The Northwest Missouri State University football team scored a touchdown with seven seconds left in the 2017 Fall Classic at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., to defeat Central Missouri, 24-20, on Saturday.

– The Mules scored a touchdown with 34 seconds left in the fourth quarter to take a brief 20-17 lead.

– Northwest marched down the field and scored with seven seconds left on a seven yard catch from Jordan Bishop to give the Bearcats a 24-20 lead.

– With the win, Northwest improves to 5-0 on the year while Central Missouri falls to 3-2.

– The Bearcats have now won at Arrowhead Stadium 11 times in 14 games.

– Northwest, ranked No. 1 in the latest AFCA rankings, has now 35 consecutive games.

Key Northwest Statistics
– The Bearcats had 330 total yards (111 rush, 219 pass) while the Mules racked up 381 yards of total offense (72 rush, 309 pass).

– Northwest forced two interceptions and recovered a UCM fumble that led to a field goal.

– The Bearcat defense held UCM to just 5-of-18 on third down conversions and recorded six sacks that added up to 30 yards lost.

– Each team had 16 first downs on the day. Northwest had 10 through the air, five on the ground and one by penalty.

– Quarterback Zach Martin completed 17-of-39 passes for 219 yards and a two touchdowns. He completed passes to six different receivers.

– Shawn Bane Jr. recorded seven catches for 139 yards. He has two 100+ yard games this year and 11 in his career.

– Jordan Grove caught three passes for 19 yards and a score. He also carried the ball seven times for 13 yards. He has now caught 14 career touchdown passes.

– Jordan Bishop had four catches for 40 yards and had the game winning catch in the fourth quarter.

– Brody McMahon was the Bearcats’ leading rusher, carrying the ball 10 times for 65 yards.

– Ben Althoff had a career-high 12 tackles with a pass breakup.

– Jacob Gassman and Jack Richards each had interceptions. Gassman returned his pick 30 yards for the first score of the game.

– Anthony Lane had a career-high eight tackles to go along with a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a pass breakup.

– Samuel Roberts, Austen Eskew, Lane and Bobby Gruenloh each recorded sacks.

– Matt Thorman was called upon to punt 10 times. He landed five of those punts inside the 20 and had a long of 47.

Northwest Scoring Drives
– In the first quarter, UCM got the ball on their own seven after a Thorman punt. The Mules had a big play called back on a facemask penalty that would have put the ball near mid field. After a short rush and a QB sack by Roberts, Gassman wrestled a pass away from a UCM receiver and returned it 30 yards for a pick-six score, making it 6-0 Northwest.

– The Bearcats’ offense got on the board early in the second quarter, driving 73 yards on eight plays. Northwest faced just one third down on the drive and Martin converted that attempt on a five yard pass to Grove that took the ball to the UCM 10 yard line. On the ensuing play, Grove caught a Martin pass for a 10 yard touchdown. After the PAT, the Bearcats held a 14-0 lead with 12:42 left in the second quarter.

– Lane came on a corner blitz and stripped the ball from UCM’s quarterback Brook Bolles and recovered the ball on the Mules’ 13 yard line. Five plays later, Brett Garner converted a 34 yard field goal to give Northwest a 17-13 lead with 9:07 left in the fourth quarter.

– After Central Missouri took its lone lead of the game in the fourth, Northwest drove 68 yards on four plays to score the decisive touchdown. After Grove returned the kickoff 15 yards to the 32, Martin connected on back-to-back passes with Bane on strikes of 14 and 47 yards, respectively. The 47 yard catch set the Bearcats up on the seven yard line. One play later, Martin found Jordan Bishop just past the goal line for the winning score. Garner added the extra point to make it a four-point lead. After the Bearcat kickoff, UCM was unable to connect on a pair of passes as time expired.

Up Next
– Northwest will host Central Oklahoma on Saturday, Oct. 7, at Bearcat Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m.

— Northwest Athletics —

The Northwest Missouri State University volleyball team defeated Missouri Southern, 3-1, on Saturday at Bearcat Arena in Maryville, Mo.

– The win moves Northwest to 9-8 on the year and 3-2 in MIAA play. Missouri Southern falls to 9-9 and 2-3 in conference action.

– Maddy Bruder had a match-high 21 kills to go along iwth 17 digs. She hit .250 for the match and added four blocks and a service ace.

Key Northwest Statistics
– The Bearcats took the first two sets by scores of 25-14 and 25-17. The Lions won the third set, 25-18, but Northwest took the fourth, 25-18.

– Maddy Ahrens had 22 assists with seven digs and a pair of service aces.

– Sarah Dannettell had 20 assists with five kills, two digs and two blocks.

– Olivia Nowakowski added a match-high 24 digs with six assists and three service aces.

