The last time the Northwest Missouri State University Bearcats finished the regular season undefeated, they won the national championship. Head coach Adam Dorrel hopes his 2015 team will have the same fortune.
The Bearcats advanced to the 2015 NCAA Division II Football Championship quarterfinals with a dominant 54-7 win over Humboldt State on Saturday at Bearcat Stadium in Maryville, Missouri. Dorell’s squad held Humboldt State to 48 yards of total offense and forced three turnovers in Saturday’s victory. Northwest Missouri will now welcome an Emporia State side that won their second consecutive road game with a 29-3 victory over Henderson State. Emporia forced seven fumbles on Saturday, recovered four of them and intercepted two passes for their 11th win of the season.
The Super Regional Two second round featured a pair of close contests as No. 1 seed West Georgia needed a fourth-quarter comeback to defeat No. 4 seed Valdosta State 27-20. West Georgia will now host Tuskegee University in the quarterfinals after the Golden Tigers defeated No. 2 seed North Alabama 35-31. Three different rushers found the end zone for Tuskegee with Dennis Norfleet leading the way with 136 yards rushing and two touchdowns. The Super Regional Two quarterfinal will take place Saturday at 11 a.m. CT on the campus of the University of West Georgia.
Shepherd University joins Northwest Missouri as the only undefeated team remaining in the tournament. The Rams scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to defeat Indiana University of Pennsylvania 17-13. They’ll now host a Slippery Rock side that out-lasted Assumption College 41-39 last weekend.
The Super Regional Four quarterfinal features last year’s champion, Colorado State-Pueblo. The Thunderwolves took down No. 1 seed Midwestern State 26-17 and will now host a Grand Valley State side that defeated Ferris State 38-34 last weekend. CSU-Pueblo are allowing only 14.4 points per game in 2015 and have allowed 20 or more points only twice in their previous nine contests.
All four quarterfinal matchups will be played Saturday afternoon with the semifinals set for Dec. 12. The championship match will be played at Sporting Park on Dec. 19. It will kick off at 3 p.m. CT and be broadcast live on ESPN2/WatchESPN. Tickets for the match are on sale and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com.
