Game Notes
Quick Facts
Date: Saturday, Oct. 13, 2007
Time: 1 p.m. CST       
Site: Emporia, Kan.
Stadium: Jones Field at Welch Stadium   
Opened: 1937
Surface: SuperTurf           
Capacity: 7,000
Series History: Today's meeting is the 104th all-time … ESU leads 51-46-6 … it is the most-played, active rivalry in NCAA Division II.
Rankings (AFCA/D2football.com): WU (RV/NR), ESU (NR/NR)
WU Radio:  KTPK, 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 available through wusports.com; video at www.themiaa.tv; live stats at www.emporia.edu/athletics

Setting the scene. . .
The Washburn Ichabods will look for their third straight win as they travel to Emporia, Kan., for the 2007 edition of the Turnpike Tussle. Saturday's meeting will be the 104th meeting between the two schools. The series is the most-played active rivalry in NCAA Division II. Washburn enters the game with a 4-2 overall record and a 3-1 mark in the MIAA. The Hornets are 3-3 overall and 1-3 in conference play.

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 36-27 (.571) in his sixth season as the Ichabod head coach and he is 28-20 (.583) 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. Schurig is 4-1 against the Hornets.
Garin Higgins is 3-3 as the head coach of his alma mater. He is in his first season as the head coach at ESU, but is no stranger to success as the head man. He had a 51-9 career record as the head coach at Northwestern Oklahoma State, including two trips to the national championship game. Higgins was a quarterback for the Hornets from 1987-90 and was a member of the 1989 national runners-up team. Higgins was 0-2 against Washburn as ESU's QB.
 
Ichabods last time out . . .
Oct. 6, 2007 • Washburn 26, Missouri Southern 20 • TOPEKA, Kan. – Washburn's Cary Williams recorded 226 all purpose yards as he scored touchdowns on special teams and on offense and returning an interception in the endzone 36 yards to help the Ichabods top Missouri Southern 26-20 in Yager Stadium. The Ichabods improved to 4-2 overall and 3-1 in the MIAA while the Lions fall to 4-2 and 2-2 in conference play. Washburn will travel to Emporia State next week to take on the arch-rival Hornets in the Turnpike Tussle.
The Ichabods took the opening drive and marked 71 yards on 11 plays as Ra'Shawn Mosley scored from three yards out. Mosley would finish the game with 74 yards on eight carries before leaving the game with an ankle injury.
After the Lions' drive stalled, Washburn took over and Williams, playing at wide receiver for the first time this season scored on a 68-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Brill putting the Ichabods up 14-0.
Missouri Southern cut the lead in half as Adam Hinspeter hit Brandon McLaurin on a 16-yard touchdown pass.
Andrew Knight, seeing his first action this season for the Ichabods connected on a 31-yard field goal wrapping up a 67-yard, 12-play drive with 11:56 left in the second quarter.
After forcing a three-and-out for the Lions, Washburn fumbled the punt and the Lions took advantage scoring six plays later as Hinspeter hit Isaac Norman for an 8-yard strike. The extra point attempt was blocked by Ben Bianchino as the Ichabods would take a 17-13 lead into the halftime locker room.
After the Lions took the lead at 20-17 on an Alley Broussard 1-yard touchdown run, Williams scored his second touchdown on a 100-yard kickoff return putting the Ichabods back up 24-20 with 2:23 left in the third quarter. It was the second 100-yard touchdown in school history as Fletcher Terrell accomplished it against Central Missouri in 2005.
On the Ichabods' second drive of the fourth quarter failed to convert a third down, Washburn punter Ben Boswell boomed a 78-yard punt to the Missouri Southern two yard line. After a false start penalty on the Lions, a 1-yard rush by Renard Johnson and two incomplete passes, Missouri Southern knelt in the end zone for a safety taking the free kick from the 20 yard line and putting Washburn up 26-20.
The Ichabods' drive stalled forcing a punt by Washburn starting the Lions drive at their own 49-yard line. The Lions drove down to the Ichabod 15 before Williams intercepted a Hinspeter pass in the endzone and returned it to the Washburn 36 yard line.
Washburn picked up three first downs to seal the 26-20 win, taking their fifth straight win and their ninth win in the last 10 meetings.
Brandon Walker finished with 80 yards rushing on 19 carries and Brill was 9 of 21 for 196 yards and 1 touchdown pass. Walker also led the Ichabods in receiving yards with three catches for 87 yards.
Boswell averaged 48.2 yards per punt on five attempts.
Zach Watkins had 11 tackles with eight solo stops and Bruce Ringwood had 10 tackles. Eric Lawrence had nine tackles including four for loss.
Broussard led the Lions on the ground with 98 yards on 20 carries and Hinspeter was 21 of 35 for 191 with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Colin Bado had six receptions for 65 yards. Jared Brawner led the Lion defense with seven tackles along with B.J. Russow who also had seven stops.
Washburn finished with 363 yards in total offense with 167 coming on the ground. The Lions had 313 yards overall.

