Football | 12/3/2016 4:37:29 PM
Maryville, Mo. – Top seeded Northwest Missouri held Harding to just 119 yards on the day on the way to a 35-0 win in the Super Region 3 Championship in Maryville.
NWMSU struck first at the 12:27 mark in the first quarter as Kyle Zimmerman found Jordan Grove for a 58-yard pass and catch to take the early lead. They would then tack on three more at the as Simon Mathiesen connected from 22-yards out.
Mathiesen would push the lead out to 13-0 to open the second quarter at 13:09 with a 32-yard field goal. Jordan Grove would then add a rushing score to his tally from one-yard out with 8:57 to go in the second. The extra point would be blocked making it a 19-0 NWMSU edge. Mathiesen would connect on his third of the day hitting from 46-yards out to give the Bearcats a 22-0 edge.
At the 7:40 mark in the third quarter Mathiesen would connect from 39-yards out for his fourth field goal of the game.
Mathiesen would then connect for a fifth time as he hit from 21-yards out with 12:33 to go in the fourth. Grove would score for the third time on the day, this time on the ground as he ran it in from two-yards out with 10:28 to go in the game.
For the Bearcats Zimmerman was 30 of 42 for 340 yards and a touchdown while Grove had 73 yards receiving and three yards on the ground with three total scores. On the defensive side of the ball Jacob Vollstedt had 13 tackles and Cass Weitl had 11 stops. Jarrod Bishop and Jack Young each picked off a Harding pass and Edward Richey and Collin Bevins each blocked a kick.
The Bearcats earned the top seed in the semifinals and will play host to fourth seeded Ferris State at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 10 in Maryville, Mo. Shepherd will play host to North Alabama in the other semifinal which will kick off at 11 a.m. from Shepherdstown, W.V.