Bearcats use lethal air-strike attack to drown RiverHawks
By DAVID MERRILL Sports reporter
Northwest Missouri State University’s Emanuel Jones leaps high to get into the end zone against Northeastern State on Saturday. He scored two touchdowns in the contest.
It was Military Appreciation Day on Saturday as the Northwest Missouri State (7-0) University football team battled Northeastern State (1-6).
Led by quarterback Kyle Zimmerman’s five touchdown passes, the Bearcats used a air-strike heavy attack and put the RiverHawks away at halftime en route to a 74-29 victory.
Northwest led 46-15 at the break as Zimmerman threw for four touchdowns and ran for one in the first half.
Northwest coach Adam Dorrel thought his team gave a complete effort
“I’m really proud of our effort today,” he said. “I thought our guys came out and played with a sense of urgency. We talked all week about trying to get off to a fast start. After they got that first score, I thought we took off a little bit.”
Dorrel also said the fact that the Bearcats got more than 80 players on the field was huge in terms of program development.
The biggest play of the first came from a Zimmerman 76-yard touchdown pass to Shawn Bane Jr. to put the Bearcats up 44-15 with 8:37 left in the half.
The touchdown pass was the first play out of a timeout, but there wasn’t anything complicated about it.
“We do a lot of check-with-me stuff and if they are going to play single coverage, we like that matchup,” he said. “It’s really that simple. These two (Zimmerman and Bane Jr.) make it look easy. We call that type of concept quite a bit throughout the game and Kyle is just not trying to force it. We’re looking for that man-on-man coverage when they are trying to blitz.”
The Riverhawks struck first when quarterback Dimonic McKinzy found Ra’Keim Adbul for a 75-yard touchdown pass that went from a short catch to a long run.
They missed the extra point and the score stayed at 6-0.
Northwest countered on the ensuing drive and Zimmerman found Dre Washington for a 17-yard touchdown pass.
The Bearcats’ defense got into gear and got the offense the ball back, which set up a four-yard touchdown scramble from Zimmerman to put them up 14-6 with 6:53 left in the quarter.
Northwest added one more score before the end of the quarter with a three-yard touchdown pass from Zimmerman to Jordan Grove. Mathiesen’s extra point made it 21-6 going into the second quarter.
Northeastern State countered with a 15-yard touchdown pass from McKinzy to Gary McKnight, but the Bearcats took the momentum right back by blocking the extra point and Marcus Jones returned it for two points to push the Bearcat lead to 23-12.
The Bearcats ended the ensuing six-play, 57 yard drive with a wildcat formation touchdown from Randy Schmidt and Mathiesen’s extra point made it 30-12 with 12:49 left in the half.
NSU took advantage of a Cameron Wilcox fumble and tacked a field goal from Eddie Garcia, but the Bearcats added a Bane’s 76-yard touchdown catch, a six-yard TD pass from Zimmerman to Marqus Andrews, and a safety before the break.
Zimmerman and Bane Jr., who hooked up for three touchdowns last week, kept their hot streak going as Zimmerman found him for another touchdown to start the second half. That one went for 57 yards and gave Zimmerman his fifth touchdown pass.
Northwest led 53-15 with 14:14 left in the third.
The Riverhawks managed a 71-yard touchdown pass and a 28-yard touchdown pass from McKinzy to McKnight in the third quarter, but the Bearcat offense was still too much.
The Bearcat second half also featured a six-yard touchdown run from Cameron Wilcox and a pair of one-yard touchdown run from Emanuel Jones.
After the game, Zimmerman talked about the chemistry he and Bane have had all season — especially over the course of the past couple weeks.
“Right now, it’s the trust we have in each other as an offensive unit,” he said. “I trust the offensive line to pick up the different amount of blitzes we see each week and I have trust in the receiving corps with the routes that they’re running. When we come off the field, we’re constantly talking about things that we see.”
The RiverHawks touted a decent pass defense coming in and the Bearcats hung 291 yards through the air to go with their 371 rushing yards to total 662 yards of offense.
Zimmerman passed for 270 yards while completing 16 of his 22 passes. Bane Jr. finished with a career-high 157 receiving yards on four catches while Phil Jackson II led the rushing attack with 112 yards on 12 carries. Wilcox added 89 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.
Emanuel Jones had 68 yards on 11 carries to go with his two touchdowns. Maryville High School alum Jonathan Baker got some snaps in the second half and went 4-of-5 for 12 yards passing and rushed for 58 yards on five tries.
Jacob Vollstedt and Cass Weit had six and five tackles respectively.
Northwest Missouri State heads on the road next week as it takes on Lindenwood (1-5) at 1:30 p.m.
By DAVID MERRILL Sports reporter
Northwest Missouri State University’s Shawn Bane Jr. shakes off a Northeastern State defender before taking the ball to the end zone on a 76-yard touchdown catch from Kyle Zimmerman on Saturday. The Bearcats won 74-29.
FORUM FILE PHOTO
Northwest Missouri State quarterback Kyle Zimmerman throws the ball to a receiver during the Bearcats’ 74-29 win over Northeastern State on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016. Zimmerman threw five touchdown passes in the win.
