Northeastern State made a strong statement for the NCAA Division II football postseason on Saturday. The Riverhawks wrapped up the regular season with a 33-20 win at West Alabama, their sixth straight win. NSU finishes the regular season with an 8-3 record, and two wins over teams that made the Division II playoff field last season.
NSU recorded its most wins in a season since winning nine games in 2000. The RiverHawks won five road games for the first time since 1994 – when they won the NAIA championship – and their current six-game winning streak is their longest since winning six straight in 2011.
Many NSU players recorded individual single-game and single-season accomplishments. Troy Nguyen kicked field goals of 44, 33, 30 and 24 yards, becoming the fourth NSU kicker to have four field goals in a game and the first to do so since Jared Homer against Central Oklahoma on Nov. 11, 2006.
NSU quarterback Donnie Smith completed 31 of 48 passes for 289 yards. Smith now has 212 completions this season, breaking the program single-season record of 193, set by Kevin Pantastico in 2014. Smith has completed 70.4% of his passes this season, well ahead of the previous record of 65.0% from Dallas McCutcheon in 2011.
Ramon McKinney Jr. rushed 18 times for 109 yards, including a 69-yard first-quarter scoring run, and finished with 118 all-purpose yards. He rose into third place on the NSU single-season all-purpose-yardage list with 1,678 yards, passing Carlton Booe, who had 1,580 in 1998. The program record is held by Trey McVay, who had 1,845 yards in 2011.
McKinney also increased his season rushing total to 1,088 yards, making him NSU’s first 1,000-yard rusher since Joel Rockmore in 2012.
NSU also increased its season scoring total to 427 points, breaking the program record of 405, set in 2011. The RiverHawks are averaging 38.8 points per game, well ahead of the current program record of 37, set in 1969.
West Alabama (5-4) led 17-7 after a 51-yard field goal by Elijah Guyton with 47 seconds left before halftime. The RiverHawks quickly moved into position for Nguyen to kick his 44-yarder on the final play of the half.
NSU tied the game with a four-play, 49-yard touchdown drive, capped by a 1-yard run by Ethan Washington. The Tigers answered with a 27-yard field goal from Guyton to go back ahead 20-17, but those proved to be their final points. West Alabama hurt its cause by committing 15 penalties for 132 yards, compared to two for 20 yards for NSU.
Nguyen’s 33-yard field goal brought NSU even again before Lloyd McIntosh picked off West Alabama quarterback Spencer Arceneaux and returned it for the go-ahead score. Arceneaux completed 22 of 37 passes for 226 yards but also threw three interceptions. Along with McIntosh, Sim Kilpatrick and Jordan Tolbert also recorded picks for the RiverHawks. Colbert also had six tackles.
Northeastern State will now wait to find out its postseason fate. The Riverhawks have put together a strong case for a playoff berth:
– The RiverHawks are ranked 6th in Super Region 4 based on KPI rating. It’s the 2nd-highest non-automatic bid, and higher than the region’s top 10 in last week’s rankings
– The RiverHawks are ranked 26th nationally based on the KPI ratings. That’s higher than 7 of the top 25 ranked teams in last week’s rankings. 32 total teams make the playoffs.
– The RiverHawks have the 46th-highest strength of schedule in the nation. That’s ranked higher than 16 of the top 25 teams in DII in last week’s rankings.
The final Super Region Four rankings will be released on Sunday at 5 pm, and the RiverHawks will learn if they were selected to the playoffs. Even if the RiverHawks aren’t selected for the playoffs on Sunday, they could be chosen to appear in a Division II bowl game, such as the Heritage Bowl in Corsicana, Texas.
