Complete Game Notes

Setting the scene. . .
With two weeks to go in the regular season, the Ichabods are part of a four-way tie for second place in the MIAA standings and on Saturday, the Ichabods will take on one of those teams in Pittsburg State. The Gorillas (7-2, 5-2 MIAA) are coming off a 35-0 win over Fort Hays State. The Ichabods (6-3, 5-2 MIAA) fell in a back-and-forth game to then No. 7 Northwest Missouri 28-27 as the Bearcats scored the go-ahead touchdown with 59 seconds left in the game.
After Saturday's game, the Ichabods will wrap up the regular season in Bolivar, Mo., against Southwest Baptist.

Quick Facts
Date: Saturday, Nov. 3, 2007
Time: 1 p.m. CST       
Site: Topeka, Kan.
Stadium: Yager Stadium       
Opened: 1928
Surface: Sportexe       
Capacity: 7,200
Series History: Saturday's meeting will be the 80th all-time. PSU leads the series 59-19-1. WU won the last meeting in Topeka 35-34 in OT snapping a 25-game losing streak to the Gorillas.
Rankings (AFCA/D2football.com): WU (NR/NR), PSU (18/19)
WU Radio:  KPTK 106.9 FM with Bruce Steinbrock (play-by-play), Mark Elliott (color analyst), Jan Lunsford (sideline). The broadcast begins 30 minutes before kickoff.
Internet: Live audio and stats available through wusports.com; video at ncaasports.com as part of the NCAA Division II Online package with CSTV

Ichabods on Radio . . .
The game will be broadcast live on KTPK 106.9 FM. The game can also be heard on the internet at www.wusports.com by following the “LiveAudio” link under the football tab. Bruce Steinbrock will be the play-by-play voice of the Ichabods and former WU quarterback Mark Elliott will be the color analyst, while Jan Lunsford will be on the sidelines.

The Coaches . . .
Washburn head football coach Craig Schurig was named head coach of the Ichabod football program Dec. 28, 2001. Schurig is 38-28 (.593) in his sixth season as the Ichabod head coach and he is 30-21 (.491) against the MIAA. He led the Ichabods their first MIAA title since joining the league and the first conference title since the Ichabods won the CSIC in 1983 in 2005. He was the 2005 MIAA Coach of the Year after leading the Ichabods to their first NCAA Playoffs and MIAA Championship. He is 1-4 against the Gorillas.
Pittsburg State's Chuck Broyles is in his 18th season at the helm of his alma mater (PSU, '70). The only collegiate coach since the 1890s to win 100 games in less than 10 full seasons, Broyles has guided the Gorillas to a 181-38-2 (.823) record since taking charge in 1990. He is the winningest active NCAA-II head coach, by percentage, and the fourth-winningest active coach among all NCAA I-A, I-AA, and II schools.
 
Ichabods last time out . . .
Oct. 27, 2007 • Northwest Missouri 28, Washburn 27 • MARYVILLE, Mo. – The Washburn Ichabods dropped a heartbreaking 28-27 decision to No. 7 ranked Northwest Missouri State on the Bearcats' homecoming at Bearcat Stadium. The loss snapped the Ichabods' four-game winning streaking dropping their record to 6-3 and 5-2 overall. Washburn will be back in action next week in Yager Stadium against Pittsburg State, who also enters the game with a 5-2 overall in conference play as part of a four-way tie for second place in the MIAA race with two weeks to go.
Washburn took the lead at 27-21 with 2:35 left in the game as Jordan Brill hit Jake Lebahn on a 10-yard pass completion. However, the extra point attempt failed.
After the ensuing kickoff, the Bearcats drove 48 yards in six plays capped by Kendall Wright's touchdown reception from Joel Osborn with 59 seconds remaining.
Washburn gained possession with 54 seconds remaining, but the Ichabods drive stalled and the Beracats ran out the clock to gain the win.
The Bearcats scored first as Xavier Omon capped a 7-play, 60-yard drive with a 13-yard run putting Northwest up 7-0.
Washburn came right back on the ensuing kickoff as Brandon Walker pulled in a 7-yard touchdown strike. On the first play of the drive, Ra'Shawn Mosley ripped off a 69-yard run pushing him over Trent Hearn's career rushing yardage mark to 3,154. Mosley would finish the afternoon with a career total of 3,186 yards going for 101 yards on 18 carries.
After the teams traded drives, the Ichabods took the lead at 14-7 as Mosley scored on a fourth a goal from the Northwest 2-yard line.
The score would remain 14-7 as Washburn entered the halftime locker room with the lead.
On the Bearcats first drive of the second half, Omon carried the ball nine times on a 13-play drive wrapping it up with a 1-yard plunge with 9:02 left in the third quarter knotting the score at 14. Neither team would score the remaining of the half.
The Bearcats took the lead at 21-14 as Osborne hit Josh Gannan on a 9-yard touchdown pass.
Again the Ichabods would rally to tie the score at 21 as Brill hit Walker on a fourth and 12 from the Bearcat 26 with 6:14 left in the game.
On the Bearcats' next drive, Omon fumbled at the Northwest 27 and it was recovered by Bruce Ringwood.
Six plays later, Brill connected with Jake Lebahn on a 10-yard strike to put Washburn up 27-21 setting up the ill-fated extra point attempt. Northwest then would go on the winning drive taking the game 27-21.
Brill finished the game 14 of 31 for 194 yards and three touchdowns. He hit Walker for two touchdown passes and seven receptions overall for 115 yards. Lebahn finished with 61 receiving yards and four catches along with the touchdown reception.
Ringwood led the Ichabod defense with a career-high 17 tackles, including one for loss and the one fumble recovery. Jarod Tetuan had nine tackles and Zach Watkins had eight tackles, including a fumble recovery. Cary Williams recorded his sixth interception of the season and his 10th interception of his career.
The Ichabods had 326 total offensive yards compared to 340 for the Bearcats. Washburn was 3 of 17 on third down conversions, but were 5 of 7 on fourth down. The Bearcat defense limited Northwest to 5 of 15 on third down conversions.

