Complete Game Notes

Setting the scene. . .
The No. 25 Washburn Ichabods will make their second NCAA Postseason Playoff appearance in the last three years as they travel to Canyon, Texas to take on the No. 4 ranked West Texas A&M. The Ichabods enter the game with an 8-3 record and the Buffs are 11-0 this season.
The Ichabods are the No. 6 team in the Southwest Region and the Buffs are the No. 3 seed. The winner of the Washburn/West Texas A&M game will take on Northwest Missouri on Nov. 24 in Maryville, Mo., in the regional semifinal.

Quick Facts
Date: Saturday, Nov. 17, 2007
Time: 1 p.m. CST           
Site: Canyon, TX
Stadium: Kimbrough Memorial Stadium   
Opened: 1959
Surface: Artificial Grass           
Capacity: 20,000
Series History: Saturday's meeting will be the first meeting between the two schools.
Rankings (AFCA/D2football.com): WU (25/23), WTAM (4/4)
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

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 40-28 (.593) in his sixth season as the Ichabod head coach and he is 32-21 (.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. Schurig is 4-1 against the Bearcats.
West Texas A&M head coach Don Carthel was introduced as the 26th head coach of West Texas A&M Football on April 27, 2005. For his career, Carthel holds a NCAA coaching record of 76-32-1 (.699), including a 32-4 (.885) mark at the helm of the WTAMU football program.

Ichabods last time out . . .
Nov. 10, 2007 • Washburn 37, Southwest Baptist 14 • BOLIVAR, Mo. -- The Washburn Ichabods improved to 8-3 and 7-2 in the MIAA with a 37-14 win over Southwest Baptist in the Bearcats' final game as a football-playing MIAA school.
In a turnover-plagued first half, the teams had a combined seven turnovers as the first three drives by the teams resulted in turnovers.
Washburn got on the board first on a 27-yard field goal by Andrew Knight with 7:50 to go in the first quarter to take a 3-0 lead. The points would be the only points of the quarter.
On their first drive of the second quarter, SBU drove to the Washburn 9-yard line, but Greg Sprowls pass was intercepted by Cary Williams in the endzone to end the threat.
After Washburn took possession, the Ichabods drove all the way to the Bearcat 6-yard line, but SBU picked off an Ichabod pass to halt the drive.
On SBU's ensuing drive, the Bearcats ran two plays before turning back as Bruce Ringwood picked off a pass setting up a Ra'Shawn Mosley touchdown run from 2-yards out pushing the lead to 10-0 with 5:36 to go in the half.
After a three-and-out by the Bearcats, Washburn scored on a Brandon Walker 1-yard run as Washburn took a 17-0 lead into the break.
Jarod Tetuan increased the lead to 24-0 after a pick-six returning an SBU pass 47-yards for a score.
SBU's Nick Smart had a 4-yard TD reception to cut the lead to 24-7, but on WU's next drive, defensive tackle Eric Butler scored from 1-yard out for his third touchdown of the season.
Jeff Finnell had a 2-yard run to make the score 30-14 and Terrance Lowe wrapped up the scoring with a 9-yard run to give Washburn a 37-14 win.
Notes from the game.
* Terrance Lowe rushed for a career-high 177 yards on 18 carries and one touchdown.
* Ra'Shawn Mosley had 21 carries for 145 yards and one touchdown raising his season 1110 - the third highest single-season total in school history. It was the second time Mosley had gone over 1000 yards in a single-season in his Washburn career.
* The Ichabods had 518 yards in total offense on 74 plays. Southwest Baptist had 306 yards in 86 plays.
* Jarod Tetuan had two interceptions for 92 yards and returned one 47 yards for a touchdown.
* Zach Watkins led the Ichabods with eight tackles. Bruce Ringwood had seven tackles including three for loss, two sacks an interception.

About the opponents . . .
For the third straight season, West Texas A&M is among 24 schools that begin the march toward Florence, Ala., and the 2007 NCAA-II Football National Championship. The Buffs, who finished off a perfect 11-0 run through their regular season schedule with a 39-14 victory over No. 13 Tarleton State last Saturday, enter the playoff field as the No. 3 seed in the Southwest Region.
The Buffs, who completed the second unscarred regular season record in school history and first since 1918.
The Buffs are led on the ground Keithon Flemming, a transfer from Wyoming. Flemming has averaged 103.5 yards per game rushing for a total of 1,139 yards and 12 touchdowns averaging 8.2 yards per carry. He is tied for the team lead with 55 catches out of the backfield with five touchdowns and 44.8 yards per game. Flemming also leads the team with 165.3 yards per game in all purpose yards.
Keith Null captains the air attack with 364 yards per game completing 282 of 417 attempts for 33 touchdowns. He has connected n 67.6 percent of his passing attempt while throwing only 10 interceptions.
On defense, Jared Brock leads the team with 87 tackles with 42 solo stops. He has 11 tackles for loss. Brandon Swain has recorded 21.5 tackles for loss this season for 130 yards with 11 sacks for 97 yards.

