Complete notes in PDF

Setting the scene. . .
The Washburn Ichabods hit for the road for the first time in nearly a month as they travel to St. Joseph, Mo., to take on No. 24 ranked Missouri Western in a 1:30 p.m. kickoff. The Ichabods and Griffons are both 1-1 in MIAA play. Washburn is 2-2 overall and Missouri Western is 3-1 overall. Saturday's game will be part of the NCAA/CSTV national online package, where viewers can watch the game for free at www.ncaasports.com.

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 “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 34-27 (.561) in his sixth season as the Ichabod head coach and he is 26-20 (.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).
Jerry Partridge is in his 12th season at Western and his 12th year as a collegiate head coach. Partridge (Western, '85) has a 74-44-0 (.624) overall record.

Ichabods last time out . . .
Sept. 22, 2007 • Central Missouri 28, Washburn 10 • TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Washburn football team fell 28-14 to Central Missouri Saturday afternoon in Yager Stadium. Washburn (2-2, 1-1 MIAA) will hit the road for their next contest as they will travel to St. Joseph, Mo., to take on Missouri Western.
On Central Missouri's second drive of the game, Stinson Dean's pass was picked off by Cary Williams, who returned it 49 yards for a Washburn touchdown and a 7-0 lead. However that would be Washburn's only score of the first half as Central Missouri took a 21-7 lead into the break.
Central knotted the score on the ensuing drive after Williams' pick-six as Glenn Milner scored from six yards out with 2:33 on the first quarter clock.
After the team's traded drives and a Washburn turnover, Central's Milner scored his second touchdown of the afternoon on a 21-yard scamper with 11:15 in the second quarter.
The Mules would add another score with 14 seconds left in the opening half as Justin Gore scored from five yards out and Central took a 21-7 lead into the break.
The Mules would score on their first drive of the second half as Milner rushed in from three yards out to put the Mules up 28-7.
Washburn would score their final points of the game on a 6-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Brill to Drameagon Powers with 1:52 left in the third quarter.
Both teams were held scoreless in the final quarter.
Defensively for the Ichabods, Zach Watkins led the team with a game-high 20 tackles, the most since the 1998 season. He had eight solo stops to go with 12 assisted tackles. He also added two tackles for loss and a pass break-up.
Jarod Tetuan was also in double figures with 11 tackles, including four solo stops and Aaron Hicks had his first career interception for the Ichabods in the fourth quarter.
Ra'Shawn Mosley had 15 carries for 62 yards.
UCM's Milner finished with 119 yards on 28 carries and three touchdowns.
Washburn was held to 142 total yards with 122 coming in the second half.

About the opponents . . .
Missouri Western enters Saturday's match-up with a 3-1 overall record and an 1-1 mark in MIAA play. The Griffons opened the season with wins over NAIA member Baker University, (42-24) and the University of Minnesota Duluth (45-27), before dropping a 44-20 decision to 11th-ranked Northwest Missouri State University in their MIAA opener on Sept. 15. Last time out, the Griffons won at Pittsburg State 39-32.
La'Darrian Page is leading the Griffons on the ground with 98.8 yards per game and Thomas Hodges is averaging 84.2 per game
Drew Newhart is averaging 151.2 passing yards per game to go with seven touchdowns.
Andrew Mead has 15 receptions for 232 yards and three touchdowns and Cedric Houston has 11 catches for 244 yards and four touchdowns.
Seth Hane leads the Griffons with 34 tackles.