About the opponents . . .
Emporia State 3-3, 1-3 in the MIAA after dropping a 38-7 decision to Central Missouri on Oct. 6. The Hornets have dropped its last three games after opening the season with three victories.
Seville Ko leads the Hornets on the ground with 404 yards on 69 attempts and four touchdowns averaging 63.8 yards per game.
Andre Sloan El is averaging 124.5 yards per game passing completing 59 of 115 attempts for four touchdowns with five interceptions. Sean Partridge is the Hornets leading receiver with 18 catches for 290 yards and two touchdowns. On defense, Jake Richter and Blake Ringwall each have 49 total tackles.

Last time out for the Hornets . . .
October 6, 2007-Emporia State could not take advantage of two first quarter turnovers as they fell to Central Missouri 38-7 on Saturday in Emporia.
Aaron Stubblefield picked off an Eric Czerniewski pass and returned it 19 yards on the Mules first possession. The Hornets missed a 35 yard field goal attempt that would have given ESU the lead with 8:09 left in the first. On the Mules next possession, Casey Finlayson recovered a Glen Milner fumble at the UCM 29. ESU cold only manage seven yards on the next four plays and turned the ball over on downs. Central then drove 58 yards on seven plays to set up a Marcelo Velazquez 37 yard field goal for the first points of the game.
ESU started their first drive of the second quarter on their own six yard line thanks to a Matt Frankel 34 yard punt. The Hornets made it out to the 14 before they were forced to punt. Seth Mason's 10 yard return on a 39 yard Johnny Torres punt set up the Mules at the ESU 43 yard line. Glen Milner scored on an 18 yard run to give UCM a 10 lead with 10:06 left in the half. Andre Sloan El was picked off by LaVance Dotson on the first play of ESU's next drive to set up a 14 yard touchdown drive by the Mules.
The Hornets got on the board on a 34 yard touchdown pass from Sloan El to Andre Maupin with 5:43 left in the half. ESU gave up their first third quarter touchdown of the year on a 63 yard pass from Czerniewski to Milner with 13:54 left in the period.
The Hornets force the Mules to punt on their next three possessions including a pair of three and outs. UCM went up 31-7 on a Jeremy Braden nine yard touchdown run with 5:56 left in the game. The final score came on a Justin Gore seven yard run with 1:55 remaining. The drive covered 72 yards on five plays and included a 60 yard, first down pass from Stinson Dean to Tim Richmond.
Sloan El ended the game 16 of 28 for 153 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He also added 14 yards rushing. Sean Partridge had five catches for 56 yards while Andre Maupin caught four passes for 50 yards including the 34 yard touchdown. Seville Ko was the leading rusher for ESU with 56 yards on 16 carries.
Milner led UCM with 109 yards on 21 carries with a touchdown. Czerniewski was 17 of 30 for 203 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Milner was the leading receiver as well with four catches for 72 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively Blake Ringwall had 11 tackles for the Hornets. Casey Finlayson had four tackles and a fumble recovery while Aaron Stubblefield recorded four tackles and an interception. Kendall Ricketts was the leading tackler for UCM with eight stops.

Series Notes . . .
Today's meeting is the 104th in the series between the Ichabods and the Hornets. Emporia State and Washburn have met every year since 1899 with the exception of 1943 through 1945 because of World War II and 1989 and 1990 after Washburn moved to NCAA Division II and the Hornets remained in NAIA until 1991. The teams also played twice during the 1966 season. Emporia State leads the all-time series 51-45-6. The Ichabods have won three of the last four meetings. Last season, the Ichabods napped a seven-game losing streak in Emporia winning 42-14. The Ichabods have won the last two meetings in Topeka.
Series Record: ESU leads 51-46-6
First Meeting: ESU 11, WU 0 (1899)
Last Meeting: WU 37-6 (10/28/06) in Topeka
Last WU win: 37-6 (10/28/06) in Topeka
Last ESU win: 35-28, OT (9/20/2003) in Emporia
Largest WU win: 41-7 (10/1/83) in Topeka, (1913)
Largest ESU win: 45-6 (1928)


