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BEARCATS FOOTBALLFollow @NWMSports for full coverage when Northwest (10-1) travels to

Minnesota-Duluth (11-0) for the first round of the playoffs Saturday.

Thursday |November 20, 2014

MISSOURIANSPORTS

Complete coverage of Bearcats and Spoofhounds athletics

The No. 7 Northwest Missouri State Bearcats take the field against Washburn Nov. 15.SHAWNA KINGSTON | NW MISSOURIAN

2014 Playoffs

Northwest Minnesota-DuluthNo. 5 No. 4

Points Per Game

Points Allowed

Total Offense (yards per game)

Total Defense (yards per game)

Rushing Defense (yards per game)

36.6

13.8

442.4

204.0

58.1

42.7

19.0

488.8

321.8

78.2

BRANDON ZENNEREditor in Chief | @brandonzenner

Following a frigid mid-Decem-ber loss in 2010 in northern Minnesota, the Bearcats were

trounced from a possible champion-ship repeat and were without a coach. Mel Tjeerdsma announced his retire-ment as head coach of Northwest and then-Athletics Director Wren Baker

was forced to name a predecessor.“As I talked to our coaches, talked

to Coach T … and I kept hearing the same things about Scott Bostwick,” Baker said during a Jan. 20, 2011, press conference announcing Bost-wick’s hiring. “Fearless competitor, warrior on the recruiting trail, loyal to the green and white, true to the paw … You (Bostwick) are the clear and unequivocal choice to be our next head coach.”

Bostwick passed away June 5, 2011, before ever being able to take the field as head coach. He coached his final game as defensive coordina-

tor of Northwest Dec. 11, 2010.The Bearcats return to the spot

where Bostwick coached his final game Saturday against a foe they are all but familiar with in the playoffs. Senior wide receiver Jason Jozaites says the trip to Duluth, Minnesota, this Saturday is enough motivation for the team, especially for the defense and the 21 senior members of the team.

“That really kind of hit home for the entire team just knowing that a guy like Coach Bostwick coached his last game on this field,” Jozaites said. “That’s kind of warming to our hearts to go back to a field like that. I think

every guy on our team can say they feel Coach Bostwick is always with us when we’re playing. We’re excited to get up there and he’s definitely gonna be with us this weekend.”

In 2002, the football programs at Northwest Missouri State and Min-nesota-Duluth were on different ends of the spectrum in Division II history. Just before the turn of the millenni-um, Mel Tjeerdsma led the Bearcats to back-to-back national champion-ships to account for the first titles in the programs history.

While Northwest was adding to its trophy case, Minnesota-Duluth

was transitioning away from Jim Malosky, a coach of 40 seasons, af-ter he took a leave of absence due to health concerns that forced him into retirement. After one season of in-terim head coaches, Bob Nielson took over the helm of the Minnesota-Du-luth program in 1999.

In the four seasons prior to 2002, Northwest hauled in 47 victories, three playoff appearance, three MIAA titles and two national titles.

RYAN EDWARDSChief Sports Reporter | @ryanaldoedwards

For the second consecutive year, Northwest senior defensive end Matt Longacre was named the MIAA De-fensive Player of the Year and was a unanimous selection to the All-MI-AA first team. Longacre was one of 21 Bearcats who earned All-MIAA hon-ors this year.

Longacre is coming off a 2013 season where he had 12 sacks, 20.5 tackles for loss, 19 quarterback hur-ries, five forced fumbles and one fum-ble recovery.

Through 10 games this season, Longacre has 5.5 sacks, nine tackles for loss, 16 quarterback hurries and one forced fumble.

“It’s a huge honor. I have to give credit to everyone around me,” Lon-gacre said. “Not a lot of people can say they were named Defensive Player of the Year once, let alone twice. It really is special.”

Northwest Head Coach Adam Dorrel says that Longacre has a great work ethic on and off the field, and

deserves the award.“It really speaks to his consis-

tency and toughness,” Dorrel said. “I talked to him right before the season started, challenging him to follow up what he did last season, this season. He works hard everyday in practice and in the film room.”

The selection process is grueling. Every coach in the MIAA Conference has meetings about which players they believe should get selected to the All-Conference teams.

“I was very pleased with our se-lections. Matt really does deserve his selection,” Dorrel said. “Those are re-ally tough meetings for those coach-es. I am really appreciative of those coaches who voted for our kids.”

