GAME PREVIEW
Saturday, Nov. 12, 1:30 p.m. - Missouri Western (4-6) at #1 Northwest Missouri St. (10-0)
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ST. JOSEPH - The 47th season of Griffon Football will come to a close Saturday in Maryville, Missouri as Missouri Western takes on No. 1-ranked Northwest Missouri State.
The Griffons will enter on a four-game losing streak and looking to end the 2016 season on a high note. Northwest Missouri has won 25 consecutive games dating back to 2015 and is in search of its fourth consecutive MIAA championship.
RIVALRY WEEK
For the first time since 2012, this bitter rivalry wraps up the regular season.
Missouri Western is looking for its first victory over Northwest since that game four years ago that gave the Griffons their first outright MIAA championship. Saturday could be the third time in the last five seasons the winner of the game clinches a conference championship. Northwest Missouri clinched the MIAA title in 2013 with a win over Missouri Western and could claim its fourth-straight with a win on Saturday.
Northwest Missouri leads the all-time series 25-12 and has won 11 of the last 13 meetings.
ON THE LINE SATURDAY
A win Saturday would give Missouri Western its first win over a ranked opponent since week 11 of the 2013 season (Nov. 9) when the No. 19-ranked Griffons won at No. 15 Washburn, 34-31.
It would also give the team its first win over Northwest Missouri since 2012, which was also the program's last win in Maryville. A Missouri Western win combined with an Emporia State win at Washburn on Saturday would also force a tie for the MIAA championship between Emporia State and Northwest Missouri.
The Griffons are looking to avoid a five-game losing streak to end the 2016 regular season. Missouri Western hasn't had a five-game losing streak since the 1995 season.
Last week's loss handed Missouri Western its first six-loss season since 2008 and first six-loss regular season since 2004. It also snapped a streak of 11-straight winning regular seasons for the program. A loss Saturday would leave Missouri Western 4-7, which would be the first seven-loss season since 1991.
CLOSE LOSSES
Missouri Western's six losses this season have been by a combined 46 points, just more than 7.5 points per loss.
Dating back to 2015, the Griffons' 11 losses have come by an average of just more than eight points per loss. Missouri Western's largest margin of defeat in the last two seasons was 14 points, which happened three times in 2015, last against Northwest Missouri on Oct. 3, 2015.
Every loss this season was a one-possession deficit for Missouri Western at some point in the fourth quarter. Dating back to 2015, the Griffons led or trailed by seven points or less in the fourth quarter in 10 of their last 11 losses.
