Bad-luck Baptist

Baptist had a couple of great opportunities to gain possession — and momentum — in the second quarter that were thwarted by its own mistakes.

Baptist’s Willie Johnson intercepted Northwest quarterback Joel Osborn near midfield, but instead of having the ball in Northwest territory, a roughing-the-passer call let the green Bearcats keep possession on Baptist’s side of the field.

Later in the quarter, Northwest’s Kendall Wright fumbled away a kickoff return at his own 23, but instead of having the ball near the red zone, an offsides call on the kicking team forced Baptist to re-kick.

To make matters worse, in the fourth quarter the visitors kept Northwest’s penultimate scoring drive alive when their punt return team was flagged for having 12 men on the field, resulting in a Northwest first down. Six plays later, LaRon Council collected his third touchdown from 2 yards out.

Century mark for LC

When he carried for 8 yards with about 4 1/2 minutes remaining in the third quarter, Council surpassed 100 yards rushing for his second straight game and for the third time in his career.

Council, who has overcome two leg fractures and spent his healthy time in the shadow of current Buffalo Bills player Xavier Omon, finished the game with 117 yards on 22 carries. He rushed for three touchdowns.

Gannan in the gallery

Northwest coaches kept tight end Josh Gannan on the sidelines the entire second half, hoping to let his ailing ankle heal in time for next week’s start to the MIAA season.

“He really didn’t re-aggravate it, but we thought, when we got to a certain point, ‘Why have him out there.’ Our young tight ends needed the work, anyway,” said Northwest coach Mel Tjeerdsma.

Grand finale

This was the 21st and likely the final meeting between these two teams of Bearcats. Northwest and Southwest Baptist have played each other every year since 1988, with Northwest holding a commanding 18-3 advantage in the series.

Baptist left the MIAA this season to play football as an Independent, but still scheduled Northwest this season.

Up the ladder

With the victory, Tjeerdsma tied Jack Gaither (Florida A&M, 1945-69) for 10th place on Division II’s all-time wins list.

Tjeerdsma has 145 Division II victories in his 14-plus years at Northwest, and 204 college coaching victories in all, with his first 59 coming in 10 seasons at NAIA affiliate Austin College.

Quotable

“Obviously they’re not Abilene Christian, and hopefully we won’t see too many Abilene Christians.”

— Tjeerdsma, on how Southwest Baptist compared to Northwest’s season-opening opponent

By the numbers:

The number of years since Northwest has lost back-to-back games. Tjeerdsma was in just his second season at Northwest, but that year’s team rebounded to post only the second winning season for Northwest in six years (6-5 overall, 6-3 MIAA).

— rick dunaway