About the opponents . . .
The Gorillas are part of a four-way tie for second place in the MIAA race with a 5-2 record currently tied with Washburn, Missouri Western and Central Missouri. Overall the Gorillas are 7-2.
Caleb Farabi leads the Gorilla ground attack with 1,277 yards on 222 carries and 18 touchdowns. Quarterback Mark Smith has rushed for 782 yards and eight touchdowns. Through the air, Smith has completed 83 of 137 passes for 1,273 yards and seven touchdowns. He has been picked off six times while completing 61 percent of his passes. Farabi leads the team with 25 receptions for 230 yards and Pierce Curran has 381 yards receiving. Harrison Kush has three touchdown receptions. Nick Dellasega has 69 total tackles (31 solo) to lead the Gorilla defense. Zack Langston has seven tackles for loss for 23 yards and a pair of sacks.

Last time out for the Gorillas . . .
PITTSBURG -- Quarterback Mark Smith had a hand in three scores and the Pittsburg State University defense recorded its second shutout of the season as the 19th-ranked Gorillas rolled to a 35-0 shutout win over Fort Hays State University in front of a sellout crowd of 9,033 Homecoming fans at Brandenburg Field/Carnie Smith Stadium Saturday (Oct. 27).
Smith scored on long runs of 41 and 54 yards and tossed a 5-yard TD pass to tight end Brian Barta. He rushed 12 times for a career-high 142 yards and two TDs, while completing 6 of 10 passes for 82 yards and a score.
Caleb Farabi rushed 22 times for a game-high 151 yards, including an 18-yard TD run as Pitt State (7-2, 5-2 MIAA) piled up a season-high 353 rushing yards against an FHSU (3-6, 1-6 MIAA) defense that came into the contest holding its opposition to 94.5 rushing yards.
The Pitt State defense limited the Tigers to eight first downs, 63 rushing yards and 171 total yards in the game. Inside linebackers Rusty Morgan and Jason Northern combined for 17 tackles, with Morgan claiming a team-leading nine stops (three solo).
The Gorillas registered their second shutout of the season and their second goose-egg in three games. PSU has registered two or more shutouts eight times in head coach Chuck Broyles 18-year tenure, but this marks Pitt State's first two-shutout season since 2003.
Brandon Clark rushed for 21 yards and caught a 19-yard TD pass from reserve quarterback Chadd Snyder for the Gorillas.
Jordan Hickel rushed the ball 16 times for 31 net yards for the Tigers. Ryne Salyer completed 18 of 29 passes for 198 yards, but was sacked two times. The Gorillas, who lead the MIAA in fourth-down defense, held FHSU on downs in PSU territory four times in the contest. Pitt State has allowed just 7 fourth-down conversions on 23 attempts (.304) on the year.
The Gorillas and Tigers completed the game in a brisk two hours, 36 minutes -- a season-low in elapsed time for Pitt State.

