The Missouri Western Griffons battled the 9th ranked
Northwest Missouri State Bearcats to the very end but would come up
short falling 42-35 in front of 9,346 fans at Bearcat Stadium. Missouri
Western falls to 1-2 on the season and 0-1 in the MIAA after the
defeat.

Western opened up the game stuffing the Bearcats opening drive on
4-and-1 from the Western 25 yard line as Western linebacker Sean Whiters
filled the hole and the Griffons would take over on downs. The Western
offense would come out with the same intensity as the defense driving
the ball down and scoring on a 15 yard run by quarterback Drew Newhart.


On the very next play Griffon defensive end Bradley Davidson would sack
Bearcat quarterback Joel Osborn. The hit caused a fumble which would be
recovered by the Griffons. Western would then go 31 yards on seven plays
in 3:20 which was finished off by a four yard pass from Newhart to tight
end Alvaro Prado.

The Bearcats would answer the bell scoring the next fourteen points to
tie the game at 14 apiece. The Griffons would turn around and score
again when Newhart connected with Cedric Houston on an 82 yard scoring
strike.

The Bearcats would score once more before the half, but a Soane Etu’s
blocked extra point would give the Griffons the one point lead going
into the half.

The Griffons controlled the time of possession in the first half as
they had the ball for 15:18 minutes. Sean Whiters was all over the field
in the first half as he had eight tackles for Western. Western also
converted on 5-of-7 third down conversions in the first frame.

In the second half the Bearcats came out and drove the ball 70 yards on
14 plays to take a 27-21 lead with 6:42 left in the third quarter. The
Griffons would answer again when they went 52 yards on 8 playas which
would be capped off by a 27 yard pass from Newhart to Houston to put the
Griffons up 28-27.

Western would score again when senior corner back Jarrett Morris
intercepted an Osborn pass and scampered in from 44 yards out to put the
Griffons up 35-27 going into the fourth quarter.

The Bearcats would score fifteen unanswered points in the fourth
quarter as Osborn connected on two touchdown passes of 26 and 8 yards to
Abe Qaoud.

With just 1:03 left in the contest the Griffons drove down to the
Bearcat 25 yard line, but a 4-and-16 heave to the end zone would get
intercepted by Chris LeFlore to seal the victory for the Bearcats.

The Griffons got nice performances on the offensive side of the ball
from Cedric Houston as he had 126 yards and two touchdowns receiving.
Drew Newhart had 254 yards passing with three touchdowns through the
air. Newhart also had one touchdown rushing.