Longest Running Rivalries in NCAA D2 . . .
Entering this season, the WU/ESU series is the most played in NCAA Division II after North Dakota and North Dakota State and South have played 110 times, but not since the 2003 season after North Dakota State has moved up to NCAA I-AA in football. South Dakota and South Dakota State have played 104 times, but not since the 2003 season after South Dakota State moved up to NCAA I-AA in football.
Games     Opponents     Series    First meeting
110     North Dakota-North Dakota St.%     62-45-3     1894
104     South Dakota-South Dakota St. %     50-47-7     1889
103     Emporia St.-Washburn     51-46-6     1899
97     Virginia St.-Virginia Union     48-40-9     1900
95     Tuskegee-Morehouse     60-27-8     1902
95     Presbyterian-Newberry     58-32-5     1913
92    North Dakota St.-South Dakota St.&     51-36-5     1903
91    South Dakota-Morningside#     57-29-5     1898
90    Truman-Central Mo.     52-33-5     1905
88     Colorado Mines-Colorado Col.#     46-37-5     1889
87     Pittsburg St.-Emporia St.     54-31-2     1915
86     Catawba–Lenoir-Rhyne     44-38-4     1907
86     Truman-Northwest Mo. St.     54-28-4     1908
84     Central Ark.-Arkansas Tech^     41-40-3     1911
83     Virginia Union-Hampton#     41-39-3     1906
#Have not met since 2000. &Both teams are reclassifying to Division I-AA. %Have not met since 2003. ^Did not play in 2006.

Last Meeting with Emporia State . . .
(Oct. 28, 2006) TOPEKA - The Washburn Ichabods snapped a three-game losing streak with a 37-6 win over arch-rival Emporia State on homecoming Saturday at Yager Stadium in the 103rd meeting between the two schools.
Emporia State (3-6, 2-5 MIAA) jumped on the board first as Lucas Sullivan caught a 14-yard pass from Ben Purkeypile capping a 51-yard drive. On the extra point attempt, ESU was called for holding pushing the attempt back 10 yards and it was wide as ESU took the early 6-0 lead.
On the ensuing drive, Washburn (5-4, 4-3 MIAA) marched 60 yards in 13 plays covering 6:21 as Trent Hearn scored from 4-yards out and Connor Sabel added the extra point giving the Ichabods a 7-6 lead late in the first quarter. It was all the scoring the Ichabods would need as Washburn then added 30 straight points leading to the final margin of 29 points.
After both teams went nearly the entire second quarter without a score, Zach Watkins intercepted a Purkeypile pass and returned it 19 yards for a score to put the Ichabods up 14-6 after the extra point.
The Hornets were held to a three-and-out on their next possession and the Ichabods drove from the ESU 41 to the ESU 6 and Sabel connected on a 23-yard yard field right before halftime pushing the Ichabods to a 17-6 lead at the break.
The Ichabods held the Hornets to 88 yards of total offense in the first half on 27 plays while the Ichabods gained 220 yards on 37 plays.
In the second half, Washburn's special teams came up big on the Hornets' first drive as Fletcher Terrell blocked an ESU punt and the Ichabods recovered it at the ESU 17. Four plays later, Ra'Shawn Mosley crossed paydirt for the score and a 24-6 Washburn lead.
On ESU's ensuing drive, Terrell came up with an interception at the Washburn 34 setting up another Washburn score as the Ichabods drove 49 yards and 10 plays as staring linebacker Chris Brown scored from 1-yard out with 3:03 on the clock in the third quarter.
Washburn wrapped up the scoring with 17 seconds left in the game as Brandon Walker scampered 28 yards for the score and a 37-6 Washburn win.
Walker finished with 114 yards on the ground on 21 carries to lead the Ichabods as Washburn gained 248 yards in rushing on 52 attempts. Mosley rushed for 62 and a score and Trent Hearn had 28 and a touchdown raising his career rushing total to 3,020 becoming the first Ichabod to rush for more than 3,000 in a career.
Defensively, the Ichabods were led by Jarod Tetuan who had eight tackles. Bruce Ringwood had seven tackles with three for loss and a fumble recovery.
Washburn held the Hornets to 168 total offensive yards, compared to 418 for the Ichabods. Washburn had a 36:05 to 23:55 advantage in time of possession including a 11:45 to 3:15 in the fourth quarter.
  
