MARYVILLE, Missouri - The No. 14-ranked Northwest Missouri State University Bearcat football team scored its largest margin of victory in program history over Northeastern State University Saturday at Bearcat Stadium, 79-0.
Northwest broke the game open early by scoring the first of its seven touchdowns only four plays into the contest. Braden Wright found Marqus Andrews down the seam, and two broken tackles later, he was in the end zone with 11:55 on the clock in the first.
The onslaught continued as another four-play touchdown drive grew the lead to 14-0 at 8:32. Justin Rankin finished it off with an 8-yard dart toward the goal line. But the foundation of the score came from fellow running back Isaiah Strayhorn, who set up the score with three rushes of his own for 57 yards.
Eleven seconds later, Northwest scored again, this time with the defense making the impact. Northeastern State’ Jake Pruitt fumbled the ball after sustaining a hit from Zach Pierce. Mike Ehlke scooped up the ball and took it in from 18 yards out to make it 21-0.
The first quarter still wasn't done when Rankin scored on the ground from 27 yards out with 1:28 left on the clock. Rankin’s score gave Northwest a 28-0 advantage.
Business continued to boom as the second quarter got underway, the Bearcats would add points in the second to up its lead to 49-0 at the break.
Strayhorn started the second-quarter scoring as he burst through the left side of the offensive line and raced for a 65-yard touchdown with 6:54 left on the clock. Then the defense once again put points on the board as Jacob Gassman intercepted the ball and followed his blockers on his way to a 52-yard pick six. The last score in the second was courtesy of Andrews again, who caught a pass from Wright on the flat route for an easy 5-yard touchdown reception with :32 left on the first-half clock.
After halftime, the scoring continued to grow in the Bearcats’s favor. Rankin took the ball into the end zone from 65 yards out on the first play from scrimmage in the second half. He burst through the open gap on the left side and propelled himself past the defense. Eleven seconds is all it took for Rankin to score his third touchdown of the day and take the lead to 56-0.
Rankin added his fourth rushing score from 30 yards out on Northwest’s next possession. He became the 14th Bearcat to score at least four rushing touchdowns in a single game. Rankin’s touchdown gave him 211 rushing yards on only 12 carries and it made it 63-0 in Northwest’s favor.
Northwest would make it 65-0 when NSU’s punter Tim Davis kneeled to catch a low snap in his own end zone giving the Bearcats a safety.
Northwest scored two more times, both from reserve running back Robert Rawie. The first came with 2:37 left in the third on a 32-yard rush. Then the scoring finished with 12:41 left in the fourth, as Rawie rushed past the defenders untouched for a 26-yard touchdown. Rawie carried the ball three times for 55 yards and two scores – the first touchdowns of his collegiate career.
Northwest moves to 8-1 on the season, while Northeastern State falls to 0-9 overall.
The Bearcats will be on the road next week to take on Fort Hays State in Hays, Kansas. Kick is set for 2 p.m.
NOTES: The 79-point win is the largest margin of victory in Northwest’s program history … 79 points is the second most scored points in Northwest’s history (Northwest scored an 86-13 win over Southwest Baptist on Sept. 29, 2007) … it’s the ninth time in school history that Northwest has scored 70 or more points in a game … it’s the eight shutout for the Bearcats under head coach Rich Wright … Braden Wright finished the day 12-of-15 passing for 164 yards and two touchdowns … Jadyn Kowalski was 3-for-3 passing for 14 yards … Marqus Andrews' two-touchdown game is his second career multi-touchdown game and second this year (Pittsburg State) … the Northwest defense tallied five sacks, two takeaways, two touchdowns and a safety … Rankin is also the first Northwest player to rush for more than 200 yards since James Franklin rushed for 229 yards against Emporia State on Nov. 12, 2011 … Strayhorn also rushed for 100-plus yards with 128 yards on eight carries and a score … Northwest rushed for 443 yards (the school record for rushing yards in a game is 627 vs. Emporia State on Nov. 7, 1992) … Northwest topped 600 yards of total offense for the second time this season with 621 total yards … Northeastern State was 1-of-16 on third-down conversions … Northwest had 17 tackles-for-loss, led by Zach Pierce with three.
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