By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
MARYVILLE - The first half ended Saturday and it seemed, perhaps for a moment, that history was finally turning in Missouri Western's favor.
Griffons' kicker Cody Watson made an 18-yard field goal after getting stood up on 3rd-and-goal at the two-yard line with 12 seconds left in the first half, and Western took a 3-0 lead into the locker room against No. 12 Northwest Missouri State.
It was the first time since 2013 that Northwest had been shut out in the first half. The first time since 2011 that the Griffons had a halftime lead against the Bearcats. Could Saturday be the day? Would Northwest drop back-to-back games for the first time in five years?
Very quickly in the second half, Northwest (4-1) made sure that wouldn't be the case.
The Bearcats scored on the third play from scrimmage in the third quarter, nabbing a 7-3 lead with 13:44 left in the third, and Northwest never looked back, adding three more field goals from Cole Lammel and shutting out the Griffons in the second half on their way to a 16-3 victory at Bearcat Stadium on Saturday.
After trying and failing to score on six straight drives in the first half, Northwest strung together three consecutive scoring drives in the third quarter.
"They just came out and they executed," Northwest head coach Rich Wright said of the second half. "I said, 'We don't have to win the football game with our offense or with our defense or special teams. This is a totality of the group that's going to determine whether we succeed or fail,' and they did a good job of going out and executing."
After a 42-yard return by Savannah native Jadon Brady to open the second half, Northwest scored the game's only touchdown just three plays later. Robert Rawie took off around the right side and went 43 yards to the end zone, making it a 7-3 game with 13:44 left in the third.
"It was kind of perfect timing," Wright said. "We had just come out of the locker room, we had just talked about these things and our kids went out and executed it. That flipped the script for us."
After the Griffons punted on their first series of the second half, Northwest got going again on offense. The drive was sparked by a 31-yard catch from Trevon Alexander.
Lammel capped the drive with a 25-yard field goal, putting the Bearcats ahead 10-3 with 5:15 left in the third.
Disaster then struck for Missouri Western, as Javerius McGuinn fumbled the ensuing kickoff, which was recovered by Northwest's Jakob Forslund at the Griffon 28.
The Western defense held up, as the Bearcats only moved nine more yards, but Lammel connected on a 36-yard try, making it 13-3 Northwest with 2:20 still to play in the third.
Missouri Western had six total drives in the second half. Three ended with turnover-on-downs and two ended in punt. The Griffons were 1-for-3 in the red zone and 0-for-4 on fourth down.
"We did a good job of executing down there," Wright said of his red zone defense. "I thought they executed well."
Missouri Western, who outgained Northwest in total yards 336-246, and had 19 first downs compared to 10 by Northwest, managed five drives of 44 yards or longer, and four drives that went 59 yards or longer.
Yet, the Griffons managed just three points - their first game without a touchdown of any kind since the 2018 season opener, which just so happened to be a 28-6 defeat at Bearcat Stadium - the last time Missouri Western had played in Maryville prior to Saturday.
"We did a lot of good things, but we put our defense in some really tough situations," Missouri Western head coach Matt Williamson said. "That first half, we had opportunities to put in the box and get up, but all we came away with was three in the first half and pretty much dismal in the second half. I think Northwest did a good job adjusting."
Missouri Western drove the ball 62 yards on 11 plays on the opening series of the game, but a 32-yard field goal from Watson missed. The Griffons got to the red zone only once in the second half, and got to the 11-yard line, but a pass to Cam Grandy in the end zone fell incomplete with 3:59 left in the game.
"We did quite a few decent things, especially the first two series we had," Williamson said. "We had (Northwest) on their heels and we played a bunch of snaps, but we didn't get back to doing that."
Reagan Jones was 21-of-49 for a season-high 271 yards passing. He had an interception in the first half and was sacked a season-high three times.
Cooper Burton led Missouri Western with 101 receiving yards on six catches. Traveon James had nine catches for 95 yards - both season-highs for him.
Rawie led Northwest on the ground with 84 yards on 15 carries and the score. Fifth-year senior Braden Wright, who made his first start of the season in place of the injured Mike Hohensee, completed 8-of-23 passes for 117 yards.
"He is a tough son of a gun," Wright said of Braden, who was also a little dinged up Saturday. "He went out there and battled. He didn't have his best stuff, but he went out and managed the game and gave us a chance to win in the end. I was proud of that."
Isaac Vollstedt led Northwest with nine tackles. Elijah Green had eight total stops, including two sacks.
Missouri Western is home to Nebraska-Kearney for homecoming on Saturday, October 8. Northwest heads to Pittsburg State (5-0) for a pivotal showdown on October 8 as well. Kickoff in that game is set for 2 p.m.
As for the Griffons, the goal is to focus on one week at a time, and try to break what is now a three-game losing skid.
"All we can do right now is keep the team together," Williamson said. "Keep focusing on what we do and how we do it and get back to the drawing board."
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