Bearcats pick up statement win over No. 9 Bronchos
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Northwest defensive coordinator Chad Bostwick high-fives youth teams as he takes the field Saturday on Family Weekend.
MARYVILLE, Mo. — Bearcat football felt back after 3-straight wins. Coach John McMenamin has been saying every chance he gets that if his team plays to their level, they can beat anyone.
But being “back” still required some proof of concept going into Saturday’s showdown with MIAA co-leaders Northwest Missouri State and Central Oklahoma. The previous wins had come against Washburn, Texas A&M-Kingsville and Missouri Southern — good wins, but not ones that grab the national attention.
“Obviously it was the first big game we’ve had since Week 0,” Bearcat quarterback Chris Ruhnke said.
The Bearcats (4-1; 3-0 MIAA) secured that statement victory on Family Weekend with a 38-16 victory over the No. 9 ranked team in the D2Football.com poll in Central Oklahoma (2-2, 2-1 MIAA).
“On Family Day, it is just something special,” linebacker Parker Bowen said. “I know it means a lot to Coach (Chad) Bostwick and that reflects on us as a defense. We all just wanted to play hard for Bostwick and I think we did a good job doing that today.
“… It’s emotional, just seeing what Bostwick’s done for us. We’d all die on the sword for him, and I know he’d do the same for us. That is just special. We have a special connection with him. It is just great to get a win for Bostwick on this day.”
On Family Weekend, the black jerseys and red hats all are in tribute to Scott Bostwick, but the truest tribute to the former defensive coordinator and head coach came from his brother’s defensive unit with Chad Bostwick in his first Family Weekend game calling the defense with the red hat.
“Put some respect on his name,” McMenamin said. “That kid has been here a long time. Kid? That guy has been here a long time. If you looked up what a Bearcat would be in the dictionary, it’d be a picture of Chad.”
The defense was stellar, helping the team build a 35-10 lead at one point and holding the Bronchos to under 300 total yards.
“That defense is winning games for us right now,” McMenamin said.
After the defense forced back-to-back 3-and-outs to open the game, Northwest cashed in with a third-and-12 audible where Chris Ruhnke called his own number and ran through a hole created by Harrison Merriman for a 54-yard touchdown.
“They blitzed, and Chris did a great job,” McMenamin said. “He alerted it, which gives us a power read. … Shoot, it worked. It was wide open and Harry Merriman did a great job on that and just crushed the inside ‘backer.”
A horse-collar tackle call triggered the Broncho offense which leaned on the ground game for a game-tying touchdown drive.
Both defenses controlled the middle portion of the first half, but special teams made its impact felt with a punt return inside the 10 from Dominic Myers. Penalties on each team ended up putting the ball on the UCO 25 and Ruhnke needed one play to find the biggest receiver on the field with Erwin Nash in the back of the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown and a 14-7 lead.
“Erwin, when he first got here, was lacking confidence,” McMenamin said. “He is a good-looking human being, 6’3, 215 pounds, fast, great kid. It was just believing in him. Put some belief in him and you see him just taking off.”
Northwest nearly created another opportunity with a fumble, but the Bronchos jumped on it just before Carter Edwards could to avoid disaster and run out the clock.
Nash was rolling though and his breakout game continued on the opening drive of the third quarter with catches of 24 and 33 yards. Te’Shaun Porter capped the drive with a touchdown to make it 21-7.
Central Oklahoma answered with a field goal, but the Bearcats continued to roll with Ruhnke throwing for 71 yards on the drive including big catches from Luke Mathews and Madixx Morris. Quincy Torry made it 28-10 with a 4-yard touchdown run.
“Whenever you go into half with momentum after Dom’s big punt return and the touchdown to Erwin, we just had all the momentum,” Ruhnke said. “At least a little bit, we were talking about ‘keep it rolling.’”
Cooper Berry and Nile Schuett combined for a fourth-down tackle for loss, and on the second play of the ensuing drive, Ruhnke threw the knock-out punch with a wheel route to Jackson Miller and a 68-yard touchdown. Mo Alwaely made it 35-10 with 14:10 to play with the extra point.
“Jackson has kinda been the gadget guy all year with those plays,” Ruhnke said. “Those are my favorite though — when they are wide open. Him and Erwin’s touchdowns — don’t get much easier than that.”
Central Oklahoma tacked on a touchdown against the Bearcat prevent defense, but the offense put the game on ice for good with one more drive to set up an Alwaely 40-yard field goal for the 38-16 final score.
Parker Bowen capped his big night with an interception. He finished with a team-high 11 tackles while his partner in the middle of the defense, Carter Edwards, had nine.
Ruhnke finished 9-for-17 for 194 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions — while also leading the team in rushing with six carries for 58 yards. Nash had five catches on five targets for 99 yards.
“Any game that we win feels good,” Nash said. “It is a plus that I performed well. Wish I got one more to get 100. Offense did well. Defense did well. O-line, other receivers, quarterbacks.”
The Bearcats have a bye week then face the other leader in the MIAA Central Missouri (2-2, 2-0 MIAA) on Oct. 11 in Warrensburg at 1 p.m. Central Missouri plays Central Oklahoma next Saturday in Edmond, Okla.
“That’s a statement,” Nash said. “We can look back to that and say we played like this, and go through that every game and repeat that. I feel like it is really huge for us.”