Last time out for the Griffons . . .
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – For the first time since 1984 the Missouri Western Griffons went to Pittsburg, Kan., and came out victorious. This is only the Gorillas seventh loss in the last 23 years at home. With the game tied 32-32 and :22 left on the clock Drew Newhart hooked up with Cedric Houston on a 38 yard scoring strike to give the Griffons the victory 39-32. This marks the first win for coach Partridge in Pittsburg and it gives the Griffons their first ever consecutive season victory over the Gorillas as the Griffons defeated the Gorillas last season 48-35 in St. Joseph, Mo.
After trailing the first half 10-7 the Griffons looked like they were going to give in as the Gorillas came out and went 78 yards on 10 plays to take a 16-7 lead. But the Griffons would control the rest of the quarter as La'Darian Page would score from 23 yards and 36 yards out to take 21-16 lead with 5:29 left in the quarter. The Gorillas would come right back as Rush Harrison would score on a 67 yard scoring strike from Mark Smith. But the scoring would not be over as Cedric Houston and Drew Newhart would hook up on a 28 pass play to give the Griffons a 29-22 lead going into the final quarter of player.
The fourth quarter would turn out to be as exciting as the third as the Gorillas would strike back to tie the game up at 29 apiece. Dustin Strickler would connect on a 27 yard field goal with 8:28 on the clock to put the Griffons up again 32-29. As you would expect the Gorillas would not go away easily as they would drive down to the MWSU 29 yard line. Jared Witter for the Gorillas would connect on a 36 yard field goal to tie the game at 32.
The Griffons could not get anything going on their next possession and were forced to punt. The Gorillas would drive the ball to their own 48 yard line but on 2nd and 5 the Griffons Soane Etu would sack Smith and force a fumble, which was recovered by Martin Lane on the PSU 44. On 2nd and 4 the Griffons Drew Newhart would hook up with Cedric Houston with :12 second left in the game. The Griffons intercepted the final pass in their own end zone to seal the victory.
In the first half the Griffons received the ball and got a return by Farrell McGhee up to the Pittsburg State 48 yard line. From there the Griffons used 10 plays to go 48 yards in 5:06 minutes. The drive was capped off by Thomas Hodges as he went in from 4 yards out. The rest of the half the Gorillas would score 10 unanswered points to take a 10-7 lead into halftime. Caleb Farabi scored the Gorillas only touchdown in the half on a 10 yard run. The Griffons had a chance to kick a field goal to tie the game at 10 but it was blocked by the Gorillas interior line.
In the half Thomas Hodges led the Griffons as he rushed 10 times for 93 yards and a touchdown. The Gorillas were led by Caleb Farabi as he rushed for 85 yards on 17 carries and one touchdown. In the half the Griffons had 190 yards of total offense on 29 plays and the Gorillas had 177 yards on 37 plays. Western rushed for 131 yards on 19 carries and the Gorillas rushed for 109 yards on 25 carries.
The Griffons had 469 yards of total offense as La'Darrian Page and Thomas Hodges both ran for 158 yards and combined for 3 touchdowns in the game. Cedric Houston led the way receiving as he had 2 receptions for 66 yards. Punter Jamie Hanson punted 4 times for and average of 50 yards with his long being 59 yards.
The Griffons had 190 yards in kickoff returns on the afternoon. Drew Newhart passed for 150 yards and 2 touchdowns on the day. Dustin Stickler made his second field goal of the year and has now made 47 extra points in a row.
The Gorillas went for 511 yards of total offense as Caleb Farabi led the way with 175 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns. Mark Smith passed for 257 yards on the day and rushed for 68 for the Gorillas. Marques Nelson led the way receiving as he had 81 yards on 6 receptions.
Defensively the Griffons were led by Robert Bishop as he had 10 tackles with 7 solo and 3 assists. Seth Hane had 9 tackles with 5 solo and 4 assists for MWSU. Nick Dellasega led the way for the Gorillas as he had 10 total tackles with 5 solo and 5 assists.

