MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois held Northern Iowa scoreless in the first half and cruised to a 30-14 win at Hanson Field on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 20). The Leathernecks captured sole possession of second place in the Missouri Valley Football Conference with the win over the regular season champion, currently at 7-4 overall and 5-3 in conference.

The team's 7-4 record marks six more wins in the regular season than last year. That now stands as the program's best turnaround from one year to the next. The 2002 and 1996 team each won five more games in the regular season, and the 1969 squad won six more but was plus-5.5 better going from 2-7-1 to 8-2.

The Leathernecks now await word to see if they will receive one of the 10 at-large bids to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, to be announced Sunday morning (Nov. 21) at 9 a.m. on ESPNU.

The Leathernecks took the opening kickoff and marched into the redzone. The drive stalled on the two, and Pat Smith kicked a 19-yard field goal. Later in the quarter, the redshirt-freshman kicked a 28-yarder extending the lead to 6-0.

Despite an uncharacteristic two turnovers in the first half, one an interception in the endzone, Western still kept control of the game keeping the Panthers (7-4, 6-2) scoreless. Kyle Bernard's punt was returned by Myers Hendrickson for 24 yards to the WIU 49. Western needed eight plays to cap the TD drive, a 1-yard run by Caulton Ray for a 13-0 lead. Late in the half Western took over on its own 30.

Matt Barr found Lito Senatus on a 22-yard gain, then Drew Helt for 14 more, getting down to the 28. After getting flushed out of the pocket, Barr took off running and was pushed out-of-bounds at the four. On the next play, Barr hit Senatus in the left corner for a touchdown and 20-0 lead.

That TD pass was Senatus' 13th this season and 20th of his career, taking sole possession of both respective Western records. Barr's 25th TD pass tied him for the season record. He broke that record in the third quarter.

Facing 3rd-and-8 from their own 13, Barr found Bryce Flowers on a screen. The freshman running back eluded and broke several tackles and raced 87 yards for a score. It was the seventh-longest pass completion in Western history, and Barr - like Senatus - took sole possession of his season record.

On UNI's second play of its next drive, Zach Davis (who replaced an injured Tirrell Rennie) was picked off by Kyle Glazier who returned it 16 yards to the Panthers 23.

Smith hit from 32 yards out for a 30-0 lead.

"We wanted to play our best game of the year since it was our last guaranteed game of the year. We knew we were playing a great team today and we wanted to leave it all out on the field today and I think we played our best game of the year," said Glazier.

Davis hit Jarred Herring on a 26-yard (late third quarter) and 36-yard (late fourth quarter) touchdown finish the scoring.

Head coach Mark Hendrickson, in his first year, had nothing but praise for his team and their plus-6 win turnaround from last season, and thinks his team has earned the right to continue their season.

"The first thing I have to do is applaud the Leatherneck Football players for having the season we've had up to this point. We finished with the same record as the conference champions and had some great wins along the way (including a win at third place North Dakota State, which also finished 7-4) to finish in second place by ourselves. I do believe we've earned our way in to the national playoffs without a doubt based on our performance throughout this season.

"I knew our players were very excited for this game. They knew what was at stake and they knew that we very likely earn a berth in the playoffs if we win. This is a special team and a special football family and they wanted to prepare for another game together," said Hendrickson. "They knew that if we got this win, that would probably happen and both myself and they think they deserve to continue to play."

Western's four senior captains, who helped in the incredible turnaround after going 1-10 last year and winless at home, helped the 2010 squad become only the third team since 1973 to finish the regular season undefeated at home (6-0).

Barr finished 16-of-23 passing for 298 yards and two scores. He also rushed for another 69 yards in the win, tying for the fifth-most rushing yards by a Leatherneck quarterback in the game. Senatus caught five passes for 77 yards, but ended his streak of five consecutive 100-yard receiving games.

Mike Stieren, who had 6.0 tackles for a loss coming into the game, recorded four stops for a loss - part of his six tackle and two sack day. Glazier had seven tackles, a sack and his fourth career interception.

According to Stieren, "I think we earned our spot in the playoffs. No one's going to give it (a win) to us, especially in our conference. It's a battle every week and I think we earned it. I couldn't be happier with our team and this was the biggest win I've been a part of."

Sophomore running back Caulton Ray broke off a personal-best 56 yard run in the opening drive and finished with a season-high140 yards on 31 carries. It was his fourth career 100-yard game. UNI was allowing just 96 rushing yards per game, Western finished with 216 on the ground and 527 yards of total offense overall.

Senior Brandon Kreczmer had a team-high nine tackles while Tim Franken added seven.

Rennie was held to -5 yards rushing and 3-of-4 passing for 42 yards. After getting injured late in the first quarter he did not return. Davis was 10-of-23 for 174 yards and the two TDs with an interception. Carlos Anderson rushed 11 times for 22 yards.

GAME NOTES: Five of Western's seven wins have come against teams with a winning record: UNI, North Dakota State, Indiana State, Illinois State and Sam Houston State... In 12 halves played at home this year, Western held the opponent scores five times... Western had not scored a touchdown against UNI since 2006, late in the fourth quarter to seal that win... The Leathernecks did not punt until the third quarter... Barr set other records in the win: most season rushing yards by a quarterback (407), season TD passes (26) and total yards (3,486)... Barr's 3,079 passing yards this year puts him second on that list. He also moved into second place all-time in career passing yards (6,645) and tied for second in TD passes (44)... Senatus is now tied with his position coach Gunnard Twyner for second all-time with 144 receptions. He remains third in career yards (2,191) and extended his streak to seven consecutive games with a TD reception and 23 games with a catch... Hendrickson averaged nearly 15 yards on his five punt returns... Eight different receivers caught a pass... Glazier's INT was the team's fifth pick this year... Western had made just two field goals on the year heading into the game and made only two all of last year... Rick Richardson caught an 11-yard pass, his first reception this year... Offensive lineman turned tight end Alie Walker also caught his first pass of the year, a 23-yarder over the middle... Senatus is now 2-for-2 passing this year, both to Terriun Crump, for 39 yards total... The attendance at Hanson Field, with students gone for Thanksgiving Break, was 8,217. Western averaged just over 11,000 fans at home this season.