When the wind chill is zero, the running game takes on more importance. Northwest Missouri State proved that to St. Cloud State Saturday afternoon in frostbite weather at Bearcat Stadium.

Freshman running back Phil Jackson II rushed for four touchdowns and seniorrunning back Billy Creason added three more on the ground as the Bearcats came away with an impressive 59-21 victory in the NCAA Division II quarterfinals.

“It is getting that time of the year where we need to see a kick start to our running game,” Northwest coach Adam Dorrel said. “I thought we got that today. I am really proud of our guys. I feel like they bought into that.

“Obviously, Billy ran well and Phil was able to come in and do some things.”

That is an understatement. The combined seven rushing touchdowns shattered the school playoff record of four rushing touchdowns, established on six different occasions.

Jackson goes into the record book with Xavier Omon and LaRon Council with four rushing touchdowns in one playoff game.

All those rushing touchdowns led to the biggest margin of victory in Northwest’s storied playoff history. The previous mark was 35 set last year in the Bearcats’ 35-0 win over Harding.

“Congratulations to Northwest,” St. Cloud coach Scott Underwood said. “It was a great job by them. They are a very good football team. Obviously, we felt we didn’t play quite to our best potential, but they had a lot of reasons for us playing that way.”

Northwest, 13-0, moves on to the semifinals and will face Grand Valley State next Saturday at Bearcat Stadium. The last time the Bearcats faced Grand Valley in the playoffs they won 30-23 in the Division II championship game.

“It is very special,” said Northwest junior linebacker D.J. Gnader about playing the semifinal game at home. “I am pumped up. There is no other place better than Bearcat Stadium. Our fans do a great job coming out and supporting us.

“I am so excited about next week that I wish it was tomorrow.”

The Bearcats had plenty of success through the air. Senior quarterback Trevor Adams completed 18 of 21 passes for 212 yards and back-up Brady Bolles connected on all three of his passes for 33 yards before he left the game in the second quarter with an injury.

And the defense played its usual stellar game, shutting out the Huskies in the first half.

“Our defense played really well again,” Dorrel said. “That was a good offensive team we went against. They got a lot of weapons.”

But it was the way Creason and Jackson ran the ball that really sucked the life out of the Huskies. They pounded the ball up the middle, especially when the Bearcats got close to the goal line.

“It is a big ego boost for the running backs,” Creason said. “Like coach said, we stress running the ball in December. We stressed we had to control up front and they did and that made it easy to run the ball.

“Our line was very physical. We saw people lying on the ground all day. And Trevor was able complete passes, which was big, especially in cold weather.”

It was a spectacular performance all around for the Bearcats, particularly the way they quickly reacted to the only threat that came their way in the second half.

St. Cloud received the ball to start the third quarter and used nearly 6 minutes to go 75 yards in 12 plays. The Huskies scored on a 17-yard pass from Phillip Klaphake to Dan Brown, making it 28-7.

Northwest needed only 12 seconds to respond. Sophomore Bryce Enyard returned the kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown to give the Bearcats a 35-7 lead.

“I know we had a big lead, but they drove down the field and scored and got the momentum,” Dorrel said. “For us to get that was important. He popped it. He really showed his speed.”

For the seventh straight week, Northwest made sure there was no late-game drama. The Bearcats have won each of those games by at least 24 points.

Northwest came two plays short of a perfect first half. A fumble deep in St. Cloud’s territory in the game’s opening drive and a low throw on third down in another drive.

And if you are nitpicking, the Bearcats defense did give up three first downs in the first two quarters.

Truthfully, Northwest coaches will need to look at tape into the wee hours to find mistakes in the first 30 minutes. The Bearcats dominated on both sides of the ball and went into halftime leading 28-0.

“We stopped the run early on, which was a big goal for us,” said Northwest junior defensive end Kevin Arnold. “Our offense wanted to run the ball so stopping the run was big for us. “Getting pressure on their play-action pass they are so good at was big for us in the first half.”

The first three series gave clear indication that the Bearcats were in for a good game. They took the opening drive at their 35 and quickly moved to St.Cloud’s 15.

Although the Bearcats fumbled, they prove they could move the ball on the ground and through the air.

St. Cloud took over at its 11, ran three plays and punted.

Northwest got great field position at the Huskies’ 26. The Bearcats needed only five plays to score on a 3-yard run by Creason with 8:32 left in the first quarter.

The Bearcats solidified their lead in the opening minute of the second quarter when Creason scored his second touchdown on a 1-yard run.

St. Cloud picked up its first, first down of the game with 13:32 left in the second quarter. The Huskies even moved to Northwest’s 39, but the drive stalled.

Northwest then put together a 13 play, 85-yard drive that ended on a 1-yardtouchdown run by Jackson. Jackson added another touchdown with 30 seconds left in the second quarter.

Simply put, it was total domination by the Bearcats. They had 326 yards of total offense and picked up 19 first downs. St. Cloud had just 75 yards of offense and managed just three first downs.

“I am surprised,” said Gnader of the one-sided score. “Their quarterback is a great player. He is a playmaker and they have a great team.

“Defensively, our coaches did a great job of getting us in position to make plays and we executed the game plan they made for us.

“It was just a great day.”

— Northwest Sports Information —

Wow! Something special is brewing inside Bearcat Arena. The Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball team played an entertaining brand of team basketball Saturday night against Emporia State.

In beating Emporia State 89-68, the Bearcats played with intensity throughout. They dove for loose balls and were tenacious on defense.

On offense, Northwest shared the basketball, always looking inside to Dillon Starzl or Grant Cozad for the high percentage shot instead of settling for outside jumpers.

