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In their last meeting, Northwest jumped on Pittsburg State early and never looked back, shutting down the Gorilla running game and dominating the line of scrimmage.
This time, the 'Cats insist a win won't come so easy.
"They're a better football team now; there's not doubt about that," coach Mel Tjeerdsma said. "I think they're playing at a pretty good level right now. They're playing with a lot of confidence."
Pittsburg's improved play helped it earn a trip to Maryville to play Northwest. The Gorillas defeated Nebraska-Omaha 33-21 last week. They haven't been to Maryville since the two teams started playing their regular season match ups at Arrowhead Stadium.
The Gorillas have won their last six games since losing to the 'Cats 35-10. In those games, they're averaging more than 41 points per game.
Pittsburg quarterback Mark Smith led the attack against the Mavericks with 212 yards on the ground, 153 yards passing and a touchdown.
"Run support from the secondary will be real key, especially from the corners," senior cornerback Brandon Clayton said. "First, you have to play that pass because they do have option pass; they do have play action pass. But being a secondary run support on that option will be critical especially to stop big plays."
The option attack is the main cog of Pittsburg's offense, and Clayton expects that to remain the same, but he also thinks the Gorillas may throw a few new wrinkles into their offense. In their game earlier this year, the 'Cats held the Gorillas to 86 yards rushing; that's the only game this season they've been held to less than 100 yards rushing.
On defense, the Gorillas may be looking to increase their aggressiveness with blitzes, Tjeerdsma said. It will be up to Northwest's experienced offensive line to keep quarterback Joel Osborn upright and open holes for running back LaRon Council.
"We've got a lot of experience seeing blitzes from wherever they're bringing them and switching them off and picking people up," senior offensive lineman Matt Nelson said. "So, I think that will help us out a lot."
At Arrowhead Stadium, the offensive line helped pave the way for 193 rushing yards for
the 'Cats, but the Gorillas did record two sacks on Osborn.
But ultimately the advantage should go to Northwest since it had extra time to prepare for Pittsburg, senior offensive lineman Jeremy Davis said. The 'Cats spent two days last week preparing against Pittsburg and got a chance to heal a little with Friday and Saturday off.
"Two years in a row now we've had a bye, and we've shown these last two years we can handle it pretty well," Davis said. "I think a lot of the guys, they know what to do, just relax. I know personally I was just sitting at home watching TV. Kind of cleared my mind of Pitt State, just focused on the family - some 'me' time."
Davis and the rest of the seniors play Saturday knowing it could be their last game, an idea Davis said didn't really hit him until the Missouri Southern game. Thirteen seniors begin their fourth playoff run in a row, the first three resulting in national championship appearances.
The Northwest-Pittsburg game begins at noon Saturday at Bearcat Stadium.
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