Complete Game Notes

Setting the scene. . .
The Washburn Ichabods will look to remain perfect in MIAA play as they play host to Central Missouri at 1 p.m. in Yager Stadium this Saturday. The Ichabods are 2-1 overall and 1-0 in conference play after topping Fort Hays State in their MIAA opener 28-10 last time out. The Mules are 2-1 as well and 1-0 in the MIAA after topping Truman 27-7 in Warrensburg, Mo., last time out. The Ichabods have won the last two meetings between the two schools.

Ichabods on Radio . . .
The game will be broadcast live on WIBW AM 580 - the home of the Ichabods and Lady Blues. The game can also be heard on the internet at www.wusports.com by following the “Listen to the Game” links. Bruce Steinbrock will be the play-by-play voice of the Ichabods and former WU quarterback Mark Elliott will be the color analyst.

The Coaches . . .
Washburn head football coach Craig Schurig was named head coach of the Ichabod football program Dec. 28, 2001. Schurig is 34-26 (.561) in his sixth season as the Ichabod head coach and he is 26-19 (.568) 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 2-1 against the Tigers. (Complete bio on page 2 of notes).
Willie Fritz is in his 11th season as head coach at the University of Central Missouri. He is 77-37 as the Mules' mentor, 56-34 vs. MIAA opponents. His .673 winning percentage is fourth best in UCM football history, while his 76 career wins rank second. A 1983 graduate of Pittsburg State University, he currently ranks 10th in the MIAA in career wins, third among active MIAA coaches.

Ichabods last time out . . .
Sept. 15, 2007 • Washburn 28, Fort Hays State 10 • TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods used a big first half putting up 270 yards of total offense en route to a 28-10 win over Fort Hays State to open the MIAA season. With the win, Washburn improves to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the MIAA. The Tigers fall to 2-1 and 0-1 in conference play. Washburn will be back in action as they continue MIAA play against Central Missouri at 1 p.m. in Yager Stadium.
Washburn took the opening kickoff scoring on their first drive as Ra'Shawn Mosley went 68 yards on the second play of the game putting the Ichabods up 7-0.
The Tigers would take possession and go 12 plays covering 41 yards, but would end up empty as Justin Barr's field goal attempt from 32 yards was pushed left giving the ball back to Washburn.
On the Ichabods' next drive, Jordan Brill would connect with Nathan Gasswick for a 17-yard touchdown reception capping a 80-yard, four-yard drive putting the Ichabods up 14-0.
After trading three-and-outs, Cary Williams picked off his second pass of the season setting up the Ichabods at the Washburn 32. The Ichabods would drive 68 yards in eight plays as Brandon Walker scampered in from 7-yards out to increase the Washburn lead to 21-0.
Once again, the Tigers went on a six-plus minute drive, but came up empty as Barr's field goal attempt from 42 yards hit the left upright to end the threat.
After the Ichabods were forced to punt, the Tigers got on the scoreboard via a 3-yard pass completion from Shane Jackson to Nate Stroup cutting the Washburn lead to 21-7.
After receiving the kickoff, Washburn worked the two-minute drill to perfection going 63 yards in eight plays as Brill connected with Drameagon Powers for a 12-yard touchdown strike putting the Ichabods up 28-7.
The Ichabods put up 270 yards of total offense up in the first half while the Washburn defense held the Tigers to 125 yards overall.
In the second half, neither team could get much going as the Tigers scored on their second drive of the half as Barr hit a 35-yard field goal to wrap up the scoring for both teams.
The Ichabods were led on the ground by Mosley, who picked up 106 yards on 14 carries and the one touchdown on the opening drive.
Brill finished with 297 yards passing completing 18 of 32 passes and two touchdowns.
Jake Lebahn had a career-high 124 yards receiving on four receptions. Powers also had four receptions and 81 yards.
Jordan Hickel was held to 67 yards rushing by the Ichabod defense after entering the game averaging 88 yards per game.
Ryne Salyer led the Tigers with 176 yards passing.
Zach Watkins led the Ichabod defense with 14 tackles, including a tackle for loss. Casey Curran, Mitch Birt, Aaron Hicks and Ben Bianchino each had six tackles.
On offense, the Ichabods finished with 386 total yards and the Tigers compiled 304.

About the opponents . . .
The Mules are 2-1 this season having won back-to-back games after dropping their opener on the road to Minnesota State 23-14. The Mules topped Concordia-St. Paul 56-24 and then Truman 27-7.
Glenn Milner leads the Mules on the ground with 82.7 yards per game and a team-high four touchdown rushes. Eric Czerniewski has passed for 137.7 yards per game and four scores and Anthony Parks leads the Mules receiving attack with 53 yards per game grabbing 13 receptions for 159 yards and three touchdowns.
Adrian Singletary leads the Central defense with 20 tackles to go along with two sacks.
The Mules are averaging 184.7 yards per game through the air and 163.3 yards per game on the ground. On defense, the Mules are giving up 18.7 yards per game rushing and 313.7 yards per game in total offense.

