#8 Northwest Missouri State football defeats rival MoWest for 13th straight season

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) - The #8 Northwest Missouri State football team did what they do best against rival MoWest on Saturday, run the football effectively and play dominating defense. The Bearcats defeated the Griffons in a 45-13 blowout, the 13th straight season Northwest has defeated it's regional rival.

The Bearcats racked up a whopping 418 rushing yards compared to MoWest's 52. Running back Quincy Torry led the way for Northwest. The sophomore finished with a career high 252 yards rushing and scored 3 touchdowns on the ground, the longest being from 75 yards out on the first offensive play in the second half.

"The o-linemen, man, they made it really easy for me. Just following those guys, we ran a lot of pin and pull, a lot of counter. So just following those guys, they kind of led me to the promise land," said Torry.

Northwest's defense dominated, racking up 8 sacks from 8 different players. Devin Wilson, Zylen Saddler-Robinson, Cody Simoncic, Eric Smith III, Jacob Stockard, Trent Warner, Ray Smith III, and Lorenzo Brinkley III all came away with sacks for the Bearcats.

The Bearcats also forced 4 turnovers, junior Michael Harrison hauled in 2 interceptions and junior Kaden Lutjen-Williams had another. Junior Jacob Stockard forced a fumble on his sack on MoWest's Isaiah Tate and junior Nathan Baudry recovered for Northwest.

"I think we're in a good spot so far. Obviously there's always room to improve and get better every week," said Harrison. "We look to improve on mistakes that we could have made better or just little things like that. But I feel like we're gelling at the right time and just making a good stride right now."

"I was really pleased with the way on offense and defense we started really fast. We got a stop and then we got a score and kind of kept things in front of us and got momentum," said Northwest head coach John McMenamin. "So, games like this are in a rivalry game are tough because they have such an explosive offense and we're rivals and so you throw it all out the window. But I was really pleased with the way our guys came out really focused and executed at an extremely high level."

The Bearcats improve to 8-1 on the season and clinch a share of the MIAA Conference title. A regular season ending victory over Pittsburg State on Saturday, November 14th at Sporting KC Park will clinch the title outright.

MoWest falls to 3-7 on the season.