Northwest Missouri State University - Tower Yearbook (Maryville, MO)

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for every home game. Watching her perform in the Bearcat Marching Band turned them into loyal fans. They saw the Bearcats evolve into national champions, but continued to stay true to the team whether they won or lost. I think that people are a little overzealous, Melissa said. We did good last year, but that was one season. There are different players, but people think we ' re going to win the championship again. It ' s not necessarily going to be that way. I ' m not going to count my chickens before they ' re hatched. Bud Leipard, Auwarter ' s grandfather, shared her feelings. He showed his loyalty to the team by learning each of the players ' names and positions during the first game. Once you get to the quality that this team has had the last few years, you will continue to have a pretty good following, Leipard said. Coming out here, you ' re going to see some good, exciting football that gets better with every play. It ' s unfortunate that a lot of people are fair weather, but with what happened last year, and the quality of winning this year, they will continue to come. Fans are kind of fickle sometimes and they won ' t show support to the team if they lose. Wide receiver J.R. Hill charges past the Missouri Southern defender Hill had four receptions for 93 yards in the Home- coming game. Photo by Heather Epperly de ntLife

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Tht BMrcaa maka an explosive entrance on to the field for their season opener against Arkansas Tech. Fans were excited for the Bearcats return to the field for the first time since they won the national championship in 1 998. Photo by Vahrit Moiunan

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Before the Homecoming game. Kel) Quinn places several plastic foam cups in the north fence of Rickenbrode Stadium spelling Go Cats. Bear- cat Sweethearts not only focused on football re- cruitment, but they also promoted Bearcat spirit Photo by Amy Roh FcK)tball Fe X7