“When you have a presence in the post like that and you have guards on the outside, it is pretty hard to stop us,” said senior guard DeShaun Cooper, who finished with 10 points and six assists. “When you have all of us going, we can get it rolling pretty quick.”

It’s why Northwest held a double-digit lead most of the game.

“It is very fun when you are sharing the basketball like that, especially when you have a bunch of guys around you who love you and want to play the game.” Cooper said. “I had a lot of fun.”

Because Starzl and Cozad did such a great job scoring off passes from Cooper, Matt Wallace and others, the outside opened up for three-pointers. The Bearcats made five of eight from behind the arc in the first half.

Northwest only took five, three-point shots in the second half. The Bearcats didn’t need to launch long-range bombs.They started the second half similar to the way they started the game.

The Bearcats scored the first two buckets to start the second half and built a 43-27 lead.

It was team basketball at its finest. Five Bearcats scored in double figures, led by 19 points from Conner Crooker and 17 each from Bryston Williams and Cozad.

“Coop was getting me a lot of open shots,” Crooker said. “I tried to attack when I saw the lane open and it was working for me.”

The showstopper came with 3 minutes left when senior Tyler funk drove to the basket and then did a no-look, over-the-shoulder pass to Cozad, who laid it in for an easy layup. It gave Northwest an 83-61 lead.

“We are attacking more,” Cooper said. “Before, when we got up, we were trying to protect the lead instead of going at their throat. Now, we are going at their throat instead of protecting the lead. We are going after them.”

The Bearcats went into halftime with a 39-27 lead and had several scintillating moments that brought rousing applause from their fans.

Like they have in most of their games this season, the Bearcats started fast, scoring the first six points of the game. They never trailed in the first half.

Northwest’s lead grew to 20-11 on a three-pointer by Crooker. A minute later, the Bearcats pulled off a thrilling play. On a fast break, Cooper threw a nice bounce pass to Crooker on the run and it lead to a layup and pushed Northwest’s lead to 24-14 with 7:52 left in the first half.

The interior passing by the Bearcats was impressive. Another example of it occurred when Funk used a bounce pass that Cozad gathered and scored on a layup. It gave Northwest a 34-23 lead.

Several possessions later, Cozad battled for an offensive rebound, grabbed the ball and finished. He was fouled on the basket and made the free throw for a 37-25 lead.

The Bearcats played with that type of passion throughout the first half. It was a complete half of basketball for Northwest on both ends of the court. The Bearcats made 50 percent of their shots and held Emporia State to 35 percent.

— Northwest Sports Information —

During different stretches, Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team competed nicely with undefeated Emporia State.

One notable time came late in the second half when the Bearcats trailed by 18 and brought their deficit to a couple of points.

In the early part of the season, Northwest is trying to find its identity and comfort zone under first year coach Michael Smith. Emporia State knows who it is and expects to compete for a MIAA title every season.

That one difference played a part in Northwest’s 68-64 loss to Emporia State Saturday evening at Bearcat Arena.

“We know in the back of our heads they are the No. 3 team and they are suppose to come out and play the way they did, but at the same time, we don’t want to underestimate ourselves,” said junior Ariel Easton, who finished with 17 points. “We came out and gave all the fight we had.”

Emporia State appears to have nine players who are all extremely confident when they take their shots. It is easy to see why Emporia State is now 8-0 and ranked No. 3 in NCAA Division II.

For the Bearcats, who fell to 2-6,they learned the level they have to play to beat a top team in the MIAA. They nearly found it in the final 3 minutes of the game.

Northwest gave much more than a glimpse of what they will become in January, February and March.

“I felt all along this team is making progress every game,” Northwest coach Michael Smith said. “This is the most excited I have been. We had people playing within their abilities tonight. We were being a lot more patient on offense. We had people come off the bench and brought energy and gave us positive minutes.

“Obviously, we were outsized and we knew that going in. I think our heart can go along ways. If anything, this team showed me in the second half that we have a big heart.”

Northwest started well. Easton drained a three-pointer for the first points of the game.

The Hornets immediately tied the game on the first of three, first-half three-pointers by Kelly Moten. Emporia State scored five more points for an 8-3 lead. The Hornets never trailed again.

Emporia State pushed its lead to 19-7. The Hornets scored points inside and outside.

“I felt like in the first half we just didn’t bring the energy that I expected because we had nothing to lose going into this game,” Smith said.

Northwest continued to play hard. The Bearcats closed to 22-16 on a basket by senior Meridde Scott.

The Bearcats just didn’t have enough firepower to keep pace with Emporia State’s high-octane offense. The Hornets went into halftime ahead 36-25.

Early in the second half, Emporia State extended its lead to 42-27. Northwest battled back and closed to 42-33, but the Bearcats started to sputter again on offense.

The dry spell allowed Emporia State to increase its lead 55-37. It was too much of a deficit for the Bearcats to overcome. But they tried and nearly succeeded.

A free throw by freshman Ashley Guenther with 3:10 left brought the Bearcats to within 10 at 65-55. It ignited an impressive late run by the Bearcats.

Tember Schechinger added two free throws 30 seconds later and then she made a basket, which pulled the Bearcats to within six at 65-59 with 1:16 left.

The most impressive part of the run came next when Northwest grabbed two offensive rebounds before Easton got a put-basket to make it 65-61 with 45 seconds left.

Forty-three seconds later, junior Ashleigh Nelson sank three free throws, pulling the Bearcats to within two at 66-64 with 1.2 seconds left.

“We are not about moral victories. We have to get over the hump and start getting the wins,” said Nelson, who finished with 17 points. “Tonight we showed we can do it and can beat anybody in this league if we just come together as one and play with a passion as we did when we were down by such a big deficit.”

— Northwest Sports Information —