In 1981, before Missouri Western and Northwest Missouri State ever played each other, the Griffons already despised the Bearcats.

When they met for the first time — Sept. 19, 1981, at Spratt Stadium — the late Western coach Rob Hicklin made T-shirts for his entire team. The shirts read simply “Beat Maryville.”

“‘Gotta beat Maryville this week,’ coach Hicklin kept saying,” said Robert Newhart, a middle linebacker on the team. “It was always Maryville, never Northwest. I don’t know why he refused to call them Northwest. Either he had some deep animosity or disrespect ...”

The first game carried big implications. Western wanted to prove itself against the more established school.

“Northwest was NCAA Division II,” Newhart said, “and we were just the NAIA maverick from St. Joe.”

That game came down to the fourth quarter. Western led in the closing minutes, but Northwest started driving for the go-ahead touchdown.

“Then they try to throw a screen pass,” Newhart said. “I go after the ball carrier, and (outside linebacker) Tom Earley goes after the ball. He grabs it, takes it back 70 yards and scores.”

The play clinched the 20-8 victory, and the Western sideline cleared as the Griffons rushed the end zone. The officials penalized Western for excessive celebration.

“That win,” Newhart said, “everybody enjoyed it a lot.”

For 28 years now, it seems like the two school often stand in each others’ way.

It’s no different today. The Griffons, like it or not, will be measured against Northwest this afternoon.

The Bearcats have been to four straight Division II national championship games and haven’t lost an MIAA game since 2005 — a streak of 31 consecutive conference victories.

“They’re still the best team in the MIAA until somebody beats them,” said Western quarterback Drew Newhart. “We want to be the best. And we know, in order to do that, you’ve got to beat the champs and beat the best.”

Drew — like his father, Robert — leads a Western program on the upswing.

The Griffons are 5-0 overall, 3-0 in the MIAA. With a victory, they establish themselves as MIAA favorites and a likely playoff participant.

Beyond the immediacy of this season, Western’s momentum is huge. The university is in the middle of renovating and adding to its athletics facilities, including a reconstruction of Spratt Stadium and a new indoor practice facility. That all was made possible by luring the Kansas City Chiefs to the campus next year for their summer training camp, which also will bring regional and national media exposure.

“It’s an exciting time from all aspects,” Robert Newhart said. “Western has a chance to really grow, and there are a lot of opportunities hanging out there right now.

“They just need to continue, keep up that momentum and hopefully parlay this into a playoff-type program year in and year out.”

A loss isn’t devastating for either team — it’s just the halfway point of the season.

But a Western victory would mean more than just the average notch in the win-loss column. It would position the Griffon athletes to build on the unversity’s recent momentum and claim a new status for a university that is driving hard to remake itself.