– Sofia Schleppenbach had 14 kills and a pair of blocks. She hit .382 for the match with just one attacking error.

– Alexis Williams had four blocks to go along with four kills and a dig.

– Megan Stilmock added 16 digs defensively with a pair of assists.

Key Northwest Sequence
– Northwest cruised through the first set, hitting 389 to open the match. In the second, Missouri Southern came out with five straight points to put the Bearcats in an early hole. Northwest would then go on a 9-0 run and would not trail for the remainder of the set. After a kill from ruder, Nowakowski added a pair of service aces, sandwiched around a block from Bruder and Schleppenbach. Northwest then got kills from Schleppenbach, Bruder, Gaby da Silva, Dannettell and Schleppenbach to take a 9-5 lead.

Up Next
– Northwest will begin a four-match road trip beginning on Friday, Oct. 6, against Nebraska-Kearney at 6 p.m.

— Northwest Athletics —

The Northwest Missouri State University soccer team defeated Southwest Baptist, 6-0, on Friday afternoon at Bearcat Pitch in Maryville, Mo.

– Northwest moves to 4-4 overall and 1-1 in MIAA play. Southwest Baptist falls to 2-6-1 on the year and 0-2 in conference action.

– Bri Wawiorka recorded her first collegiate point, goal and multi-assist game in the victory.

– Mollie Holtman had her first career multi-goal game, netting two in the win.

– Ashley Malloy made five saves and combined for the shutout with Rileigh Spahn who made her Northwest debut on Friday.

Key Northwest Statistics
– Just 30 seconds into the match, Wawiorka found Madie Krueger for Northwest’s first goal. Krueger got the ball on the right side of the box and blasted a shot to the far post above the SBU keeper.

– In the 15th minute, Wawiorka found herself alone in the box after the SBU keeper made a diving stop. The freshman burried the rebound into the back of the net for her first goal of the year.

– Izzy Romano found her first goal of the year in the 18th minute off a pass from Wawiorka. Romano took the pass to the left to the box and went around her defender to finish to high to the near post.

– In the 34th minute, Mollie Holtman got on the board with her third goal of the year. Peri Rainey found Holtman wide open on the right side of the field and Holtman beat the keeper for a 4-0 Northwest lead.

– Brianna Hersom took a ball down the left side of the field in the 84th minute and found Mollie Holtman for her second goal of the day. Holtman controlled the pass and put it away to make it 5-0 Northwest.

– Northwest set up for a free kick in the 87th minute and Elizabeth Finn was pushed to the ground in the box, setting up a penalty kick. Hannah Goetz calmly slotted the ball to the left side of the net for her first career goal.

– Northwest outshot Southwest Baptist, 22-17.

– Northwest and SBU each had four corner kicks.

– Romano had a team-high four shots.

– Danielle Wolfe and Mollie Holtman each had three shots in the match.

– Spahn made one save in goal after entering in the 81st minute.

Up Next
– Northwest will host Missouri Southern on Sunday, Oct. 1, at 12:30 p.m. at Bearcat Pitch.

— Northwest Athletics —

The Northwest Missouri State University volleyball team hit .425 for the match in a 3-0 sweep over Southwest Baptist on Friday at Bearcat Arena in Maryville, Mo.

– Northwest improves to 8-8 on the year and 2-2 in MIAA play. Southwest Baptist falls to 2-15 and 1-3 in conference action.

– Mady Bruder had a match-high 13 kills to go along with eight digs and two blocks. She hit .385 for the match.

Key Northwest Statistics
– Northwest recorded a sideout mark of 78 percent and committed just six attacking errors. Northwest also racked up nine service aces on the night.

– Southwest Baptist was held to a -.101 attack percentage, committing 24 errors.

– Sarah Dannettell had 23 assists with three digs and a block.

– Sofia Schleppenbach came up with a block and nine kills, hitting .500 for the match.

– Maddy Ahrens had four service aces to go along with 11 assists and five digs.

– Olivia Nowakowski recorded a match-high 12 digs and had a pair of service aces.

– Darcy Sunderman had three service aces, seven digs and six kills.

Key Northwest Sequences
– Northwest set the tone early in the first half. Up 4-3, Northwest went on an 8-0 run to take control of the match. After an attacking error, Ahrens took the the service line to deliver Northwest seven straight points, including a pair of service aces. Later in the set, Northwest held a 15-8 lead and would go on to take the next nine points from Southwest Baptist to force set point.

– Northwest closed out the match in convincing fashion. Up 17-11, Northwest would score eight straight points to close out the set. With Gaby da Silva serving, Northwest forced five SBU attacking errors in the sequence.

Up Next
– Northwest will host Missouri Southern on Saturday, Sept. 30, at 2 p.m.

— Northwest Athletics —