MARYVILLE, Mo.  The SBU Bearcats were defeated by Northwest Missouri, 63-28.

SBU's Steve Gachette completed 25 of 39 pass attempts, for 236 yards and three touchdowns. His favorite target was Johnnie King, who caught 10 passes for 94 yards. SBU's Jarred Schumpert recorded 14 tackles.

As a team, the Bearcats had 236 passing yards to Northwest's 254, but lost the rushing battle 59 to 316.

Northwest's first score came at the 10:08 mark of the first quarter, on a 2-yard run from LaRon Council. They added another touchdown with 6:17 remaining in the first quarter, on another Council run from 5 yards out.

SBU cut the lead in half with a 74-yard touchdown drive, which was capped with a 36-yard touchdown pass from Steve Gachette to Thaddeus Sanders. Gachette was 4 of 5 for 61 yards on the drive. (SBU 7, Northwest 14)

Northwest scored once more in the first quarter, on a 11-yard touchdown run by Sheldon Cook, making the score SBU 7, Northwest 21 at the end of the first quarter.

Northwest scored again on the first play of the second quarter, as quarterback Blake Bolles hit Brian Shannon with a 13-yard strike.

SBU scored their second touchdown with 7:22 remaining in the second half as Gachette ended a 10-play, 75-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Brian Robinson.

Northwest struck late in the first half with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Joel Osborne to Greg Applegate, making the score SBU 14, Northwest 35, heading into the locker room.

After a pair of Northwest touchdowns to open the second half, Gachette hit Johnnie King for 35 yards, getting SBU to the Northwest 1-yard line. Two plays later, SBU's Clint Carroz ran the ball in for a touchdown, making the score SBU 21, Northwest 49.

SBU's last score was provided by an acrobatic catch by Johnnie King, who caught Gachette's 17-yard pass in the end zone behind his defender's back.

The loss drops SBU to 0-2 on the season. The Bearcats host Harding in Bolivar on September 13 (6:00 p.m.) in SBU's home opener.