Series Notes . . .
Today's meeting is the 80th meeting in the series. The Gorillas lead the all-time series 58-19-1. In 2005, the Ichabods snapped a 25-game winning streak by the Gorillas with their 35-34 overtime win. The last win for the Ichabods in Pittsburg was Oct. 29, 1977 when the Ichabods won 28-21. The Ichabods will be looking for their second straight win over the Gorillas in Topeka.
Series Record: PSU leads 59-19-1
First Meeting: WU 7, PSU 0 (1920)
Last Meeting: PSU 29-14 (10/7/06) in Pittsburg
Last WU win: WU 35-34 OT (10/2/05) in Topeka
Last PSU win: 29-14 (10/7/06) in Pittsburg
Largest WU win: 36-13 (1953)
Largest PSU win: 61-0 (10/28/1989) in Pittsburg

Last Meeting with Pittsburg State . . .
(Oct. 7, 2006) PITTSBURG, Kan. - The No. 11 Pittsburg State Gorillas handed the No. 19 ranked Washburn Ichabods their first loss of the MIAA season in a 29-14 setback at Carnie Smith Stadium in Pittsburg. The loss was the Ichabods (4-2, 3-1 MIAA) 15th in a row in Pittsburg dating back to Oct. 29, 1977. The Ichabods will be back in action next Saturday in Yager Stadium when they will battle No. 2 ranked Northwest Missouri at 1 p.m.
The Gorillas (5-1, 3-1 MIAA) took the first lead of the game on a Nathan Alleman 27-yard field goal, but on the next possession, Trent Hearn caught a 49-yard screen pass capping a 5-play 65-yard drive putting the Ichabods up 7-3.
Another PSU field goal by Alleman cut the lead to one a 7-6 with 2:35 to play in the first quarter.
PSU scored the only points of the second quarter on a 39-yard pass play from Geno Walters, who entered the game for the injured Mark Smith, to Bryan Pray putting the Gorillas up 12-7 entering the halftime break.
At halftime, the Ichabods held PSU's all-American running back Germaine Race to 42 yards, with 31 yards coming on one carry and 54 yards total rushing. However, the Ichabods were whistled for 78 yards in penalties, while the Gorillas went the first half without one being called.
To open the second half, PSU took the opening kickoff and traveled 75 yards in 1:26 pushing the lead to 12 at 19-7 with 13:23 remaining in the third quarter.
Ra'Shawn Mosley dove in from 4-yards out with 2:22 remaining in the third quarter to cut PSU's lead to 19-14, but it is as close as the Ichabods would get the rest of the way as the Gorillas added a touchdown and a field goal in the final 10:59 of the final quarter leading to the 29-14 win.
Mosley led the Ichabods on the ground with 97 yards rushing averaging 6.5 yards per carry. Trent Hearn had 23 yards on the ground, but recorded new career highs in receptions (5) and yards (78) accounting for 101 all-purpose yards.
Sam Sissom had four receptions for 55 yards raising his career total to 3,138 passing Michael Dritleins' Washburn total of 3,103 for first on the all-time receiving chart.
  
The Ichabods on homecoming . . .
After splitting their two homecoming games this season (at home and at Northwest Missouri) the Ichabods have won 18 of their last 25 homecoming match ups played on the road and in Yager Stadium. The Ichabods won their fifth straight homecoming game in Topeka after beating Truman 71-35 on Oct. 20, 2007.  The last time the ichabods lost on WU's homecoming was Oct. 26, 2002 in double overtime to Missouri Western 34-28.

Washburn Football History . . .
Washburn is 481-540-44 in its 117th year of college football.

A win for Washburn would . . .
• lift the Ichabods to 482-540-44 in its football history.
• push the Ichabods to 7-3 on the season and 6-2 in MIAA play.
• push the Ichabods to 20-59-1 all-time against the Gorillas.
• be the second straight win over the Gorillas in Topeka.

A loss for Washburn would . . .
• drop the Ichabods to 481-541-44 in its football history.
• drop the Ichabods to 19-60-1 all-time against the Gorillas.
• even the Ichabods 2007 record to 6-4 overall and 5-3 in MIAA play.