Along with Longacre, senior of-fensive tackle CJ Keeney was unani-mously selected to the All-MIAA First Team. The Bearcats managed to get eight players selected to the All-MIAA first team and 21 players land-ing first, second, third or honorable mention honors.

2 0 1 4 A l l - C o n f e r e n c e F o o t b a l l S e l e c t i o n s

First Team

Second Team

Third Team

Honorable Mention

TE/FB - Marcus WrightOL - CJ Keeney*OL - Shane SmithDL - Matt Longacre*DL - Brandon YostLB - D.J. GnaderDB - Jared Fox

QB - Brady BollesOL - Cole ChevalierDL - Kevin ArnoldDB - Travis ManningP - Kyle Goodburn

WR - Jason JozaitesWR - Bryce YoungWR - Korey JacksonDL - Cass WeitlDL - Zach WilliamsLB - Brock Sherman

DL - Collin BevinsDB - Bryce Enyard

Matt Longacre - Defensive Player of the Year

Northwest, Duluth continue playoff rivalry

Maryville’s impressive streak of 42 straight wins came to an end last Friday at the hands of Oak Grove and its senior running back Aaron Graham. Though the Hounds must wait until 2015 to begin a new streak, the historic run will be remembered for sometime around these parts.

This run was impressive in so many ways. The Hounds 42-game winning streak was tied for seventh in country.

The last time the Spoofhounds tasted defeat was against Richmond in 2011 in the Class 3 playoffs. After that defeat to the Spartans, the Spoofhounds went 1,103 days, 168 quarters, and 2,016 minutes (football time) without a defeat. And yes, you read that correctly.

After the 2011-12 school year ended, then-head coach Chris Holt bolted from Maryville to Oak Park High School in Kansas City, Missou-ri. Maryville hired 1992 alumni Matt Webb, who had been coaching at Southern Louisiana for seven years. In Webb’s first season at Maryville, the Hounds started the season with an impressive 40-0 victory against Lawson.

Spoofhounds run will not be forgotten

Bearcats dominate MIAA honorsSenior defensive end Matt Longacre rushes around a lineman Nov. 1.

HANNAH WOODSON | NW MISSOURIAN

RYAN EDWARDSChief Sports Reporter

SEE STREAK | A9

SEE DULUTH | A9

Super Region Three

National Championships1998, 1999, 2009, 2013

National Championships2008, 2010

2014 Record10-1

2014 Record11-0

All-Time Victories538 (13th)

All-Time Victories487 (24th)

‘You just can’t call it anything but a rivalry’

First Round

*Unanimous selections

EXTRA POINT A9Thursday | November 20, 2014nwmissourinews.com

NW WOMEN’S BASKETBALLNW MEN’S BASKETBALL

Central OklahomaCentral MissouriEmporia St.LincolnNortheastern St.NORTHWESTWashburnMissouri WesternNebraska KearneyFort Hays St.LindenwoodPittsburg St.Southwest BaptistMissouri Southern

No. 4 Minnesota-Duluth

No. 5 Northwest

No. 3 Pittsburg St

No. 6 Harding

SPON

SORE

D BY

NOR

THWE

ST M

ISSOU

RI ST

ATE A

THLE

TIC D

EPAR

TMEN

T

NW FOOTBALL

NORTHWEST.......................10-1 10-1Pittsburg St........................10-1 10-1Central Oklahoma...............8-3 8-3Central Missouri...................7-4 7-4Fort Hays St........................7-4 7-4Missouri Western.................7-4 7-4Emporia St..........................4-7 4-7Missouri Southern................4-7 4-7Washburn...........................4-7 4-7Nebraska Kearney................3-8 3-8Lindenwood........................2-9 2-9Northeastern St..................0-11 0-11

MIAA STANDINGSOverall MIAA

Nov. 22 NORTHWEST at Minnesota-DuluthHarding at Pittsburg St.

NW FOOTBALL

Nov. 29NORTHWEST/Minnesota-Duluth at Ouachita BaptistPittsburg State/Harding at Minnesota-Mankota

Pittsburg St.........................3-0 0-0Washburn...........................3-0 0-0Emporia St.........................2-0 0-0Missouri Southern...............2-0 0-0Lincoln..............................1-0 0-0Lindenwood.......................1-0 0-0Central Oklahoma...............2-1 0-0Fort Hays St.......................1-1 0-0Missouri Western.................1-1 0-0Northeastern St...................1-1 0-0NORTHWEST.......................1-2 0-0Southwest Baptist................0-1 0-0Central Missouri...................0-1 0-0Nebraska Kearney................0-3 0-0

MIAA STANDINGSOverall MIAA

MIAA STANDINGSOverall MIAA

Nov. 21 NORTHWEST vs William JewellNov. 22NORTHWEST vs Rockhurst

Nov. 21 William Jewell at NORTHWESTNov. 22 Minnesota-Duluth at NORTHWEST

2-0 0-0 2-0 0-0 1-1 0-0 1-1 0-0 1-1 0-0 1-1 0-0 1-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-2 0-0 0-2 0-0 0-2 0-0

Minnesota-Duluth won 23 games, but were on the rise under Nielson.

