No. 2 Northwest secures second-half comeback to edge Pitt State

Oct. 10—MARYVILLE, Mo. — After the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats rallied from a 16-0 second-half deficit, Pittsburg State had one last shot.

Cross Holmes already made his first four field goals Saturday at Bearcat Stadium, but a miss on his fifth from 38 yards out put the Gorillas in this position.

With 1:01 remaining in the game down 20-19, the Gorilla freshman placekicker looked to rebound from the miss on a 44-yard kick.

"My thought process is we got to block this kick because I mean, there's more than 50 seconds left in the game," Northwest senior linebacker Jackson Barnes said. "There's no way they can make this kick because we don't want to put our offense in that position."

The kick sailed wide left, and No. 2 Northwest secured a 20-19 win over Pittsburg State.

"There there was grit. There was toughness. There was something more there than an easy victory the last four weeks," Northwest head coach Rich Wright said.

An uncharacteristic first half for Northwest (5-0) saw the Gorillas (4-2) perform explosively from the start, taking the lead on the opening drive.

Mak Sexton connected with Kaizer Newell on a 20-yard touchdown pass to go up 7-0 with 10:08 left in the first quarter.

Holmes pushed the lead to 13-0 at the half with a pair of second quarter field goals, one from 27 yards out and the other a 53-yarder heading into the break.

Behind nearly 20 years of coaching games just like this at Northwest, Wright knew exactly how he was going to challenge his team in the locker room.

"It's a four round fight and we didn't get knocked out in the first two rounds," Wright said. "I said, 'So we got 30 minutes to get this thing rectified and I'll find out who I can get in a foxhole with.' And the kids responded."

Northwest had the first possession of the second half, but the Gorillas weren't going to make it easy on their rival.

Hohensee's first play was tipped and intercepted by Pittsburg State's Alex Gaskill. The Bearcat defense stepped up and forced another Holmes field goal from 24 yards that extended the Gorilla lead to 16-0 with 10:39 to play in the third.

"It was just an unfortunate error," Hohensee said. "We walk off, and we knew we're gonna get the ball back."

The tides began to turn when the Bearcats finally found the end zone. Hohensee threw a 33-yard touchdown to senior Kaden Davis with 7:59 left in the third.

"We knew this was gonna be a big rivalry coming in. It's gonna be a close game. We just had to do what we had to do come out on top," Davis said.

The Gorillas answered with another Holmes field goal to lead 19-7 with 3:58 left in the third, but the Bearcats began to take over.

Hohensee found freshman running back Jadon Brady for the 23-yard score for his first career touchdown. Northwest trailed 19-14 to end the third quarter.

In the fourth, Holmes missed his first field goal of the game, a 38-yard kick wide left to keep the Gorillas lead at 19-14.

Northwest marched on. On third-and-goal from the 8-yard line, Davis caught another pass from Hohensee, giving Northwest its first lead of the game with 5:15 to play in the game.

The Bearcats went for the two-point conversion, but Hohensee's pass to Al McKeller fell incomplete.

Northwest stifled the Gorillas and forced them to attempt a field goal to no avail, and the Bearcats claimed a 20-19 victory as they hosted their rival at Bearcat Stadium for the first time since 2016.

The last three meetings took place in Pittsburg, Kansas, and Arrowhead Stadium. Northwest now leads the all-time series with Pittsburg State, 29-25, winning five of the last six meetings.

"This is Pitt State, Northwest Missouri State. This is what this game is supposed to be. It's always a tough, tough matchup. It's always two very proud programs with a lot of tradition and a lot of history going at it," Wright said.

The Bearcats believe this type of gritty win provides them momentum down the stretch of the regular season.

"Up to this point, we've had easy wins and this is something that we needed. I know it's tough. I know fans didn't want to see it this way, but it just makes for an exciting game and just gives us something that we just need to be more ready for games. We can't expect to just go out there and beat everyone," Barnes said.

Hohensee went 17-of-23 passing for 199 yards and three touchdowns, despite throwing two interceptions. Senior Alec Tatum led the Bearcats with seven catches for 83 yards, while Davis caught two passes for 41 yards and both went for touchdowns.

McKeller rushed for a team-high 93 yards on 16 carries. Barnes led all tacklers in the game with 12 stops.

Pitt State out-gained Northwest, 368-294. The Gorillas posted 24 first downs, while Northwest was held to 15.

"You need to be challenged like this because as you get later in the season, as you get into the playoffs, these are the types of games you have to play and have to win," Wright said. "So to learn and still win a football game I think is tremendously important and very helpful moving forward."

Northwest travels to Topeka, Kansas, next Saturday to face Washburn with a kickoff set for 1 p.m.

Local Videos

2:03

No. 2 Bearcats come back to beat Pitt State, 20-19

No. 2 Bearcats come back to beat Pitt State, 20-19

* Updated

20 hrs ago

0:43

North Andrew defeats Albany, 66-40

North Andrew defeats Albany, 66-40

* Updated

Oct 8, 2021

0:43

North Andrew defeats Albany

North Andrew defeats Albany

* Updated

Oct 8, 2021

Micaela Dea can be reached at micaela.dea@newspressnow.com.

Follow her on Twitter: @NPNowDea