Ichabods vs ranked opponents . .
   The Ichabods are 7-35 vs ranked Division II opponents after their win over No. 24 Missouri Western on Sept. 29, 2007. The Ichabods have beat the Griffons two straight times when they were ranked as they also be at No. 11 ranked Griffon squad in the 2006 season finale. The win over the then No. 14 ranked Colorado Mines in the 2005 opener was the first win over a ranked team on the road for the Ichabods and the win over then No. 5 Northwest Missouri was the Ichabods' highest win over a ranked opponent on the road.  The Ichabods' highest win ever over a ranked opponents is their 35-34 overtime win over Pittsburg State, who was ranked No. 4 before losing to the Ichabods on Oct. 1, 2005.Under head coach Craig Schurig, the Ichabods are 7-14 against ranked opponents since 2002. They are 6-6 since the 2004 season including a 3-1 record in 2005 and an 0-2 record in 2007.

Bods and Ends . . .
• Nine games into his senior season, senior quarterback Jordan Brill is getting closer to putting his name atop the Washburn passing records as he has thrown for 6,327 yards, as one of only two Ichabods to reach 6,000 yards in a career joining Tyler Schuerman (6,525) who was the other WU quarterback to hit the milestone.
• Brill needs 199 yards to become Washburn's all-time leading passer. The current record is 6,525 yards held by Tyler Schuerman.
• Brill also needs two touchdown passes to break Schuerman's TD passing record of 53. Brill enters this week's game with 52.
• Ichabod senior running back Ra'Shawn Mosley needs 31 yards to become the fifth running back to go over the 1,000-yard mark in a single season and he is also looking to become the second Ichabod running back to accomplish the feat twice. Trent Hearn rushed for 1,203 yards in 2005 and 1,116 in 2003. Mosley went over the 1,000-yard plateau with 1,084 yards in 2004. The other 1,000-yard rusher was Dino DeLisa who tallied 1,185 in 1983.
• Zach Watkins moved into 10th on the Ichabod all-time tackles chart. He has 209 for his career after tallying 100 last season, Watkins has 109 this season.
• Jake Lebahn enters this week's game with 60 career receptions for 1,068 yards and nine touchdowns. He needs 10 catches to move into 11th all-time in total receptions.
• The Ichabods have had at least one interception in each game this season. Overall, Washburn has 15 interceptions. The school single-season team record is 22 set in 1983.
• The Ichabods are 5-0 on senior day under head coach Craig Schurig.
• The Ichabods have gone 99 games since they were last shutout. The last time Washburn was blanked in a game was a 37-0 loss to Central Missouri on Nov. 7, 1998 in Topeka.

Washburn/Pittsburg State connections . . .
There are six current coaches on the Ichabod coaching staff with ties to Pitt State. Other than head coach Craig Schurig's nine years on the Gorilla staff, four other coaches also have ties to the Gorillas' program.
Defensive coordinator Chris Brown was a three-time all-American who recorded 470 tackles in 43 starts and was named the CNN?Division II National Player of the Year. He is one of only four Gorillas to be named all-American three times. He was also inducted into the Pittsburg State Athletic Hall of Fame on Sept. 9 when the Ichabods were playing at Western Washington.
Linebacker's coach Cooper Harris played for the Gorillas from 1992 to 1994 where he recorded 295 tackles in 31 games, seventh on the all-time chart. He won the Joe Murphy Award twice as the team's most valuable defensive player.
Wide receivers coach Rob Robinson spent one season as a graduate assistant with the Gorillas after wrapping up his playing days at William Jewell.
Defensive line coach David Trupp was the defensive line and offseason strength and condition coordinator for the Gorillas from 1996 to 1998.

On this day in Washburn football History . . .
Nov. 3 - Since 1961, the Ichabods are 2-3 on this date with all of the games being played on the road.
2001 – Ichabods beat Missouri-Rolla 42-14 in Tony DeMeo's last season.
1990 – Ichabods topped Southwest Baptist 24-9 in Topeka in Dennis Caryl's first season.
1984 – The Ichabods were topped by Nebraska-Kearney 30-0 as Larry Elliott took over in the sixth game of the season for George Tardiff who was dismissed after a 0-5 start.
1979 – The Ichabods were beaten on the road by Nebraska-Kearney 28-7 in Gary Hampton's first season.
1973 – The Ichabods lost at Pittsburg State 21-14 under Bob Noblitt in his last season at Washburn.

Other items from Nov. 3
1913 - The USA introduces an income tax.
1987 –  Ichabod fullback Seth Homolka was born.
1954 - The first in the Godzilla series of films is released in Japan.
1957 - Sputnik program: The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 2. On board is the first animal to enter orbit: a dog named Laika.
1998 - Former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura is elected Governor of Minnesota.

Up next . . .
The Ichabods will travel to Bolivar, Mo. to take on Southwest Baptist in the final regular season game.