Last time out for the Mules . . .
WARRENSBURG, Mo. – The Central Missouri defense limited the Truman Bulldogs to 160 total yards, while junior RB Glenn Milner scored three touchdowns as the Mules claimed a 27-7 win in MIAA football action Saturday afternoon (Sept. 15).
Two of Milner's three scores came in the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead score from 7 yards with 11:36 left in the game. He gave UCM (2-1, 0-1 MIAA) a 7-0 first-quarter lead with a 13-yard scoring run, and iced the game with a second 7-yard score.
Senior FB Jeremy Braden added a 2-yard TD plunge in the final stanza, as the Mules won their MIAA opener for the first time since 2003.
Milner finished with 109 yards rushing on 21 tries for UCM, while Braden added 86 yards on 11 totes. The Mules accounted for 198 of their 345 total yards on the ground.
Truman (2-1, 0-1 MIAA), which had 653 yards of offense and 55 points in the previous week's win over Upper Iowa, could only muster the 160 yards and a 12-yard touchdown pass from junior QB Matt Ticich to junior TE Ryan King to tie the game on the Bulldogs' first possession of the second half.
Ticich completed just 16 of 41 attempts passing for 110 yards, and was sacked four times – he ended up with minus-7 yards rushing on 11 tries. Junior WR Phillip Henry had five receptions for 42 yards.
Senior DB Kendall Ricketts had a team-high nine tackles (three solos) for Central Missouri. Junior LB Adrian Singletary added eight tackles (four solos), including 2.5 for losses (one sack), a pass breakup and a forced fumble.
Senior DB Jesse Cooper and junior LB Michael Phillips each had 10 stops for Truman.

Series Notes . . .
Today's meeting is the 39th meeting in the series. The Mules lead the series 19-17-2. The Ichabods have won two straight meetings snapping a four-game losing slide in Warrensburg last season with their 14-10 win over the Mules on Sept. 16.
Series Record: UCM leads 19-17-2
Streak: Washburn has won two straight
First Meeting: WU 6, UCM 0 (1902)
Last Meeting: WU 14-10 (9/16/06) in Warrensburg
Last WU win: 14-10 (9/16/06) in Warrensburg
Last UCM win: 47-21 (10/23/2004) in Warrensburg
Largest WU win: 34-0 (9/28/1963) in Topeka
Largest UCM win: 37-0 (11/7/1998) in Topeka

Last Meeting with Central Missouri . . .
(Sept. 16, 2007) WARRENSBURG, Mo. - The No. 25 ranked Washburn Ichabods won for the first time in Warrensburg since Oct. 7, 1995 in a 14-10 win over No. 19 Central Missouri.
Washburn opened the scoring on their second drive as Trent Hearn scored from 2-yards out at the 9:17 mark of the second quarter capping a 13-play, 70-yard drive. On the drive, Hearn became Washburn's all-time leading rusher on a second and seven from the Central 20 as he picked up the first down and passed Dino DeLisa (1983-85) with he picked up is 2,795th yard. Hearn would finish the day with 46 yards on 13 carries and two touchdown rushes.
UCM came back on the next drive with an eight-play, 63-yard series that was wrapped up by a 19-yard Toby Korrodi touchdown pass to Matt Jacobsen. Korrodi came back to guide the drive after getting shaken up in the first quarter. Mike Spiegel pulled double duty, playing quarterback and wide receiver. Both teams had one more drive in the half, but nobody could score, going into the break tied 7-7.
The Ichabod defense came up big on the first drive of the second half as UCM drove down to the Washburn 12-yard line, but a Washburn sack by Cody Huenefeld pushed UCM back to the Washburn 22 forcing a fourth and 15. UCM faked the field goal and Ted Maxwell stepped out of bounds before converting the fourth down conversion attempt.
After Washburn took possession and went three-and-out, Ben Boswell bombed a 70-yard punt pushing UCM back to their own 12 yard line. Again UCM drove down to the Washburn redzone and eventually to the 1-yard line, but the Ichabods stopped the Mules on a third and goal from the one and then a Spencer Webb field goal attempt from 17-yards hit the left upright.
Washburn took over and had two more snaps in the third quarter as they had only five plays in the third quarter. Washburn's drive continued into the fourth quarter and they marched 80-yards in eight plays in 2:08 as the Ichabods converted two third down opportunities - both on pass receptions to Jake Lebahn to take a 14-7 lead.
After trading punts, UCM took a short field and converted a 44-yard field goal with 4:25 remaining in the game cutting the Washburn lead to 14-10.
Washburn went three and out and Boswell blasted a 51-yard punt to the UCM 18 which was downed by the Ichabods' special teams.
UCM's Korrodi was called for an intentional grounding on their first play as they took possession with two minutes remaining. After two incomplete passes to set up a fourth and 22 from their own 6-yard line, his final pass to Mike Spiegel was overthrown and Washburn took possession at the UCM 6, but Jordan Brill took three straight knees to wrap up the game and the win for the Ichabods.
Ra'Shawn Mosley, seeing his first action this season after suffering an ankle injury, rushed for 77 yards. Hearn finished with 46 raising his WU record total to 2,810 yards.
Brill was 10 of 18 passing for 111 yards and Sam Sissom had four receptions for 28 yards and Jake Lebahn had three catches for 66 yards.
Boswell averaged 42.1 yards per punt including the 70-yard boot.
On defense, Washburn's Zach Watkins had 11 tackles including six solo stops and two tackles for loss to lead Washburn. Brandon Jackson, Eric Lawrence, Mitch Birt and Huenefeld all had sacks for Washburn. 
   
