we would be better.”

KC’s offense managed just 71 yards on its first five possessions and then coughed up the ball on its sixth, when Hillis fumbled at the goal line.

”I messed up and let the team down,” Hillis said. ”I put the blame on myself.”

Cassel finished 23 of 42 for 301 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, with much of that production coming in the fourth quarter. Dwayne Bowe scored both touchdowns on 33- and 2-yard catches.

The Chiefs defense wasn’t much better, even while welcoming back two regulars, linebacker Tamba Hali (NFL suspension) and cornerback Brandon Flowers (foot injury).

The Chiefs were so thoroughly outplayed on both sides of the ball in the first half that Spiller’s 139 yards from scrimmage nearly matched Kansas City’s 148 yards net offense.

The Bills had additional incentive to win the game in paying tribute to Marcell Dareus. The second-year defensive tackle played after traveling to his native Alabama to mourn the shooting death of his younger brother.

”He’s going through a rough time, but he felt responsibilities here,” Kyle Williams said. ”He always picks our team up and we’re glad that he’s back.”

Despite being bothered by a shoulder injury, Dareus had a sack, two tackles, including one for a loss.

”The team rallied up around me. This is my release from whatever is going on in the outside world,” Dareus said. ”I focused in on the football field and took everything else out of my head.”

— Associated Press —

Missouri Western women’s golf team in 5th after day one in Minnesota

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The Missouri Western women’s golf team sits in 5th place in the 16 team field after day one of the Wildwood Lodge Invitational firing a 321. The event is hosted by  Concordia-St. Paul and is being played at Tartan Lake Golf Course in Lake Elmo, Min. The Griffons are two strokes back of Nebraska-Omaha and Concordia-St. Paul both of which shot 319 and are five strokes back of second place Grand Valley State (316). The leader of the event is Augustana (S.D.) firing a 305.

Individually, the Griffons are led by Callie Wilson who fired a day one 75 which is one stroke back of leader Emily Kvidera of Augustana (S.D.). Natalie Bird is tied for 11th with a 78 while Shelby Stone and Casi Webb shot 84’s. Darcy Smith finished day one with an 87 while Anna Kloeppel played as an individual and fired a 92.

The final round of the event will be played tomorrow, Monday, September 17.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Royals lose series finale Sunday against Angels

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The Los Angeles bullpen had no room for error the final 3 1-3 innings Sunday. The Angels also have no margin for error in the final 15 games of the season if they hope to make the playoffs.

Mark Trumbo hit a three-run homer and Dan Haren pitched effectively into the sixth inning as the Angels beat the Kansas City Royals 4-3 on Sunday.

After Haren departed, the Royals managed just one hit off Angels relievers Nick Maronde, Garrett Richards, Scott Downs, Jordan Walden and Kevin Jespen.

”Our bullpen came in and just got out after out in a game where they’ve got some guys that can drive the ball on their side where one mistake can tie the game,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. ”These guys are pitching with their backs against the wall and did a great job.”

The Angels are third in the AL wild-card standings, where the top two qualify – two games behind Oakland and Baltimore.

”We’re in a situation where we have to pay attention to the standings,” Scioscia said. ”Everything is not totally in our control, but if we keep winning you keep pressure on the teams.

”Forget winning series. We’re talking about winning every pitch. That’s where we are. The only thing we control is how we play. We need to bring it for the last 15 games. It’s getting to the point of the season, where we’re going to have to get some help. Cause if every team wins out and we win out, we’re on the outside looking in.”

Trumbo, who had hit just .177 with 62 strikeouts in his previous 37 games to drop his average from .306 to .268, homered off Will Smith (5-8) in the second inning.

Haren (11-11) improved to 3-1 in his past four starts, holding the Royals to three runs, two earned, and five hits, while walking one and striking out five. He also moved to 4-0 in five career starts at Kansas City.

”The amount of games we can lose is very limited, so every loss hurts,” Haren said. ”It’s not that we’re not trying to catch Texas. For us rather than scoreboard watch, our games are so important. We just can’t lose that many games. Every game is so magnified right now.”

