• Sports
• Sports Homepage
• Broadcast Archives
• Coaches Shows
• Affiliates
• Underwriters
• Contact Sports

Home » Sports » 2024-25

Local Sports

Nov. 9, 2024Game | Football

Northwest 33, Missouri Western 23

(Photo courtesy Northwest Athletics)

Northwest Missouri State football ran its win streak over Missouri Western to 11 with a 33-23 victory at Spratt Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Bearcats (6-4) secured the program's 29th consecutive winning season and have now won 12 of their last 13 against the Griffons in St. Joseph.

Tank Young ran wild on Western. The junior running back picked up a career-high 135 rush yards and two touchdowns, including a 46-yard scamper that broke the game open in the third quarter.

The Bearcat defense was stout against the run once again, surrendering just 22 yards on the ground.

The game featured all field goals for over a quarter and a half before Western broke into the end zone and took the lead. Branden Berwald hit Traveon James for a 16-yard scoring strike to put the Griffons in front 13-9 with 3:16 to play in the first half.

Northwest answered less than two minutes later. Chris Ruhnke led a five play, 70-yard scoring drive that was capped by Eric Richardson's sixth touchdown reception of the season. That put the Bearcats on top and began a run of 21 unanswered points through the end of the third quarter.

Missouri Western scored twice in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to seven points, but Noah Guastella booted through his fourth field goal of the day to push the advantage back to 10 with just over a minute left in the game.

Jake Fisher was on a tear for Northwest throughout the day finishing with five tackles for loss and two sacks. Austin McKinney recorded four tackles and an interception late in the game that thwarted a scoring chance for the Griffons.

Northwest returns home for the final game of the regular season Saturday at 1:30pm against Pittsburg State. The game will air on KXCV 90.5, KRNW 88.9 and the Bearcat Public Media app.