And then, history was made.Eleven games into the

2002 campaign, Northwest and Minnesota-Duluth had unblemished records through the regular season. The Bulldogs were selected to the 16-team playoff for the first time and drew an opponent they never faced before – Northwest.

That Nov. 23, 2002 game would go down as one of the greatest seen at the former Rickenbrode Stadi-um. Neither team lead by more than 10 points during the game, and the teams combined for more than 1,000 yards of offense and six turnovers. A Northwest missed field goal attempt led to a Minne-sota-Duluth touchdown, giving the Bulldogs a 41-38 lead with three minutes remaining.

A six play, 61-yard drive was capped off by a three-yard touch-down run by Geromy Scaggs to give Northwest the 45-41 victory.

“It was a tough, physical game and it led to what the next three

games have been,” Tjeerdsma said. “They’ve all been real physical foot-ball games ... There’s no doubt that we respect what they’ve done.

Since that day, a rivalry of sorts has formed between the Bulldogs and Bearcats come playoff time.

“You would have to give us some kind of postseason rivalry because we just see them so often in the playoffs,” senior cornerback Travis Manning said. “Sometimes it’s there, sometimes it’s here and we’re really similar … With all that into play, it would have to be some type of postseason rivalry.”

Since the 2002 matchup, things have changed for Duluth while the success has continued in Maryville. Since its first playoff appearance, Duluth has turned the corner as a program. The Bulldogs have added eight playoff appearances (2005 and 2008-14), including seven consecutive appearances, second only to Northwest’s 11 straight playoff appearances.

“We certainly have a tremendous amount of respect for them,” said Northwest Head Coach Adam Dor-rel. “I think there are a lot of similar-ities between (Duluth Head Coach) Curt Wiese and I. He took over a

tough job filling the shoes for some-one who’s kind of a legend there. I certainly think he’s done a great job and battled through some adversity at some times. Consistency is what I see from their football program … We look at it as just a lot of respect for our opponent and know we have to play well to win.”

Since the start of the 2008 sea-son, the Bulldogs have produced the nation’s best winning percentage (.903 off an 84-9 record) while the Bearcats are next at .885 (85-12). In addition, both schools have won a pair of NCAA Division II titles during that stretch --Minnesota-Duluth in 2008 and 2010 and Northwest Mis-souri State in 2009 and 2013.

Saturday’s matchup will mark the fifth meeting in a series that is split 2-2. Northwest won the inaugural matchup in 2002, followed by back-to-back losses to Minnesota-Duluth. The Bulldogs defeated the Bearcats for the 2008 National Championship to cap off a perfect season, and in a 2010 matchup in Duluth, Minnesota.

“This was the last game that Bostwick was able to coach so on the defensive side, we’re taking that as a chip on our shoulders … It kind of means that much more to us knowing

that,” Manning said.Jozaites said that though he, along

with Manning, watched the 2010 game from Maryville, it was used as motivation for last season’s matchup at Bearcat Stadium, which Northwest won 45-21.

“That was a game that came down to the last minute and fortu-nate enough for them, they were able to run away with it and make it to the national championship that year. That was a huge eye-opener for us and that’s what motivated us for last season. This is a huge game. We’ve seen each other a good amount in the playoffs the past couple years and we’re excited to play these guys again.”

Northwest and Duluth are notorious for hard-nosed, smashmouth games, as shown by the scores of the first three games of the series, where each game was decided by seven points or fewer. Duluth and Northwest provide some of the top rushing offenses and defenses in the country, both ranking in the top 22 in rushing offense and top four in rushing defense.

“Something that defines both teams are hard-nosed players – play-ers that are tough, can play in these cold conditions and run the ball very

well,” Jozaites said. “Both teams have a lot of tradition, especially against each other. When we played them last year, we still had bad taste in our mouth from a few years back when they back us, so I think they’re going to have that same taste in their mouth from us beating them last year. We have to be prepared for them to come out firing and we’re gonna do the same thing.”

