Bearcats flip script to knock off Tigers

JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Northwest captain Jaden Brady reacts to scoring a touchdown with five seconds left in the half on Saturday at Bearcat Stadium.

MARYVILLE, Mo. — If the Bearcats are going to make something of this season and turn things around, the moment it changed will not be hard to pinpoint.

Northwest (1-2; 1-1 MIAA) faced a fourth-and-2 at the Fort Hays State 10-yard line. Through two games, the run game had been non-existent, but Bearcat offensive coordinator Todd Sturdy had made adjustments.

“It was how we were going to go about rushing the football,” Northwest coach Rich Wright said. “One of the things is that when you don’t run the football well in Week 1, you don’t want to just scrap something, so it took us to Week 2 to say we didn’t like the way we were running the football. We created something to where it opened up the running game — more RPO, more run-pass for Chris (Ruhnke). If the box tells him to throw the ball, we were going to throw it. If the box told him to run it, we were going to run it. That led to a more effective ground attack.”

Fort Hays State (2-1; 1-1 MIAA) had two touchdowns in two offensive drives and even though there were still four minutes left in the first quarter, it seemed as though failure to convert may spell doom for the game and the season with a 0-3 start.

Northwest trusted in its revitalized run game and junior Tank Young. Young exploded around the right side for a 10-yard touchdown to slice the margin in half.

From there on, Northwest didn’t look back and ended the game on a 32-6 run for a 32-20 final score. And they went from questions about when that first win would come — to the midst of the MIAA title chase after a topsy turvy day across the MIAA.

“It felt great for the kids — that is what it is about,” Wright said. “This isn’t about me. This is about those kids. They came back from a really tough trip at Kearney and came back here and worked their tails off all week long.”

The new and improved rushing game for the Bearcats was evident from the first play of the day for the offense. Redshirt freshman Te’Shaun Porter had never had a carry prior to Saturday and he took the first play of the game 11 yards for the longest run from scrimmage this season for Northwest.

“He is just a downhill player,” Young said of Porter. “We were struggling, so we knew we had to put some downhill in there. We all run different, so it is a lot to control when we are all just coming in and out with fresh legs and keep running.”

Porter only finished with five carries for 21 yards, but with the 3-headed running-back committee, it seemed to bring out the best in Young and senior captain Jadon Brady. Young had 57 yards and two touchdowns while Brady got his touchdown in dramatic fashion.

“As a team, we just came out and we knew we had to run the ball,” Young said. “Northwest is big on running the ball. Not being able to run it the last couple weeks hurt us a lot.”

With the Bearcats down 17-10, the offense took possession with 2:42 left in the half — 91 yards away from the end zone. It was slow moving at first as they faced a third-and-11 with 48 seconds left at their own 24.

Sturdy trusted Ruhnke to make a play though and the junior found Jamar Simpson for 11 yards. A roughing the passer penalty got Northwest over midfield a couple plays later, and then Ruhnke went deep, finding Luke Mathews for a 37-yard gain down to the 5-yard line.

“It was nice knowing that Coach Sturdy has a lot of trust in us,” Ruhnke said. “Didn’t let off the gas and just kept his foot on the pedal.”

Ruhnke hit Brady with five seconds left for a walk-in 5-yard touchdown to tie the game at half.

“That was huge,” Ruhnke said. “Hit the double move to Luke right before that, and then saw pressure and man. We talked about it all week and knew Jadon would be open.”

From there, the Bearcat onslaught continued. Northwest opened the second half with a seven and a half minute drive, capped with Young’s second touchdown.

“You could just see the confidence starting to come in the locker room at halftime,” Wright said. “We came out in the second half and I thought we played, obviously, as well as we’ve played all year.”

The Bearcat defense made its adjustments too. After 17 points allowed on the first three drives, Wright took away the short-passing attack — specifically to top receiver Trevor Watts.

“We started playing multiple coverages,” Wright said. “The bugaboo really was on third down, so we tried some man. We tried some fire-zone cover-2, and played four-under two-deep and there were too many seams. We ran a snap of press man and we didn’t get bailed enough, so we went to where we were either playing some type of zone coverage on him where we knew where he was, or we were playing a 1-rob where we rushed three and had three backers in the lower hole just robbing him.”

The Tigers took over on their own 19 on the next drive and Clayton Power immediately picked up a 11-yard sack. Keaton Ricke put the pressure on next, and Fort Hays State was called for intentional grounding in the end zone — resulting in a safety and putting Northwest up 26-17.

The Tiger defense forced Northwest’s first punt of the day on the next drive and it was an 8-yard punt.

The short kick had the Tigers 31 yards from the end zone, but the defense stood tall and forced a field goal to cut the margin to 26-17. Those were the final points of the game for Fort Hays State.

“Willie Horn spoke to us before the game, and it was all the things that embodied my 21 years here at Northwest Missouri State,” Wright said. “Things are going to happen bad. Things are not going to go the way that you want them to, but it is that belief in yourselves and your teammates that we are going to find a way to do this.”

Northwest drove right back down the field again, but Ruhnke was intercepted and it looked as though Sam Brandt might be destined for a pick-six, but Brady made an excellent open-field tackle to prevent the return.

“If you give our defense a chance to play, I think that good things are going to happen,” Wright said. “That was a great play by J.B. to get it down on the ground.”

Wright’s defense was up for the challenge as they forced a third-and-19 and Shane Fredrickson intercepted a ball up the sideline.

“We were disguising our coverages,” Fredrickson said. “Quarterback thought we were in something we weren’t. He tried to fit a ball down the sideline, and I read off him and got my hands on the ball — which was a good feeling.”

This time Ruhnke wouldn’t be denied and connected with Wentric Williams for a short touchdown pass and a 32-20 lead with 11 minutes to go.

“We had played with our foot on the gas all night,” Wright said. “I walked up to Sturdy and I said regardless of what happens on this drive with us (defensively), and we got off the field, I said, ‘keep your foot on the gas.’”

Fort Hays State waved the white flag with 3:57 left, down by 12. Facing a fourth-and-16 from their own 40, they punted — essentially surrendering to the Bearcat defense which had beaten up quarterback Jack Dawson all night long.

The Bearcat win, coupled with losses by top-5 ranked Central Missouri and Pittsburg State, has thrown the MIAA into flux in Week 2 with only Central Oklahoma, Nebraska-Kearney and Emporia State left as undefeated teams.

“We just wanted to get that bad taste out of our mouth and just flush it,” Fredrickson said. “Can’t hang onto the past. Just gotta win this week and move on. That is what we are going to do now. We are going to flush this and move onto next week.”

Ruhnke became just the fourth Bearcat quarterback to complete 33 passes in a game, joining Blake Bolles (37 vs. Washburn in 2009), Josh Lamberson (33 vs. Grand Valley State in 2005) and John McMenamin (33 vs. Central Missouri in 2001). Ruhnke finished 33-for-41 for 273 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions.

“He has exceeded my expectations honestly,” Wright said. “… He sees the field really well. Probably as good as anybody that I’ve been around in my time here.”

Twelve different receivers caught passes for Northwest. Mathews had 62 yards receiving while Jake Weber caught all seven of his targets for 52 yards.

“He is always in the slot,” Ruhnke said. “I know that he will always make me right and get open. I know that if a play is ever breaking down, I can just rely on Jake and find him.”

Northwest will look to translate its success to the road next Saturday with a 2 p.m. kickoff at Missouri Southern (0-3; 0-2 MIAA).