Bearcats shut down Hornets for eighth-straight win
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Northwest sophomore tackle Kaleb McCullough celebrates with senior running back Dominic Myers after Myers’ touchdown Saturday in Emporia, Kan.
EMPORIA, Kan. — Emporia State’s offense started fast on Saturday against Northwest Missouri State with Jamison Sarver completing his first two passes for 16 yards and Diego Cearns ran for a 55-yard touchdown.
“Football is a very special sport because it is never going to go your way all the time,” Northwest senior Carter Edwards said. “There is going to be adversity.”
From that moment on, the Bearcat defense was dominant — holding the MIAA’s leading passing game to 71 yards through the air, Emporia State’s fewest in a decade — in a 41-14 win on the road.
Northwest was without its starting offensive backfield for much of the game with freshman quarterback Zechariah Owens only playing one series when senior Chris Ruhnke had his contact knocked out, and starting running back Te’Shaun Porter only getting four carries before leaving the game with injury.
Under first-year coach John McMenamin, he has preached depth and rotated as heavily as any team on offense with quarterback, running back, receiver and even offensive line. That philosophy reaped plenty of benefits on Saturday with Owens and Porter each getting most of the day off with experienced weapons filling in.
“I thought Chris really played a good game,” McMenamin said. “He made one critical mistake, but the rest of them were really good.”
Northwest drove the ball on the first drive, but turned it over on downs. With Emporia State up 7-0, Northwest went 3-and-out on the next drive. In previous games, the third drive is when the second quarterback —either Owens or Ruhnke comes into the game. That option wasn’t there on Saturday.
“Everyone wants to play the whole game, but me and Z have been complimenting each other well so that has been great and neither of us have complained about that,” Ruhnke said. “Z got tweaked up in practice, so I knew I was going to play the whole game. I was excited. It is a little different.”
Ruhnke took that third drive himself with a 5-yard run, an 8-yard pass to Gannon Gragert and a 28-yard touchdown pass to Luke Mathews.
After a second-straight 3-and-out from the defense, Ruhnke went back to work with a 14-yard pass to Gragert, a 15-yard pass to Mathews and a 10-yard pass to Dominic Myers. Myers broke a 25-yard touchdown run to take a 14-7 lead on the final play of the first quarter.
“Just taking advantage of my opportunities,” Myers said as he’s seen a much bigger offensive role as a senior. “Everything is on God’s timing. It is not on your timing. I played my role of being a return guy, and when I get my opportunities on offense I just know that I have to take advantage of it.”
The second quarter was scoreless — remarkably so for the Bearcat defense. A poor snap on a punt gave Emporia State the ball on Northwest’s 9-yard line.
After a 1-yard Cearns carry, Edwards sacked Sarver for 16 yard loss. After an incompletion, the Hornets attempted a fake field goal instead of a 41-yard attempt. Edwards sacked the holder, forcing a fumble.
“We are just a relentless group and we love each other,” Edwards said. “Love is a very powerful word. When you love somebody and you love what you do, you are going to do it with maximum effort. That is what we do each and every play.”
The third quarter saw the offense get going again with Ruhnke driving the team down the field and Myers capping it off with a 5-yard touchdown.
“Coming out of the locker room, we knew that we had to pick it up,” Ruhnke said. “Coach Mac challenged the O-line a little bit and obviously, they played great in the second half.”
The snowball kept forming for Northwest as Edwards had an interception on the first Emporia State play from scrimmage. Quincy Torry took the next play in for a 3-yard touchdown and a 28-7 lead.
Yet another 3-and-out gave Ruhnke the ball back and he went to work again with a 26-yard throw to T.J. Williams-Bey then a 31-yard pass to Myers, who despite being listed at a likely generous 5-foot-7, high-pointed the ball over an Emporia State defensive back for the touchdown.
“First of all, I want to thank Chris Ruhnke for giving me the opportunity and the trust in me to go and get that,” Myers said. “With a receiver background, being an all-state guy in high school, it is just ‘see ball, get ball.’ Nothing else matters when that ball is in the air, but that ball.”
Myers was dominant all game with 100 yards rushing, 62 yards receiving and 46 yards on returns. His one mistake was a fumble on a punt return which set up Emporia State’s final points.
“He is always a spark plug for us — making big plays and bringing the energy,” Ruhnke said.
Ruhnke capped his terrific day, where he threw for 204 yards and two touchdowns with an interception, with a 4-yard touchdown run for the final 41-14 margin.
“I’m so happy for Chris,” Myers said. “He answered the bell. That’s it. He answered the bell. The bell was ringing and he answered it. That guy is — he is a good guy. … He balled out today, and I couldn’t be happier for a guy like that.”
Northwest can wrap up at least a share of the MIAA championship at home on Saturday with Senior Night against Missouri Western.
“We just got to focus on Western right now, and everything else later down the road will fall in place,” Ruhnke said.
