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

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Pancakes, eggs and sausage lined the north side of the dance floor. To avoid the crowded bar. students ate around the dance floor photo by Mike Dye Flipping pancakes for eight years. Darren White serves students flapjacks at the Outback. Chris Cakes had catered the event for six years, photo by Mike Dye kegs eggs Stijdei.jt Life 2. i

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Scrambled beginning Alumni return for annual Homecoming tradition. [ by Kara Swink i By 6:15 a.m., a line of students and alumni snaked i around The World ' s Famous Outback, despite 30 degree temperatures, to wash down watery eggs with sudsy beer and extra bite Bloody Marys. ! The bar served up an all-you-can-eat breakfast and drink special for the 15th annual Kegs and Eggs, Oct. I My brother went to school here and never came, and ' I ' ve been here three years and have been waiting for this, Cole Dreyer said. I recently turned 21, and I always told myself when my birthday hit, I ' d mark my calendar for Kegs and [ Eggs. Students started the Kegs and Eggs tradition out of their house. It moved to the Outback after Maryville police sited warnings six years ago. Outback manager Matt Nalevanko said. Behind the bar, Nalevanko drew a Bud Light pint for $2.50 with his right hand and began mixing a screw driver with his left. The bar might look full, but give it another 30 minutes and the lines up here will be three deep, he said. We ' ll fill this place before it ' s over. Beyond the bar, Darren White, who catered vwth Chris Cakes, guided a metal dispenser of pancake batter along a patented, 8 foot griddle. With a push of a button, batter dispensed four, perfectly formed circles onto the sizzling griddle. On average. White could feed 250 to 300 people an hour. White flung pancakes, a Chris Cakes trademark, while eager patrons worked to steady their drinks and catch flying flapjacks. Pancakes weren ' t meant to sit on a griddle, they were made to fly, White said. But, I just don ' t understand how these college kids can mix eggs and pancakes with alcohol this early in the morning. Student Jamie Swan agreed. While she participated in the annual Kegs and Eggs festivities, she left the drinking to others in attendance. I just can ' t drink this early in the morning, but since this will be my last Homecoming I had to be able to say I made an appearance at least once, she said. It ' s a pretty neat atmosphere to be involved Disappointment, however, lurked for Eric Boyse, 2002 graduate. Sporting a 10th Annual Kegs and Eggs T-shirt. Boyse and co-workers from Kansas City expected This is just different, he said. When I use to come a line used to stretch from the door all the way to Seventh Street with people yelling ' Kegs and Eggs, Kegs and Eggs. ' It was the shits when I was here. I ' m glad to see people stUl participating, but I ' m the only one around here wearing one of the shirts. Alumni once roamed the bar searching for the oldest Kegs and Eggs shirt, Boyse said. I thought I ' d have a chance of winning this year, he said. I guess I did since I ' m the only one wearing a shirt. The festivities ended at 9 a.m. when patrons made their way toward Fourth Street to watch the parade. It might have be en different, but it was still fun, Boyse said. I guess traditions change, but that ' s one event that can always get you in the mood for Homecoming. By 6 a.m., students were drinking beer and eating eggs while socializing at the Outback ' s annual Kegs and Eggs. The event ended at 9 a.m., in time for students to attend the parade, photo by Mike Dye mt 20 homecoming DESIGNED BY | ASHLEE MeJIA nd

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Jumping for the pass. Northwests Darcell Clark fights with Tony Jaci son duringthe Homecominggame. Claris had two tacides against Emporia. photo by Mike Dye An offensive showcase Bearcats pile it on for a huge Homecoming crowd. by Trevor Hayes More than 7,000 raging fans piled into Bearcat Stadium to see a clash between two of the MIAA ' s co-defending champions. The stage was set for an all out battle on the field. At 3-2 the Emporia State Hornets came into the game, knowing they needed a win to stay in the post-season hunt. Meanwhile, the nationally-ranked No. 5 Bearcats punished opponents with a 5-0 record. The Cats came out with vigor. They scored on their first five possessions. After the start of the second quarter, they pushed the score to 31-0 with their fourth touchdown. They ended the day on top, 59-28. They really never stopped us, head coach Mel Tjeersdma said. We stopped ourselves a few times, bin until we were in mass substitution there at the end. they never really stopped us. Wide receiver Jamaica Rector had a historic day. On his third reception of the day. Rector pulled in a 28 yard strike from quarterback Josh Lamberson to put the ' Cats up 14-0. The catch pushed Rector into the top slot for all-time receiving yards in regular season games in the MIAA. Rector later pulled in four more passes for 113 yards and two more touchdowns. His efforts put him at 3,458 career yards. 112 yards away from former Bearcat and CFL star Tony Miles on the lifetime receiving mark and tied him with Miles for the career touchdown receiving mark at 30. Rector ' s performance earned him the game ball, the Don Black Award for Most Valuable Player and MIAA Offensive Player of the Week honors. Miles attended the game and presented Rector with the game ball and trophy. 1 did look up to Tony because he was a good player, and he still is a good player. Rector said. He taught me a lot, and he took me in, took me up under his wing. 1 appreciate it. He came back and gave me the ball and the trophy. It was just lovely, just lovely. Miles was one of many Bearcat football alumnus who came back for the game. Miles also gave a speech to the team during the pre-game meal, talking about what Bearcat Football meant to him, other former players, and the community as well. It meant a lot to our kids, Tjeerdsma said. He just talked about some of those things about how much it means to this family we ' ve created. Our kids really understand that, and I don ' t thinkyou appreciate that until you leave, but that Another stand-out performance came from running back XavierOmon.Omoncarriedtheball 23 times forl37 yards with three rushing touchdowns and caught a pass for another touchdown. His four touchdowns were one shy of tying the school record for most in a game. Onion received more play because of running back Mike Fiech ' s injury. The two backs had been sharing ball carrying duties, but with Fiech out Omon knew it was time to have a big game at home. Coach (Scott) Bostwick has been getting on me about not being able to run, not having 100 yards at home, Omon said. He said I needed to have abig game at home. I guess this would be a big game. I finally got to do it in front of a home crowd, and it was Homecoming, so that was nice. The Bearcat defense played the beginning of the game like an Iron Curtain. The Hornets punted on their first four possessions, the fourth of which linebacker Ben Harness blocked and cornerback Andrew Mclntyre returned for a touchdown . On the defensive side of the ball the ' Cats didn ' t have it quite as easy. They planned to shut down the Hornet running game early and keep it down, which they did effectively. The Hornets rushed for a total of only 15 yards on 23 carries and were in the negative rushing yards heading into the fourth quarter. Despite holding Hornet runners to a minimum, it wasn ' t enough. We get comfortable at times which we can ' t really get comfortable. linebacker Adam Long said. If there ' s blood in the water, we have to attack it. Sometimes we let off a little bit, and come back when we need to. Long said he was happy about their play against the run but disappointed that the Hornets still scored 28 points through the air. They racked up 247 passing yards, throwing 38 times with 20 completions. Tjeerdsma agreed that the play of the defensive backs needed to be stepped up. We ' ve got to have better play from them, Tjeerdsma said. If we are in position and do what we ' re told, that guy doesn ' t | make that catch. Fortunately for us, it happened in a situation that didn ' t cost us. Luckily, the offense continued to pile up points. Once the ' Cats reached the board, they never looked back, they only steamed forward. It was really great, Omon said. There were a lot of people here. We wanted to put on a show for the people because they came here from all over. We really wanted to show them we have just added to the atmosphere, there ' s no doubt about that. a chance this year. homecoming 2. A DESIGNED BV | HiTOMI KOVAMA mmxt