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

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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

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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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football Student Life 23