Washburn Football History . . .
Washburn is 479-539-44 in its 117th year of college football.

A win for Washburn would . . .
• lift the Ichabods to 480-539-44 in its football history.
• push the Ichabods to 5-2 on the season and 4-1 in MIAA play.
• push the Ichabods to 51-47-6 all-time against the Hornets.
• be the fourth straight win over the Hornets.
• be the fifth win in the last six games over the Hornets.
• be the second straight win over the Hornets in Emporia - the first two-game winning streak in Welch Stadium since the 1976 and 1978 seasons capping a four-game winning streak.

A loss for Washburn would . . .
• drop the Ichabods to 479-540-44 in its football history.
• drop the Ichabods to 46-52-6 all-time against the Hornets.
• even the Ichabods 2007 record to 4-3 overall and 3-2 in MIAA play.
• snap a four-game winning streak for the Ichabods over the Hornets - their first win over Washburn since a 35-28 overtime win in Emporia on Sept. 20, 2003.

The Ichabods in the National Polls . . .
The Ichabods dropped out of the AFCA National Coaches Poll after their season-opening loss to Chadron State. The Ichabods dropped out of the D2football.com national poll after showing at No. 24 in their preseason poll. The Ichabods received votes in this week's poll after their win over Missouri Southern in the AFCA poll.

Ichabods vs ranked opponents . .
   The Ichabods are 7-34 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 7-13 against ranked opponents since 2002. They are 6-5 since the 2004 season including a 3-1 record in 2005.

Bods and Ends . . .
• Six games into his senior season, senior quarterback Jordan Brill is close to putting his name atop the Washburn passing records as he has thrown for 5,813 yards, as one of only four Ichabods to reach 5,000 yards in a career joining Tyler Schuerman (6,525), Joe Schartz (5,527) and Mike Atkins (5,437). He passed Joe Schartz for No. 2 on the passing chart on Saturday against Missouri Western two weeks ago.
• Brill needs 713 yards to become Washburn's all-time leading passer. The current record is 6,525 yards held by Tyler Schuerman.
• Brill also passed Dustin Hickel (2001-04) for third on the Washburn all-time total offense chart. Brill has 5,575 career yards combined passing (5,813 and rushing -238).
• Ichabod senior running back Ra'Shawn Mosley has pulled within 304 yards of breaking Trent Hearn's (2003-06) all-time rushing mark of 3,154 yards. Entering the game with the Hornets, Mosley has 2,845 career yards. To break the record, Mosley needs to average 61.8 yards per game the remainder of the regular season to snap the record.
• Mosley (2,845) passed Dino DeLisa (2,794) for second on the all-time rushing chart.
• Jake Lebahn needs 44 yards receiving to go over 1,000 yards for his career.
• The Ichabods have had at least one interception in each game this season. Overall, Washburn has 11 interceptions. The school single-season team record is 22 set in 1983.
• Emporia State defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Ken Gordon played linebacker at NWMSU in 1995 and 1996 and was a first-team All-MIAA performer as a senior. He was in school at Northwest the same time as Washburn SID Gene Cassell was a student assistant SID for the Bearcats.

On this day in Washburn football History . . .
Oct. 13 - Since 1961, the Ichabods are 2-4 on this date.
1990 – The Ichabods hosted Southeast Missouri for homecoming in Dennis Caryl's first season on the Washburn sideline and fell 35-7.
1984 – The Ichabods traveled to Wayne State (Neb.) and lost 27-7 under George Tardiff in his second and final season at Washburn.
1979 – The Ichabods lost to Wayne State at home 9-7 in Gary Hampton's first season at Washburn.
1974 – The Ichabods beat Fort Hays State 19-14 in Moore Bowl under Bob Noblitt in his third and final season at Washburn.
1962 – The Ichabods beat Emporia State on homecoming in Topeka in a 7-6 win under Ellis Rainsberger in his first season at Washburn.
1961 – The Ichabods fell at Emporia State 26-10 under Ralph Brown in his third and final season at Washburn.
Other sports facts from Oct. 13
1960 - 1960 World Series: Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski becomes the first person to end a World Series with a home run, as the Pirates beat the New York Yankees, four games to three.
1967 - The first game in the history of the American Basketball Association is played as the Anaheim Amigos lost to the Oakland Oaks 134-129 in Oakland, California.

Up next . . .
The Ichabods will celebrate homecoming next weekend, Oct. 20, against Truman with a 1 p.m. kickoff.