Washburn Football History . . .
Washburn is 477-538-44 in its 117th year of college football.

A win for Washburn would . . .
• lift the Ichabods to 478-538-44 in its football history.
• push the Ichabods to 3-1 on the season and 2-0 in MIAA play.
• push the Ichabods to 18-19-2 all-time against the Mules.
• be the third straight win over the Mules.
• be the longest winning streak in the series since the 1961-64 seasons when the Ichabods won four straight contests by a combined score of 112 to 15, including three shutouts.
• be the second straight win over the Mules in Topeka.
• make the Ichabods 2-0 in MIAA play for the fourth straight year (all under Schurig) and the fifth time since joining the MIAA for the 1989 season.

A loss for Washburn would . . .
• drop the Ichabods to 477-539-44 in its football history.
• drop the Ichabods to 17-20-2 all-time against the Mules.
• snap a two-game winning streak over the Mules.
• be the first win for the Mules in Topeka since Nov. 1, 2003 in a 49-28 win.
• drop the Ichabods to 2-2 on the season and 1-1 in MIAA play.

The Ichabods in the National Polls . . .
The Ichabods dropped out of the AFCA National Coaches Poll after their season-opening loss to Chadron State, but they have received votes each week since then. The Ichabods are 29th in points in this week's coaches poll. The Ichabods dropped out of the D2football.com national poll after showing at No. 24 in their preseason poll.

The Ichabods in MIAA openers . . .
The Ichabods improved to 9-10 in MIAA openers since joining the conference with their win over the Tigers. The Ichabods have now won their last four MIAA openers topping Emporia State 28-10 in the 2004, Central Missouri 42-27 in 2005, the Mules again in 2006 14-10 in Warrensburg and Fort Hays State on Sept. 15 28-10. Under Schurig, the Ichabods are 4-2 in MIAA openers.

Ichabods vs ranked opponents . .
   The Ichabods are 6-34 vs ranked Division II opponents after their win over No. 11 Missouri Western 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 6-13 against ranked opponents since 2002. They are 5-5 since the 2004 season including a 3-1 record in 2005.

Bods and Ends . . .
• Two games into his senior season, senior quarterback Jordan Brill is close to rewriting the Washburn passing records as he has thrown for 5,387 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).
• Jordan Brill was three yards shy of passing for his fifth game of at least 300 yards passing as he passed for a season-high 297 against Fort Hays State last time out. He would have ended with 301, except he caught one of his own passes off a deflection and was tackled for a 4-yard loss in the opening quarter.
• Brill needs 1,139 yards to become Washburn's all-time leading passer. The current record is 6,525 yards held by Tyler Schuerman.
• There have been four true freshman who have seen the field for the Ichabods this season. Placekicker Kyle O'Neal, wide receiver Lloyd Bias and free safeties Marty Pfannenstiel and Casey Curran have all seen action.
• Jake Lebahn's 124 yards receiving snapped a streak of 13 games the Ichabods have gone without a receiver picking up at least 100 yards in a game - the last to hit the century mark was Aaron Gardiner, who had 128 yards on six receptions against Colorado Mines on Sept. 2, 2006.
• Ichabod senior running back Ra'Shawn Mosley has pulled within 656 yards of breaking Trent Hearn's (2003-06) all-time rushing mark of 3,154 yards. To break the record, Mosley needs to average 82.0 yards per game the remainder of the regular season to snap the record.

Up next . . .
Following today's game with the Mules, the Ichabods will travel to St. Joseph, Mo., to take on Missouri Western on Sept. 29. The Ichabods will return home on Oct. 6 when they take on Missouri Southern at 1 p.m. in Yager Stadium.