# Missouri Western–Northwest Missouri State football rivalry

The Missouri Western–Northwest Missouri State football rivalry between the Missouri Western Griffons football team and Northwest Missouri State Bearcats football team is between two Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association NCAA Division II rivals that are less than 50 miles apart.
The schools off the field are constantly competing for state funds in the same market ever since Missouri Western expanded from a junior college to a four-year college in 1969 fulfilling a Missouri governor Warren Hearnes campaign promise to build the school St. Joseph, Missouri (2000 population 73,912). At the time Northwest at Maryville (2000 population 10,581) founded in 1905 was the sole four-year state college in northwest Missouri.
In 1988, the state under John Ashcroft recommended that Northwest be closed altogether.
In the wake of the ultimately abandoned proposal, both schools have considerably ramped up their football programs with Northwest appearing in ten NCAA Division II National Football Championships (winning six) while Missouri Western has hosted the Kansas City Chiefs summer training camp starting since 2010.
The rivalry on the field is a big draw. The biggest crowds at Spratt Stadium are 10,129 in 2009 and 9,007 in 2007. A crowd of 9,346 attended the September 13, 2008, game—the second biggest at Northwest's Bearcat Stadium. The 2010 game was attended by 10,805 the biggest in the stadium history.

## Game results

| Missouri Western victories | Northwest Missouri State victories |
| No. | Date | Location | Winner | Score |
| 1 | September 19, 1981 | St. Joseph, MO | Missouri Western | 20–8 |
| 2 | September 18, 1982 | Maryville, MO | Missouri Western | 17–14 |
| 3 | September 17, 1983 | St. Joseph, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 19–9 |
| 4 | September 22, 1984 | Maryville, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 30–27 |
| 5 | September 21, 1985 | St. Joseph, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 24–18 |
| 6 | September 20, 1986 | Maryville, MO | Missouri Western | 27–16 |
| 7 | September 19, 1987 | St. Joseph, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 20–17 |
| 8 | September 17, 1988 | Pittsburg, KS | Missouri Western | 27–16 |
| 9 | September 2, 1989 | St. Joseph, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 45–29 |
| 10 | September 1, 1990 | Maryville, MO | Missouri Western | 47–25 |
| 11 | October 26, 1991 | St. Joseph, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 49–26 |
| 12 | October 24, 1992 | Maryville, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 43–26 |
| 13 | September 18, 1993 | St. Joseph, MO | Missouri Western | 21–14 |
| 14 | September 17, 1994 | Maryville, MO | Missouri Western | 20–0 |
| 15 | September 14, 1995 | St. Joseph, MO | Missouri Western | 24–20 |
| 16 | October 19, 1996 | Maryville, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 31–24 |
| 17 | September 27, 1997 | St. Joseph, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 52–13 |
| 18 | September 26, 1998 | Maryville, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 45–32 |
| 19 | October 9, 1999 | St. Joseph, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 38–34 |
| 20 | October 7, 2000 | Maryville, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 46–27 |
| 21 | November 3, 2001 | St. Joseph, MO | Missouri Western | 37–30 |
| 22 | November 9, 2002 | Maryville, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 13–10 |
| 23 | October 25, 2003 | St. Joseph, MO | Missouri Western | 30–27 |
| No. | Date | Location | Winner | Score |
| 24 | October 16, 2004 | Maryville, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 31–13 |
| 25 | September 17, 2005 | St. Joseph, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 31–21 |
| 26 | September 23, 2006 | Maryville, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 24–21 |
| 27 | September 15, 2007 | St. Joseph, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 44–20 |
| 28 | September 13, 2008 | Maryville, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 42–35 |
| 29 | October 3, 2009 | St. Joseph, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 49–35 |
| 30 | October 2, 2010 | Maryville, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 42–0 |
| 31 | November 20, 2010 | Maryville, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 28–24$^A$ |
| 32 | November 5, 2011 | St. Joseph, MO | Missouri Western | 31–28 |
| 33 | November 19, 2011 | St. Joseph, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 35–29$^A$ |
| 34 | November 10, 2012 | Maryville, MO | Missouri Western | 21–20 |
| 35 | November 16, 2013 | St. Joseph, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 51–21 |
| 36 | November 1, 2014 | Maryville, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 40–3 |
| 37 | October 31, 2015 | St. Joseph, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 24–10 |
| 38 | November 12, 2016 | Maryville, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 44–3 |
| 39 | November 11, 2017 | St. Joseph, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 30–0 |
| 40 | August 30, 2018 | Maryville, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 28–6 |
| 41 | September 5, 2019 | St. Joseph, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 45–35 |
| 42 | October 2, 2021 | St. Joseph, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 30–7 |
| 43 | October 1, 2022 | Maryville, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 16–3 |
| 44 | October 14, 2023 | St. Joseph, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 27–23 |
| 45 | November 9, 2024 | St. Joseph, MO | Northwest Missouri State | 33–23 |
| Series: Northwest Missouri State leads 33–12 |||||
$^A$ During the 2010 and 2011 college football seasons, the Griffons and Bearcats played twice; in this case, the second meeting was in the playoffs.