Bearcats set to host Lions

Paw

The Northwest Missouri State football team will look to move within two wins of the all-time consecutive wins streak with they go for their 38th-straight on Saturday when Lindenwood comes to Bearcat Stadium.

The Lions have struggled this season with a 2-5 record, but they have displayed the talent required to hang close with the other elite teams of the MIAA.

Lindenwood lost by just three points against undefeated Fort Hays State and they were within 10 points of Washburn. The Lions also have blown out Pittsburg State, 45-11.

While they have those strong games, they also have had games where they seem not to show up, like their perplexing 40-8 loss to Missouri Western or a 35-14 loss at Central Oklahoma.

The Lions are led by an extremely balanced rushing attack with a pair of rushers having over 300 yards this season.

“(The defense) takes pride in deleting people’s running games,” Northwest coach Rich Wright said.

Calen Campbell leads the ground attack with 345 yards on 56 carries which is a 6.2 yards-per-carry average.

The only reason Campbell doesn’t have more carries is because Skareem Wharton has been almost as effective. Wharton has 302 yard this season on 58 carries, a 5.2 yards-per-carry average.

Adding to the ground attack is dual-threat quarterback Najee Jackson. Jackson has gained 291 yards on the ground this year.

Jackson also is a threat in the passing game with 1,633 yards and 11 touchdowns. He has completed 58.7 percent of his passes and only has four interceptions.

The Lions may be without top receiver on Saturday as Deantrell Prince missed last week’s game and his status is uncertain for this week. Prince has 525 yards and four touchdowns in six games this season and his 10 catches for 175 yards were a major reason why the Lions played Fort Hays State so closely.

With a Homecoming crowd at Bearcat Stadium, the Bearcats are ready to add their 38th-straight victory to the march toward the record.

“I have been happy with the way our team is constantly evolving and changing,” Wright said. “I feel like we’ve had to utilize a host of different people to continue each week. We been challenged by injuries and sometimes that can develop a character and toughness that I think is really important.”

Wright is looking forward to a healthier offense this week, but he is challenging his defense to be even more dominant.

“We are finally starting to trend back to healthy and we should get a couple receivers back on offense,” Wright said. “Defensively, we want to kick it up a notch. We talk about wanting to be elite as a defense and I want to see that for four quarters at home.”