Senior safety Bryce Enyard ready to lead Northwest Missouri football to another MIAA title

After a tumultuous first few years in the Northwest Missouri State football program, senior safety Bryce Enyard could not have been prouder to represent his teammates on the Sporting Park podium.

Enyard started his career by recording 45 tackles and six interceptions as a freshman in 2011, but a string of family issues sidelined him for a season as he returned home to Huntsville, Mo.

“When I was younger, I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into, but I had a great group of older guys that saw something in me and allowed me to come back and play for them which I’m grateful for,” Enyard said Tuesday during football media day for the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association.

“I got that opportunity back, and I don’t want to fail them because they believed in me.”

He did his part on and off the field tallying 102 tackles across 27 games the next two seasons. He also started returning kickoffs in 2014 and picked up third-team All-MIAA honors.

Enyard was voted as one of nine captains by his teammates going into his senior season.

“I’m very proud of Bryce and what he’s done in his time at Northwest Missouri State,” coach Adam Dorrel said. “Things haven’t always been easy for him there, but I’m proud of the way he has grown into a man and the student athlete he has become toward the end of his career.”

Enyard’s newfound leadership role will be especially important this year as the Bearcats return only four defensive starters and two on offense. Despite the turnover, the team was picked to repeat as MIAA champions in both the preseason coaches poll and the media poll. Pittsburg State was picked second.

“The returning starters, including myself, have been led great, so we have become great leaders,” Enyard said. “We won’t allow our tradition to go down, so we have high expectations, and we are going to bring that and pass it along to the younger guys.”

In the five years since Enyard arrived and Dorrel took over the reins, that decorated tradition has meant a 46-8 overall record, a 35-5 mark in MIAA play and an NCAA Division II championship. The team is coming off back-to-back conference championships and its fourth straight NCAA playoff appearance.

The Bearcats went 10-1 last year, winning their 26th MIAA title and extending their streak of postseason berths to 11 years, which is best in the nation.

All the success comes with a big caveat though, Dorrel said.

“We have been fortunate the last couple years with depth, age and experience, and I don’t think you do it intentionally, but you get into a defensive posture,” Dorrel said. “As a football program, we are trying to flip that mentality and work on getting back into the attack mode and being an unselfish football team.”

Northwest Missouri will dive into a round-robin schedule against the MIAA with a 7 p.m. game against Nebraska-Kearney on Sept. 3.

The Bearcats will play 11 regular-season games in total in an effort to make it to Sporting Park for the NCAA Division II championship on Dec. 19.

This story was originally published August 5, 2015 at 12:04 AM with the headline "Senior safety Bryce Enyard ready to lead Northwest Missouri football to another MIAA title."