Last Saturday night, Northland won its second consecutive regional championship with hard fought 24-20 victory over Southwest Christian from Ft. Worth. The victory not only places the cougars into the semi-finals, but it also shows how for NCS has come in just a short amount of time. It was only 2002 when Northland was defeated by Southwest 68-26 in the first round of the play-offs.
      The game got started off with a bang as quarterback Jeff Abt found senior wide reciever Clark Fangmeier for a long touchdown pass on the Cougars first play from scrimmage. Southwest quickly responded with a score on its first possession. The "Black Swarm" held the Eagles scoreless the rest of the half and set up the Cougars second score when Mark Wilson interecepted a pass and returned the ball inside the Southwest 10 yard line. Abt plunged in the endzone to make the score 14-7 at the half. NCS came out firing to start the second half as Wilson again recovered a fumble on the Eagles first play of the half. Two plays later, Abt  connected with Kendrick Blue on a beautiful scoring strike to make the score 21-7. After forcing the Eagles to punt, the momentum seemed to be way in the favor of the Cougars, but a quick three and out by the NCS offense and a pass interference set up a Southwest touchdown to make the score 21-14. Northland was again forced to punt and Southwest fought hard and capped a long drive to make the score 21-20. Junior defensive tackle Scott Milbourn, preserved the slim lead by blocking the extra point attempt. On the next Cougar drive, Clark Fangmeier, who finished the night with 5 catches for 118 yards, booted a 47 yard field goal to up the Cougar lead to 24-20 with less than 3 minutes remaining in the game. Northland forced a three and out, then the Cougars faced a punting situation with about a minute left. The snap went sailing over punter Jonathan Martin's head near the Cougar 10 yard line. Martin was able to field the ball and return it near mid-field, aving the Cougars from sure disaster. With no timeouts remaining, confusion set in with the Eagles and Cody Scott intercepted the last pass of the game to preserve the victory for the Cougars. 
    In the end it was one of the most hard-hitting hard fought games the Northland has ever played in. Southwest showed tremendous character and heart. Northland gained alot of experience from this tough game, and hope to carry the momentum into the semi-finals.