Torii Hunter, who has 17 RBIs in his past 18 games, singled home Erick Aybar, who had doubled, in the first inning.

After closer Ernesto Frieri gave up two home runs in the ninth Saturday to blow a save and take the loss and throwing 30 pitches in a game Friday, Jespen was summoned in the ninth and picked up his second save in four chances. Jespen has held opponents to one earned run in 11 2-3 innings in his last 12 outings.

The Angels got a major scare in the fourth inning when outfielders Mike Trout and Hunter collided while chasing Billy Butler’s double to right-center. Scioscia and the trainer came out, but both remained in the game. Butler wound up scoring on Howie Kendrick’s throwing error after Jeff Francoeur’s infield single, trimming the Angels’ lead to 4-3.

Tony Abreu led off the Kansas City third with his first home run in nearly two years. Abreu’s previous home run was Sept. 26, 2010, while with Arizona against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Salvador Perez, who had the walk-off homer Saturday, doubled to lead off the second, advanced to third on Mike Moustakas’ ground out and scored on Jeff Francoeur’s ground out for the Royals’ first run.

Smith gave up four runs on seven hits and two walks in five innings.

”It didn’t start out the way I wanted to,” Smith said. ”Trumbo’s homer was a two-seamer right down the middle. He’s a good hitter. He did what he’s supposed to do with it.

”After the home run I started to dial it up. I need to do it in the first inning, not the third inning after giving up four runs.”

— Associated Press —

Northwest Missouri State soccer gets blanked at Truman State

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The Northwest Missouri State women’s soccer team fell on the road to Truman State 3-0 Sunday in MIAA action.

The Bulldogs came into the contest 4-1 with a lot of momentum and the Bearcats could not keep up.

The first half was a battle as Northwest was only able to manage 4 shots on goal. The Bulldogs took the lead at the 29 minute mark with a Trisha Shoemaker goal. Truman added one more goal with only seconds left in the first half to go ahead 2-0.

Northwest worked hard in the second half to get the goals back, but to no avail. Kristina Weishar put in her second goal of the game to put the Bulldogs ahead 3-0.

Northwest is now 3-2-1 on the season and 1-1 in MIAA play. They continue MIAA competition heading to Missouri Western Friday at 7 p.m.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

St. Louis stays ahead of LA with 5-2 win in 12 innings

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Jon Jay was having a miserable time at the plate until the 12th inning, when he hit a clutch RBI double that made he and his teammates forget all the ugly at-bats that preceded it.

The go-ahead hit sparked a three-run rally for the St. Louis Cardinals, who earned a split of their four-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 5-2 victory Sunday and regained undisputed possession of the second NL wild-card spot.

”It was a long one and both teams fought hard,” Jay said after the 4-hour, 25-minute marathon. ”Everyone knows what’s at stake right now and we’ve got our work cut out for us.

”We haven’t been playing too well lately, but we’ve been playing hard. Today we came up with a win on getaway day and it put us back up again. That’s huge. But every game from here on out is our most important game. We’ve been there before, so we know what we’ve got to do. It’s just a matter of doing it.”

John Ely (0-2), the ninth of a franchise-record 10 pitchers used by Dodgers manager Don Mattingly, issued a leadoff walk to Matt Carpenter and Jay drove him in from second base with a line drive into the right field corner on an 0-2 changeup.

”Jon had an uncharacteristic day for himself up to that point, but he’s been very good this season and filled a big hole for us in the leadoff spot. And today he came through with one of the biggest hits of our year right now,” manager Mike Matheny said. ”We had a tough time today. You look at that scoreboard and all those Ks, I mean, we had a lot of strikeouts (15), so we just needed somebody to step up.”

Jay finished the 2-5 trip 4 for 32 with two RBIs. He struck out his first three times up Sunday and was 1 for 6.

”You’ve got to stay positive, and that’s what I tried to do all day,” Jay said. ”I tried not to let my other at-bats bother me. I was happy I got a chance to do something to help the team and it worked out. He’s got a good changeup, and I was just hoping he’d leave something out over the plate. He did, and I was able to capitalize on it.”

