No. 2 Northwest hosts Pittsburg State in rivalry bout
Oct. 8—For the first time in five years, the No. 2-ranked Northwest Missouri State Bearcats will host Pittsburg State at Bearcat Stadium.
Saturday marks the first game in Maryville between the two since Oct. 19, 2016 when Northwest (4-0) collected a 69-10 win over the Gorillas (4-1).
"I'm just expecting them to come in and play hard, honestly, due to us being 4-0 and them being 4-1," Northwest senior Al McKeller said. "It's kind of like a battle to share the MIAA conference championship, so I'm sure we got a target on our backs to get beat."
The last three meetings took place in Pittsburg, Kansas, and Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bearcats hold a 9-8 lead when the two meet in Maryville, and Northwest head coach Rich Wright knows the magnitude of the matchup.
"For me, personally, that's always a big game just because when I got here in 1995 as a graduate assistant coach, you know, that was the team to beat," Wright said. "It's always kind of a benchmark game for us."
Northwest owns a 28-25 lead in the all-time series with Pittsburg State, winning four of the last five meetings.
The unbeaten Bearcats are coming off a 30-7 win on the road over Missouri Western.
The Gorillas are riding a three-game win streak, beating Missouri Southern 20-16 last week under second-year head coach Brian Wright, who is in his first MIAA season leading the Gorillas.
Heading into Saturday, the Northwest defense ranks second in the nation in scoring defense by allowing 5.2 points per game. Wright believes this team has a unique dynamic.
"We're doing a good job of feeding off of each other," Wright said. "We're really close as group and I think this team gets along really well and cares about one another and anytime you get that level of commitment within a group you can do some pretty powerful things so we're excited to see where it goes moving forward."
Northwest has produced eight consecutive MIAA victories dating back to the 2019 season for the longest active streak in the league.
Also with their eight-game home win streak on the line, Wright knows what to expect in the rivalry contest.
"It will be loud and it will be a big time environment," Wright said. "A lot of former players have called me saying they're rolling up to the 'Ville to watch this one and here's a reason why we win football games at home. I think we have a great fan base. We're just expecting that 12th man to show up."
Northwest hosts Pittsburg State Gorillas on Saturday at Bearcat Stadium with a kick set for 1:30 p.m.
Micaela Dea can be reached at micaela.dea@newspressnow.com.
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