Northwest Missouri Rolls to Return to Florence

By David Boyce

MARYVILLE, Mo. -- Once again Northwest Missouri is Alabama-bound.

Northwest Missouri earned its fifth straight appearance in the NCAA Division II championship by thrashing California (Pa.) 56-31 Saturday evening at Bearcat Stadium.

It was a history-making performance. Northwest Missouri is the first Division II school to reach the title game five straight times.

"We still know how to win semifinal games," Northwest Missouri coach Mel Tjeerdsma said. "We are excited about that. It was a big win.

"We are excited about moving on, but we are not done. It's kind of an empty feeling right now to be real truthful. We got one more to go. That's what it is all about."

Next for the Bearcats is a date with a familiar foe in Florence, Ala.

Northwest Missouri, 13-1, will take on Grand Valley State, 13-1, Saturday afternoon at Braly Memorial Stadium.

It will be the first meeting between these two dominant Division II teams since Dec. 8, 2007, when Northwest Missouri beat Grand Valley State 34-16 in Maryville in the semifinals.

For the Bearcats, it was a bit of revenge after losing to Grand Valley State 17-14 in the '06 championship game and 21-17 in the '05 championship game.

This time around Northwest Missouri might be taking its most potent offense to the championship game since the 1998-99 teams won back-to-back titles.

The Bearcats put on an offensive clinic in 30 degree weather that California (Pa.) simply wasn't prepared for.

Senior LaRon Council zipped through holes so big that a dump truck could have driven through. He rushed for 216 yards on 20 carries for 10.8 yards per carry.

"They (offensive line) did a tremendous job today, just being physical all day long," Council said. "Every time they get challenged when coaches tell them we are going to face a good d-line they usually step up to the challenge and do a good job.

"I'm just proud of all those guys making my last game at Bearcat Stadium worthwhile."

The air attack was just as efficient. Quarterback Blake Bolles completed 16 for 22 for 219 yards. Soy only caught four passes for 48 yards but three of them went for touchdowns.

"They have a tremendously balanced offense," said California (Pa.) coach John Luckhardt. "They have weapons all over the place.

"They blocked us pretty darn well.  In our region we are good upfront, but tonight we weren't. They found something working and they stuck with it."

So it was very easy for Northwest Missouri to easily overcome an early interception by Bolles and a 10-7 deficit two minutes into the second quarter to build a comfortable 21-10 halftime lead.

It only took Northwest Missouri 1:43 to go 63 yards and take the lead for good at 14-10 on 4-yard touchdown pass from Bolles to Soy.

"We don't want to turn the ball over, but our coaches have done a great job of calming everybody down," Bolles said. "When we don't score on certain drives or we are not moving the ball it is due to our lack of execution as oppose to other teams really stopping us."

The play of the game for Northwest Missouri occurred just seconds before halftime. Roberto Davis blocked a punt and Billy Creason scooped up the ball and ran 15 yards for a touchdown with no time left.

"The blocked punt was a huge momentum change," Tjeerdsma said.

The Bearcats stormed into halftime with an 11-point lead.

"It was a big play, but in my eyes we had to keep it rolling," Davis said. "We couldn't stop. We had to keep executing because they are going to keep fighting the whole game so we just had to keep fighting ourselves."

California (Pa.) started the third quarter with the ball and was stuffed in three plays.

Northwest Missouri got the ball in great field position and went 44 yards in five plays and scored on a 5-yard run by Creason, making it 28-10 with 12:39 left in the third quarter.

"The end of the first half and the start of the second half was really what I thought won the game," Bolles said. "The blocked punt obviously was a huge play for us. We come out and kick off to them and the defense stops them right away and we come out and score. After that I knew there was no way we were going to lose the game."

Even though the Vulcans answered with an 11-play, 80-yard drive that gobbled up 4:30, they simply couldn't stop the menacing green offensive machine.

The Bearcat dagger came on the ensuing kickoff when Jordan Simmons returned it 81 yards for a touchdown to push Northwest Missouri's lead back to 18 points.

In all, Northwest Missouri scored four touchdowns in the third quarter and went into the final period leading 49-24.

The Bearcats gave the 7,122 fans a reason to party. Once again the goalposts were torn down as fans rushed the field.

It was simply a wonderful evening for Northwest Missouri fans. Even California (Pa.) quarterback Josh Portis, a transfer from the University of Florida, applauded what he saw in Maryville, Mo.

"When I walked in here I said wow, you don't see this at Division II," Portis said.

Yes, the Bearcats have done some pretty magical things on the football field at Bearcat Stadium.

Key play: In the final play before halftime, Northwest Missouri junior Roberto Davis blocked a punt and freshman Billy Creason picked up the ball and scored a touchdown with no time left on the clock. It sent Northwest Missouri into halftime with a 21-10 lead.

Offensive star: Senior running back LaRon Council had one of his best rushing days ever in his final game at Bearcat Stadium. Council ran for 216 yards on 20 carries for 10.8 yards per carry. Council was unstoppable.

Defensive star: Northwest Missouri junior linebacker Adam Vondrak led the Bearcats in tackles with seven. He also had an important sack early when the game was close.

To reach David Boyce, contributing writer for the MIAA, e-mail dboyce@themiaa.com.