Northwest and Duluth have be-come two of the model programs of the NCAA Division II landscape. Both teams will do whatever it takes to win, to move one step closer to another trophy and Jozaites knows this game will be a statement to the other teams in the national playoffs.

“ … It’s exciting to play these guys every year and it seems like whoever comes out of these type of games victorious usually makes it pretty deep in the playoffs,” Jozait-es said. “Starting off our postsea-son run with these guys is definitely gonna set the tone for what the play-offs are gonna look like for the rest of the teams …

“The respect that we have for them and the respect that they have for us, you just can’t call it anything else but a rivalry.”

DULUTHCONTINUED FROM A12

The Hounds would win the state championship that season with an unblemished record.

Not only did they go undefeated, but they dominated teams behind a powerful offense led by senior quarterback Jon Baker. The Hounds average margin of victory that season was 32.8 points. In 12 of the 15 games the Hounds held the opposition under 10 points, including three shutouts. The closest game that season came against Lafayette Oct. 19, 2012. The Hounds were able to squeeze out a win against the Fighting Irish 27-20. The Spoofhounds would go on to finish the season 15-0, winning their first state title since 2009.

Then came the 2013 season when the Hounds were again picked to win the MEC, and were prohibited favorites to win the Class 3 title for the second consecutive season. The Hounds lost Baker to graduation, so all-state free safety Trent Nally took over the offense.

The Spoofhounds opened up the season with an impressive 32-0 victory against Lawson. In that game, Nally led the way for the Spoofhounds with 22 carries for 125 yards and two touchdowns. The next week, the Hounds shutout the Warriors of St. Pius X. The streak, then at 18 games, almost came to an end against an upset-minded Bishop LeBlond. The Hounds trailed late in the game, but were able to come back and win when Nally found a wide open Trent Dredge, who zipped into the end zone, preserving the win. But the offense wasn’t the story of the season.

The defense dominated in 2013. The Hounds defense gave up 10.5 points per game in 2013 and finished the 2013 campaign undefeated at 15-0, winning back-to-back state championships for the first time in Spoofhounds history. During all of these great achievements, Webb still had yet to experience defeat since he became head coach as the Spoofhounds.

Entering the 2014 season, Webb and the Hounds were 30-0 and

seeked a third consecutive state title to the already impressive run.

For the second consecutive season the Spoofhounds were forced to find a new quarterback after Nally graduated. This time, an inexperienced sophomore Trey Oglesby took over the reigns. Luckily, what he would do most was hand it off to his senior all-state running back Brody McMahon.

The Hounds opened the season with an impressive victory over Lawson, winning 45-14. The following week, the Hounds blew out St. Pius X, pushing the streak to 32 games in a row. The Hounds would run wild over opposing teams all season with a 39.4 point margin of victory. McMahon, who only averaged three quarters of play on the season, had a spectacular season, rushing for 2,314 yards and 33 touchdowns. He also eased the Oglesby transition by contributing 543 yards receiving and nine touchdowns.

Maryville opened up this season 12-0, riding a 42-game winning streak into the Class 3 quarterfinals against the Oak Grove Panthers. The Panthers and Hounds met in the same round in 2013, and the Panthers were looking forward to revenge their defeat; they did not hold back.

Senior running back Aaron Graham ran all over the Spoofhounds defense. The 6-foot-1-inch, 194 pound running back ran over, through around the Spoofhounds defense for 345 yards and seven touchdowns on 25 carries. The Panthers sent the Hounds home soundly, winning 69-23.

The streak came to an end. Forty-two games and Webb and the Spoofhounds lost for the first time in nearly three years. But, what can’t be lost in the aftermath is that his team went 1,103 days, 168 quarters, and 2,016 minutes (football time) without a loss. I knew that this day was coming, but I didn’t expect it to come to an end this way. No team had dominated Missouri football like Maryville since Jefferson City won 71 consecutive games in the late 1960s and early ‘70s. Even with the loss, you can be sure that the Spoofhounds will be looking to start a new streak come week one of 2015.

STREAKCONTINUED FROM A12

Junior running back Dakota Beemer tears up following a talk with Head Coach Matt Webb in Friday’s loss to Oak Grove.SHAWNA KINGSTON | NW MISSOURIAN

No. 1 Ouachita Baptist

No. 2 Minnesota-Mankato