By David Boyce – Northwest Athletics
MARYVILLE, Mo. – On its first possession in the second half, Northwest Missouri State checked off the one phase it had a tad bit of trouble: completing a drive.
Already leading by 13 points, the Bearcats quickly marched 83 yards in eight plays and scored on a 6-yard touchdown run by senior Cameron Wilcox. The score gave Northwest, ranked No. 1 in the AFCA top 25, a commanding lead on the way to an impressive 34-0 victory over No. 4 Emporia State Thursday evening in front of 8,055 fans at Bearcat Stadium. Northwest increased its winning streak to 31 straight games.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Northwest senior quarterback Zach Martin, who completed 18 of 26 passes for 314 yards and one touchdown. “There is no place in Division II football like this. There is nothing better than this place.”
It was an impressive debut for first-year head coach Rich Wright, who in the previous six years orchestrated a bone-crushing defense that helped Northwest win three of the last four national championships.
“It was a lot of fun. So we begin,” Wright said. “I told the kids in the locker room that it is going to be their work, and their effort and everything we do moving forward will be based on their merit. They went out and played their tails off tonight. They played with a lot of energy and a lot of passion and played for each other. I was proud of their effort.
“We have a lot of things we can correct. There are a lot of ways we can grow as a football team, but I felt like that was a pretty good first step.”
Wright, who kept his defensive coordinating duties, still has the magic touch in making it difficult for opponents to score. Emporia State entered the game with junior Braxton Marstall, selected by many to be one of the top quarterbacks in Division II.
The Bearcats never allowed him to be comfortable in the pocket. Add in that Northwest special teams scored a touchdown in the first half that it became apparent Emporia State had no chance to beat the Bearcats once Northwest finished off drives.
Making his first start at quarterback for Northwest, Martin demonstrated a strong and accurate arm early in the third quarter. He showed that potential in the first half when he just missed on a couple of long pass attempts.
“They just prepared me so well throughout the week,” Martin said. “JB (Jonathan Baker) and I have been battling back and forth. We have done a good job of pushing each other and getting better every play. I have so many play makers around me that it is easy.”
Martin and Baker both showed the unselfish traits that previous quarterbacks at Northwest have exhibited. Afterwards, Baker smiled and uttered nothing but positive words about the home-opener. Because of the score, Baker saw action in the fourth quarter and completed two of three passes.
Martin made his presence felt early in the third quarter when he completed a 20-yard pass to senior Jordan Grove to the 50. Four plays later, Martin hit senior tight end Clayton Wilson on a 35-yard pass play that included Wilson leaping over an Emporia State defender to the one.
“I think it took him a little bit of time to knock the rust off,” said Northwest offensive coordinator Charlie Flohr. “He hasn’t played in a meaningful college football game in over two years. I was real proud of him, the rest of our offense and the way they came out and responded in the second half, scoring on the first drive.”
After a 5-yard penalty, Northwest scored its first offensive touchdown of the 2017 season on a 6-yard run by Wilcox.
“That’s what we were talking about at halftime that we have to finish off our drives,” Martin said. “It was great to go out there and finish a drive finally.”
Four minutes later, Northwest scored again on a 2-yard run by Grove. The icing on the cake came with 10:30 left in the game when Martin tossed a 54-yard touchdown bomb to junior Shawn Bane Jr. That was a significant play because Bane was returning from a torn ACL he suffered in the 10th game last season.
“I didn’t think about the injury, honestly,” Bane said. “I feel like I am 100 percent. It was a great feeling. It was a relief. It was everything I thought it was.”
Bane’s touchdown gave the Northwest a 34-0 lead in one of its most impressive season-openers.
While Northwest has the pedigree of a champion, there were a few unknowns were coming into the game because of the change in the head coach, a new starting quarterback and replacing a stellar defensive line. Northwest spectacularly answered those question.
Unless you expect a defense to give no yards in the first half, you must say Northwest played flawlessly to take a 13-0 lead into halftime. The Bearcats prevented a high-powered Emporia State offense from reaching the end zone.
“We played together, we talked and communicated really well,” said junior defensive end Austen Eskew, who recorded seven tackles, including one sack and two tackles accounted for 14 lost yards. We made a lot of mistakes, but it was the first week.
“Coach Wright, the coach that he is and the person that he is, he looks at every aspect of every play. He comes to practice every day wanting to improve, and he brings that energy to us.”
Remember, a year ago in the season-opener at Emporia State the Hornets held a 7-3 lead after the first quarter.
Emporia State put a brief scare into the Bearcats in the first drive of the game when junior quarterback Marstall Braxton completed a 31-yard pass to Carson Proffitt in the opening series.
Northwest quickly bounced back with two sacks and forced a punt. It took Northwest a few series to get rolling on offense. Late in the first quarter, the Bearcats put together a 12-play, 82-yard drive that resulted in a 20-yard field goal by junior Brett Garner with 2:02 left.
But the play of the first half came less than 3 minutes later when Emporia State set up for a 43-yard field goal. Freshman Samuel Roberts filled the middle and stuck his paw up to block the punt.
Amazingly, the ball settled into the hands of junior Anthony Lane, who raced down the sidelines 69 yards for a touchdown. The score gave Northwest a 10-0 lead with 14:41 left in the second quarter.
The Bearcats turned up their defense in the second quarter, allowing Emporia State one scoring opportunity in the closing seconds until halftime. Northwest stopped a fake field goal attempt as time ran out.
“It all started with preparation in practice,” said Northwest senior safety Edward Richey. “The guys were locked in from the moment we switched over from fall camp to transition into Emporia.
“But we definitely have a lot of things we need to work on. We pitched a shutout, but we didn’t play perfect, by any means. But it was great to shut out a great team like that. It lets us know what we can be.”
Northwest consistently moved the ball in the first half, but was just missed on a couple of big plays and was unable to punch the ball into the end zone when it got inside the 10.
Still, the Bearcats managed to increase its lead to 13-0 on a 21-yard field goal by Garner with 3:37 left in the first half.
Statistically, the game was fairly close. Northwest had 212 yards of total offense compared to 154 yards for Emporia State. But that is a little deceptive because a bulk of the Hornets yards came on two big plays.
“We have been working all summer for moments like this,” Bane said. “We left a couple of plays on the field. We are going to go back to the drawing board and start over again.”
— Northwest Athletics —-
ST. JOSEPH – Seven team and individual records fell on the first night of the 2017 Griffon soccer season in an 8-1 trouncing of Ouachita Baptist.
