HAYS, Kan. - Northwest Missouri State's defense gets plenty of attention this season. But it was the Bearcats' offense that stood out at Fort Hays State on Saturday.

In the offensive shootout, the two teams combined for 1,125 offensive yards with Fort Hays gaining 489 yards and Northwest 636.

No. 3 Northwest improved to 9-1 overall and 8-0 in the MIAA with the 66-40 win against Fort Hays (5-5, 3-5) at Lewis Field Stadium.

"Our offense was ready to play," Northwest coach Mel Tjeerdsma said. "We've worked all week on up-tempo, and they just did an unbelievable job. We didn't punt until mid-second half, and we punted once with our second string in."

Fort Hays gained more yards and more points against Northwest than any team the Bearcats have faced this season, and Northwest's 66 points were the most allowed by the Tiger defense.

However, neither defense was at full strength. Fort Hays was missing five of its starters, while Northwest was missing three of its top cornerbacks and its two starting defensive ends, juniors Kyle Sunderman and Roberto Davis, who left the game in the first half.

"I'm pleased that we walked out with the win," Tjeerdsma said. "With as beat up as we were, I'm not even going to worry about it."

Tjeerdsma said both players would likely be fine to play next week.

"Our defense was real banged up today," Northwest quarterback Blake Bolles said. "We had fourth-string corners and DBs back there, because we've been banged up the last couple of weeks."

The Bearcats clinched sole ownership of the MIAA title, extended their winning streak in the MIAA to 36 games. They set three individual milestones along the way.

Sophomore wide receiver Jake Soy broke the MIAA record for receiving touchdowns in a season with 19 after scoring four against the Tigers. He had eight catches for 156 yards.

"Bolles has a lot of confidence in him, and Blake does a great job of getting the ball to him in the end zone," Tjeerdsma said. "(Soy) makes some great plays after the catch. That is one of the big things."

Running back LaRon Council posted his first career 200-yard game, and Bolles broke Northwest's regular season record for passing touchdowns. Council ran for 208 yards and scored three times, and Bolles completed 23 of 32 attempts for 358 yards and five touchdowns.

"The offensive line does a great job," Bolles said. "When you have a running back like LaRon Council and the receivers that we do, it is pretty easy to do my job."

Northwest dominated the game from the start, scoring on all of its first-half possessions, and led 45-19 at halftime.

After a lopsided first half, Fort Hays battled back after intermission and got within three scores with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Fort Hays quarterback Mike Garrison finished 31-for-46 passing for 381 yards, with four touchdowns and three interceptions.

Following the last Tiger score, Northwest put its starters back in the lineup after taking them out at the start of the fourth quarter.

"We had to hang on," Tjeerdsma said. "I certainly didn't want to put our first-string offense back out there, but I was afraid we were going to lose the football game."

The Tigers recovered the onside kick, but Garrison failed to convert a fourth-and-9 opportunity on Northwest's 32-yard line.

Northwest then marched down the field on its next drive, consuming 4:11 off the clock and capping the drive with a 12-yard scoring run by Council to put the game away.

"Our main focus this week in practice was execution and tempo," Bolles said. "We did a really good job of executing, and our tempo was really good today. We had them breathing hard."

Northwest plays its final regular season game on Saturday at Bearcat Stadium against No. 19 Central Missouri (8-2, 6-2 MIAA).