Jay scored the second run of the inning on an infield hit up the middle by Allen Craig, and the final one came in on Ely’s bases-loaded walk to Yadier Molina.

Rookie Shelby Miller (1-0) pitched one inning for his first major league victory. Jason Motte got three outs for his 35th save in 42 chances after giving up the tying and winning runs in Saturday night’s 4-3 loss.

”If you have a bad day, you want to get back out there and move past the last outing. And I was able to do that today,” Motte said. ”After something like that, you have to have a short memory because you really don’t have a choice. If you re-live every pitch and every out over again every single day, you’ll drive yourself insane. I just looked at the video yesterday after the game to see what I did and didn’t do.”

Both teams have 15 games remaining to settle the wild-card situation. The Cardinals’ next nine games are against the Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs, who are a combined 81 games under .500 and 69 1-2 games out of first place. The Dodgers embark on a nine-game trip against East-leading Washington, Central-leading Cincinnati and San Diego before ending the regular season with a six-game homestand against Colorado and West-leading San Francisco.

”We’ve really been a pretty good road club until that last trip, and we’re going to have our hands full again,” Mattingly said.

The Dodgers won six of the 11 meetings with St. Louis, and have beaten the Cardinals in consecutive season series for the first time since 1995-96. In case of a tie for the wild card, the Dodgers would get home-field advantage in a one-game playoff.

”We’re just taking it one game at a time, and we’ve got a great chance of being there right at the end,” Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp said. ”We’re going to be in every game and fight to the end, no matter who we play. We’ve got a tough road trip coming up, and we’ll see what happens. We’ve got to turn the page and get ready for Washington.”

Los Angeles wasted a leadoff double in the sixth by Kemp, who flied out to center field against Fernando Salas with the bases loaded to end the 10th after the right-hander intentionally walked Andre Ethier.

”I have all the respect for all their hitters,” Matheny said. ”But that particular situation set itself up to get us a little more freedom against Kemp because we didn’t have to worry about righty against lefty. So it worked out well.”

Ethier tied the score 2-all in the third with his 19th homer, getting the barrel of the bat on a 2-0 pitch that was low and inside and driving it into the pavilion seats in right-center with two outs after a leadoff walk to Matt Treanor.

Right-hander Stephen Fife, making his fourth major league start and first since Aug. 1 in place of injured Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, recorded his first six outs on strikeouts. But in-between the first and second ones, the Cardinals took a 2-0 lead as Craig hit an RBI double and Matt Holliday scored on a wild pitch to Molina.

Molina walked, then stole second while David Freese swung at a third strike. Treanor, making his first start behind the plate since Sept. 2, got out of his crouch and headed for the dugout, thinking it was the third out before realizing his mistake. Fife’s 31-pitch inning finally ended on a called third strike that had Skip Schumaker fuming at umpire Dana DeMuth.

Fife threw 88 pitches over five innings, allowing two runs and four hits while striking out nine – two more than he had in his other three outings combined.

— Associated Press —

Partridge accounts for 5 TDs as Griffons rip Nebraska-Kearney, 38-14

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The 8th ranked Missouri Western football team used 28 unanswered points opening up a 35-7 lead late in the third which helped them to a 38-14 victory against MIAA newcomer Nebraska-Kearney. Quarterback Travis Partridge threw a career high four touchdowns and rushed for another helping MWSU to its fourth 3-0 start under Head Coach Jerry Partridge. The Griffons improve to 2-0 in MIAA play.

The Griffons got on the board first midway through the first quarter when Partridge hooked up with running back Michael Hill from 19 yards out capping a nine play 93 yard drive which was set up by a Mike Jordan’s first interception of his career. The Lopers responded early in the second quarter when running back Tommy Flanagan scampered 58 yards tying the score with 10:10 to play in the half.

The rest of the half would be back and fourth but the Griffons used an 87 yard drive which was capped by a 30 yard pitch and catch from Partridge to Derek Libby giving MWSU the 14-7 halftime lead.

At the half Missouri Western had 251 yards with Hill going 95 on 17 carries. In the air Partridge completed 10 passes for 143 and two touchdowns. David Bass led the charge defensively with six tackles, one sack and 1.5 tackles for a loss.