Last time out for the Buffs . . .
For the third straight season under head coach Don Carthel the West Texas A&M football team reigns supreme over the Lone Star Conference as Saturday the No. 4 Buffs clinched the league title outright by defeating the No.13 Tarleton State Texans, 39-14, at Tarleton Memorial Stadium to complete the 2007 season undefeated.
After surviving an early threat by the Texans that ended on a missed 48-yard field goal, junior quarterback Keith Null and the Buffalo offense went to work. Null, who had missed the Buffs' previous two games due to injury, was sharp early the game and completed all four of his passes during WT's first drive, the last being a 32-yard scoring completion to Keithon Flemming, making the score 7-0 WT.
In his return to the WT starting line-up, Null completed 42-of-56 passes for four touchdowns and a career-high 462 yards, while Flemming rushed for 93 total yards on 15 carries in the contest to average 6.2 yards per rush.
Senior kicker Jon Roberts made it 10-0 West Texas A&M in the fading moments of the first quarter as he connected on a 19-yard field goal, the first of two Roberts field goals on the night.
The Buff dominance continued in the second quarter as the visitors from Canyon added the only score of the third quarter when Null found junior wide out Charly Martin for a seven-yard touchdown. The subsequent two-point conversion attempt failed when Roberts attempted to score on a fake field goal, leaving the score 16-0 at the intermission.
For Martin, the catch was one of a career-high 13 on the night as he led all pass catchers with 147 yards in the contest. The Farmington, N.M., native moves into fourth place on the all-time WTAMU receiving list after the performance with 2,119 career yards.
After halftime, Robert's second field goal of the night pushed the Buffs' lead to 19-0 before Texan quarterback Scott Grantham was finally able to get his team on the scoreboard, finding receiver Devin Guinn in the end zone for a 17-yard score. The Buffs, however, answered with 10-play, 80-yard drive that was highlighted by a one-yard touchdown run from Wayne McKnight, who also returned to the WT line-up after missing the last two weeks with injury.
Tarleton State (9-2; 7-2 LSC) fought back to cut its deficit to 26-14 when Grantham found pay dirt himself with a 21-yard rush, but a Null closed the door on the Texans with fourth quarter scoring passes to Seth Hayden and A.J. Ruffins.

Series Notes . . .
Saturday's meeting will be the first between the two schools.

Ichabods in the postseason play . . .
The Ichabods are making its second appearance in the NCAA National Playoffs in the last three seasons and only its eighth postseason game in school history. The Washburn Ichabods have appeared in four bowl games along with two NAIA postseason games and the only other NCAA appearance in 2005. The Ichabods are 4-3 in postseason appearances. Following are the games the Ichabods have appeared in and a postseason record book for Washburn. The Aztec Bowl is not counted in the postseason records, as the bowl game was considered an exhibition game and therefore not counted in the Ichabods overall win-loss record for the 1986 season. The Ichabods won their first NCAA Postseason game with their 36-33 win over Northern State in the 2004 Mineral Water Bowl on Dec. 4, in Excelsior Springs, Mo. Washburn fell to Northwest Missouri on Dec. 19, 2005 in Topeka 42-32 in the second round of the NCAA playoffs after the Ichabods received the No. 2 seed and a first round bye.

Washburn Football History . . .
Washburn is 483-540-44 in its 117th year of college football.

A win for Washburn would . . .
• lift the Ichabods to 484-540-44 in its football history.
• push the Ichabods to 9-3 on the season.
• make the Ichabods 1-1 all-time in the NCAA Playoffs.
• make the Ichabods 1-0 all-time vs West Texas A&M.
• give the Ichabods a 9-win season for the second time in three years under Craig Schurig and the second time in school history.
• put Washburn in the second round of the NCAA Playoffs against Northwest Missouri on Nov. 24 in Maryville, Mo.

A loss for Washburn would . . .
• drop the Ichabods to 483-541-44 in its football history.
• drop the Ichabods to 0-1 all-time against the Buffs.
• end the Ichabods' season with an 8-4 record.
• drop the Ichabods to 0-2 al-time in the NCAA Playoffs.

Ichabods vs ranked opponents . .
   The Ichabods are 8-35 vs ranked Division II opponents after their win over No. 18 Pittsburg State on Nov. 3, 2007. 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 8-14 against ranked opponents since 2002. They are 6-6 since the 2004 season including a 3-1 record in 2005 and an 1-2 record in 2007.

Bods and Ends . . .
• Senior quarterback Jordan Brill moved into eighth on the MIAA's all-time passing chart with 6,774 yards passing Jeff Frost (Truman, 1987-90) and Tad Hatfield (ESU, 2001-04). He needs 400 yards to pass Adam Hinspeter of Missouri Southern.
• Ichabod senior running back Ra'Shawn Mosley became the fifth running back to go over the 1,000-yard mark in a single season and became the second Ichabod running back to accomplish the feat twice as he raised his senior season total to 1,106 yards. 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 seventh on the Ichabod all-time tackles chart. He has 229 for his career after tallying 100 last season, Watkins has 129 this season.
• Jake Lebahn enters this week's game with 68 career receptions for 1,267 yards and 11 touchdowns. He needs two catches to move into 11th all-time in total receptions. He also moved into tenth on the all-time receiving chart by yardage with the 1,267 yards.
• The Ichabods have had at least one interception in each game this season. Overall, Washburn has 21 interceptions. The school single-season team record is 22 set in 1983.
• The Ichabods have now gone 101 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.
• Ichabod redshirt freshman offensive lineman Brett Payne is from Amarillo, Texas - about 20 miles from Canyon and where the Ichabods will be staying. Payne switched from the defensive line to the offensive line at the start of the 2007 season.
• Payne is one of five Texans on the Ichabod roster. Joining Payne is Drameagon Powers (Elkhart), Brandon Walker (Garland), Ra'Shawn Mosley and Jamar Mosley (San Antonio).
• West Texas has one Kansans on their roster: Calvin Collazo (Caldwell, Kan.).
On this day in Washburn football History . . .
Nov. 17 - Since 1961, the Ichabods have never played a game on Nov. 17.

Up next . . .
It's the playoffs, so win and advance – lose and go home for the winter. The winner of the Washburn/West Texas A&M game will travel to Maryville, Mo., to take on the Southwest Region No. 2 seed in Northwest Missouri.