Coach Mel Tjeerdsma remembers it well.
It was late in Northwest Missouri State’s second-round game in the Division II playoffs and the Bearcats’ coach was pacing the sidelines. His team was in a battle with Chadron State on the road and Tjeerdsma was watching an epic performance by his star running back, Xavier Omon. The team doctor, a fixture with the program for more than three decades, approached the coach as the clock ticked down.
“I remember him coming up to me plainly,” Tjeerdsma said. “He told me that he had never seen a performance like this in all his years with the program. He has been with the team more than 30 years, and that’s what he said after watching Xavier’s performance.”
The doctor’s prognosis was right. No matter the division or conference, the numbers stick out. Omon toted the ball 37 times en route to 309 yards on the ground. He tallied all three of the Bearcats’ touchdowns and his yards on the ground accounted for nearly 60 percent of Northwest Missouri’s total offense. He was playing with his heart on his sleeve; just days before, Omon had been snubbed for a prestigious national award.
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