The Lopers had 177 total yards with 110 coming in the first quarter. Flanagan had 91 yards on 14 carries and caught three passes for 17 yards. Sam Kuck and Ryan Lendrum led the defense with six total tackles apiece.

In the third quarter the Griffons kept up the offensive pressure scoring touchdowns on its first three possessions. Tyron Crockom made a nice run after catch for a 20 yards touchdown reception giving MWSU the 21-7 lead with 10:34 to play in the third. Partridge then hooked up with tight end Reggie Jordan for his fourth touchdown pass of the game from 11 yards out giving the Griffons the 28-7 lead with 7:12 to play in the third.

The final touchdown came on a 42 yard rush from Partridge putting the Griffons up 35-7 late in the third. The Lopers put one more touchdown on board before the game was over while MWSU kicker Taylor Anderson connected from 27 yards out giving the Griffons the 24 point victory.

MWSU finished the night with 549 yards of total offense with 351 coming on the ground. Hill finished with 160 yards on 24 carries and now needs just 57 to become MWSU’s all-time leading rusher. He also needs just 10 carries to become the Griffons all-time leader in carries.

Partridge completed 15-of-26 passes for 198 yards and four touchdowns. Tyron Crockom had 46 yards on four catches while Kyle Knox had 70 yards on three catches.

The Lopers had 320 yards of total offense with 193 coming on the ground. Flanagan had 106 on 16 carries with one touchdown while Daniel Rankin had 52 yards on five carries. Kuck led the way defensively with 11 tackles for UNK. The Lopers fall to 0-3 overall and 0-3 in MIAA play.

The Griffons had four players with seven tackles (David Bass, Jordan Nicholas, Ben Pister and Austin Baska). Bass had three unassisted tackles and four assisted.

MWSU returns to action on Saturday, September 22 making its first road trip of the season. The Griffons will take on the Fort Hays State Tigers with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 pm.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Bearcats bounce back with big win against Fort Hays State

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The No. 13 Northwest Missouri State football team bounced back Saturday to rout Fort Hays State 48-10 at Bearcat Stadium in MIAA football action.

Northwest (2-1, 1-1) rolled to 543 yards of total offense as Tyler Seals and Brady Bolles combined for 255 yards passing and 140 yards on the ground. The duo also added three touchdowns; two through the air from Seals and one rushing from Bolles.

Not to be outshined by the offense, the Northwest defense held Fort Hays State (0-3, 0-3) to only three points before a fourth quarter touchdown run. The Bearcat defensive line was impressive as well, sacking the Tigers twice and adding six quarterback hurries.

The Bearcats raced out to an early lead as Seals marched the Bearcats 59 yards in nine plays connecting with Jordan Simmons on a jet sweep for the game’s first score. Seals would finish 12-of-19 for 146 yards and two touchdowns in his first collegiate start.

After a Fort Hays State field goal the Bearcats would break the game wide open scoring five more times before the half to take a 34-3 lead into the locker room.

James Franklin scored from 9-yards out to complete a 14 play 83-yard drive just before the end of the first quarter. Franklin carried nine times for 77 yards, his highest total of the season.

Northwest scored again at the 12 minute mark in the second quarter, as Bolles raced 23-yards cutting across the field for his first collegiate touchdown. Bolles would give the Bearcats their first 100-yard rusher of the season as the redshirt freshman ran for 111 yards and threw for 109.

Todd Adolf added two second quarter field goals including a 48-yarder that tied his career high at the end of the first half.

The Northwest offense dialed back the play calling in the second half, but would get the first special teams touchdown of the season late in the third quarter. Brian Dixon recovered a blocked punt at the FHSU two-yard line extending the Northwest lead to 41-3.

The Bearcats still have not lost back-to-back games since 2001 as they bounced back from last week’s disappointing loss. The win also moves the Bearcats winning streak inside Bearcat Stadium to 12 games, which is tied for the fourth longest streak in Northwest history.

Northwest will travel to Nebraska-Kearney for the first time for the first of three consecutive meetings with new MIAA members. Kickoff from Kearney is set for 4 p.m.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

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