ABILENE, Texas - One week after executing its offense to near-perfection in scoring 93 points against West Texas A&M, the second-ranked ACU Wildcats were nowhere near perfection in a 45-36 quarterfinal loss to third-ranked Northwest Missouri State.

The Bearcats (12-1) will advance to the NCAA Division II semifinals for the fourth straight season and sixth time in the last 11 years under head coach Mel Tjeerdsma where they will take on North Alabama.  The site and time for the game next Saturday has not yet been set.  The Wildcats - outright champions of the Lone Star Conference this season for the first time since 1973 - see their best season since 1977 end at 11-1.

The Wildcats were never in sync offensively as they committed at least five false-start penalties and saw quarterback Billy Malone complete less than 50 percent of his passes (21 of 46) for the first time since he was 18 for 39 in a 30-27 overtime loss to West Texas A&M on Nov. 18, 2006.  One week after allowing 68 points and more than 700 yards of total offense, the ACU defense gave up 45 points and 454 yards of offense, and was victimized time and again by huge third-down conversions by the Bearcat offense.

Northwest Missouri's two-headed quarterback tandem of Joel Osborn and Blake Bolles diced up the ACU secondary as they combined to complete 26 of 6 passes for 316 yards and three scores.  LaRon Council had 78 yards and two touchdowns on the ground and caught another four passes for 62 yards.

His biggest catch of the day came midway through the fourth quarter when he converted a huge third down, a play that led to a field goal that put the final nail in the Wildcats' coffin.  After an illegal block pushed the Bearcats back to first and 25, Council was dropped for a 10-yard loss to make it second-and-35.  Osborn then ran for 11 yards to set up third-and-24 at the Northwest 39. 

But on that play, Osborn found Council for 29 yards on a screen pass down the ACU sideline, giving the Bearcat offense new life at the ACU 32-yard line.  Seven plays later, Tommy Frevert banged through a 32-yard field goal to push the Bearcats in front by two scores, 45-34, with 3:21 left in the game.

ACU tried to mount a desperate comeback, but the final pass of Malone's brilliant Wildcat career was intercepted by E.J. Hawkins at the Bearcat 41-yard line with 1:01 to play.  The Bearcats ran out the clock with Osborn taking a safety on the game's final play so that they wouldn't have to risk a blocked punt.

"Northwest Missouri State did an outstanding job, and that's a credit to their team," ACU head coach Chris Thomsen said.  "They had a tremendous game plan and execution on their part.  I'm proud of our team for the way they competed and the way they continued to fight back, but I thought Northwest Missouri just did a great job today with everything they did."

Northwest appeared ready to blow the game wide open in the first half when they took a 21-10 lead with 10:44 left in the first half on a 1-yard touchdown run by Council.  The Bearcat defense then forced a three-and-out and ACU punted.  However, the ball skipped off the foot of Chris LeFlore and the ball was recovered by Nick Jones to give the ball back to the Wildcats at the Northwest 49-yard line.

The Wildcats couldn't fully convert, however, as they only scored three points on a 25-yard field goal by Matt Adams to make it 21-13 with 5:54 left in the first half.  The ACU defense, though, couldn't get the stop it needed as the Bearcats moved 68 yards in only eight plays to a 21-yard touchdown pass from Osborn to Nick Rhodes to push the lead back to 28-20.

But the Wildcats weren't done as they moved 84 yards on 12 plays, taking up 1 minute, 50 seconds to a 6-yard touchdown pass from Malone to Johnny Knox to cut their halftime deficit to just 28-20.

ACU then opened the second half with its most impressive march of the day, a five-play, 51-yard touchdown that was set up by a 49-yard kickoff return by Edmund Gates to open the half.  Bernard Scott - who finished his brilliant two-year career with 169 yards and two touchdowns on the ground and another 76 yards through air - capped the drive with an 8-yard touchdown run with 12:48 left in the third quarter to cut the Northwest lead to 28-27.

But the Bearcats came right back with a huge drive of their own on their first drive of the second half, and once again they converted a huge first down on the drive.  With the Bearcats facing second-and-19 from their own 36, Osborn completed a 16-yard pass to Kendall Wright to make it third-and-three.  After an incomplete pass, Bolles threw an 11-yard pass to Raphael Robinson for a huge first down to the ACU 37.

Five plays and one ACU facemask penalty later, Council answered Scott's touchdown with a 5-yard scoring run of his own, pushing the Bearcats' lead back to 35-27 with 8:39 to play in the third quarter.  On ACU's next possession, miscommunication between Malone (threw a deep route) and Knox (ran a comeback route) led to an interception at the Northwest 2-yard line by LeFlore near the end of the third quarter.

Bolles then led Northwest Missouri on an 11-play, 98-yard touchdown that took 4:47 off the clock and spanned the end of the third quarter and the first two plays of the fourth quarter.  The Bearcats converted a big third-and-7 play on the drive when Bolles hit Council for 12 yards to the Northwest 38-yard line.  Four plays later, Bolles scored on a 4-yard run to make it 42-27 with 14:42 left in the game.

ACU bounced back with a 13-play, 78-yard drive that took 5:42 off the clock, scoring on a 1-yard run by Scott on fourth-and-goal at the Northwest 1, cutting the Northwest lead to 42-34 with nine minutes left.  But the big third-down pass to Council and the field goal on Northwest's ensuing drive effectively put an end to the Wildcats' season.

- Courtesy of Lance Fleming, ACU