Northwest Missouri State, Pitt State are returning to Arrowhead for Fall Classic

Northwest Missouri State’s Marqus Andrews already shares several similarities with his favorite Chiefs player, Travis Kelce, and they’re mostly easy to spot.

Position? Check. Both are tight ends.

Decent height? Check. Andrews stands 6-foot-3, Kelce 6-6.

Location? Check. Both play in Missouri.

Andrews will inch one step closer to Kelce’s home turf when Northwest Missouri takes on Pittsburg State in the return of the Fall Classic Oct. 12 at Arrowhead Stadium.

Arrowhead first hosted the Fall Classic in 2002, when the game set an attendance record of 26,695. But the MIAA showdown hasn’t taken place there since 2013 because organizers were unable to reach an agreement with the Chiefs. From 2014 to 2018, the teams renewed the annual rivalry at their own venues.

The Bearcats played at Arrowhead in 2016 and 2017, posting wins over Central Missouri, and though Andrews didn’t play in the second contest, he says he remembers the first like it was yesterday.

Andrews marvels at the opportunity to return to Arrowhead. He hails from Blue Springs, after all, and he had no problem identifying the players whose lockers he hopes to use come October: those belonging to Kelce, quarterback Patrick Mahomes and safety Tyrann Mathieu, in that order.

That’ll be a first for Andrews and the Bearcats. For the first time since the 2013 Fall Classic, they’ll be the home team at Arrowhead. That means access to the Chiefs’ locker room.

“It was kind of mind-blowing,” Andrews said of the 2016 game in Kansas City. “You don’t get to see that every day. You don’t get to play in that atmosphere, in the locker rooms, you don’t get that every day. ...

“The stadium’s huge. I can’t imagine what a Chiefs game looks like when you walk out there. Our stadiums aren’t even full, but a Chiefs game, those are usually almost full. So just seeing that would be crazy. It was very exciting. Very mind-blowing.”

The autumn matchup will pit two of the MIAA’s top teams against each other. In the league’s preseason media poll, released at Wednesday’s media day inside the Kauffman Performing Arts Center, Northwest Missouri was picked to finish first, Pitt State third.

The race is even tighter in the coaches’ poll, in which the Bearcats were slotted at second while the Gorillas were picked third.

Last season, Northwest Missouri shared the MIAA conference crown with Fort Hays State, which won the 2017 title. Prior to that, though, the Bearcats had clinched four straight titles. That includes the 2014 season, when Northwest and Pitt State were co-champions.

Northwest Missouri owns a 27-25 all-time advantage in the series.

Suffice to say this is a rivalry. Just don’t mention the stakes to Andrews.

“You always want to play well at a big venue. You always want to play well in any game,” he said. “But it’s just another game. You can’t treat it as anything different. If you do, that’s when you start making mistakes, getting in your head. You can’t come out and play like that.”

To Northwest head coach Rich Wright, whose 15-year tenure at the school has given him 12 chances to visit Arrowhead for the Fall Classic, it’s a special experience.

“It’s great to have the game with Pittsburg State,” said Wright, whose club made its 15th straight Division II playoff appearance last season. “They’re the two schools that draw the best, so the crowd will be fantastic if we both have good records.

“For most kids, growing up in the Midwest, and where our kids come from, there’s a lot of Chiefs fans. So it’s fun for me to watch them walk into the locker room for the first time or walk out on the field. It’s really a university-wide thing — I say the same thing with the band and the cheerleaders when they walk into the stadium for the first time.”

Wright pointed out another side of the matchup that benefits both Northwest Missouri and Pitt State: recruiting. He said he felt the impact the 2013 game had on his coaching staff’s pitches to prospects.

“It definitely helps with recruiting,” Wright said, “to be able to take them into a venue like that and plant that seed that they could possibly be playing there themselves.”

Wright was — no pun intended — right about how many Bearcats are Chiefs fans. Seven hail from Kansas City, while many others are from surrounding areas on both sides of the state line.

One of the exceptions is junior linebacker Andy Hessler, a Green Bay Packers fan. He said Andrews, his roommate, was “dang near crying” in January when the Chiefs fell to the New England Patriots in overtime of the AFC Championship game in Kansas City.

In October, Arrowhead will host another showdown, albeit on a smaller scale.

“Northwest-Pitt State,” Andrews said, “it’s going to be a wild one. I can’t wait. We usually travel really well. I expect them too as well, not being too far away. I’m excited. Should be a good one.”

Tickets will go on sale to the public on Aug. 13 at 9 a.m. They can be ordered online at www.ticketmaster.com or at the Arrowhead ticket office. Jackson County residents will have a special ticket allotment to purchase tickets beginning Aug. 12 at 9 a.m.