Series Notes . . .
Saturday's meeting is the 36th meeting in the series between the Griffons and the Ichabods. The Griffons lead the all-time series 19-14 with two ties. Washburn has won two of the last three meetings. The Ichabods' longest winning streak was from 1986 to 1990 when they won five straight - only to lose five straight to the Griffons starting in 1991. The Ichabod snapped a five-game losing streak to the Griffons in Topeka during the 2005 season on Homecoming. The Ichabods have not won in St. Joseph since Nov. 10, 1990 when the Ichabods won 21-10. The Ichabods have lost eight straight games in St. Joseph. In Topeka, the Ichabods lead the all-time series 10-7.
Series Record: MWSU leads 19-14-2
First Meeting: WU 58, MWSU 3 (9/16/72) in Topeka
Last Meeting: WU 16-3 (11/11/06) in Topeka
Last WU win: 16-3 (11/11/06) in Topeka
Last MWSU win: 28-21ot (11/5/05) in St. Joseph
Largest WU win: 58-3 (9/16/1972) in Topeka
Largest MWSU win: 52-0 (11/7/1981) in St. Joseph

Last Meeting with Missouri Western . . .
Nov. 11, 2006 TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabod football team wrapped up the regular season in style with a 16-3 win over No. 11 ranked Missouri Western in Yager Stadium. With the win, Washburn finishes the season with a 7-4 record and a 6-3 conference mark.
Both teams struggled offensively in the first half as they combined for five first downs and 199 total yards. The Griffons scored first at the 8:30 mark in the second quarter as Dustin Strickler nailed a 24-yard drive capping a 11-play, 46-yard drive.
The Ichabods special teams came through with a score as on a 4^th and nine from the Griffon 24, Washburn recovered a bad snap on the punt recording a safety cutting the lead to 3-2.
After forcing a punt on the Griffons' first possession, the Ichabods took over at the Griffon 44 and notched a scoring drive as Brandon Walker, in his first start at quarterback, hit Sam Sissom for a 15-yard touchdown strike putting the Ichabods up 10-3 following a two-point conversion run by Trent Hearn. The touchdown reception by Sissom was his 40th of his career adding to his MIAA record for TD receptions in a career.
After the Ichabods forced another punt, they snuffed out a fake punt by the Griffons the Ichabods took over on the Griffon 30 and drove 30 yards in two plays with Hearn recording his 48^th career touchdown carry. The Ichabods were aided by two Griffon personal fouls setting up the two yard dive by Hearn.
Hearn finished the day with 82 yards on the ground giving him 3,154 for his career – the most in school history. Walker had 79 yards passing and rushed for an addition 28 on 18 carries. Sissom finished with 57 yards receiving finishing with 3,288 yards and 191 receptions – both tops in school history.
Zach Watkins led the Ichabods on defense with 14 tackles – giving him 100 for his first season in a Washburn uniform. Trey Lewis had eight tackles and Fletcher Terrell had two interceptions to raise his school record total to 22.
Jeremiah White rushed for 77 yards on 12 carries while Matt Landess was 16 of 35 with one interception for the Griffons. Gijon Robinson led the Griffon receivers with five receptions for 37 yards and John Matthew Fisher had eight tackles for Western.
   
Washburn Football History . . .
Washburn is 477-539-44 in its 117th year of college football.

A win for Washburn would . . .
• lift the Ichabods to 478-539-44 in its football history.
• push the Ichabods to 3-2 on the season and 2-1 in MIAA play.
• push the Ichabods to 15-19-2 all-time against the Griffons.
• be the second straight win over the Griffons.
• be the first win for Washburn in St. Joseph since Nov. 10, 1990 in a 21-10 game - a streak of eight games.

A loss for Washburn would . . .
• drop the Ichabods to 477-540-44 in its football history.
• drop the Ichabods to 14-20-2 all-time against the Griffons.
• be the Ichabods' ninth straight loss in St. Joseph.
• drop the Ichabods to 2-3 on the season and 1-2 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. The Ichabods received votes in each of the AFCA polls since then, but fell out after their loss to Central Missouri. The Ichabods dropped out of the D2football.com national poll after showing at No. 24 in their preseason poll.

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 . . .
• Three games into his senior season, senior quarterback Jordan Brill is close to rewriting the Washburn passing records as he has thrown for 5,466 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 Mike Atkins on Saturday against Central Missouri.
• Brill needs 1,059 yards to become Washburn's all-time leading passer. The current record is 6,525 yards held by Tyler Schuerman.
• Ichabod senior running back Ra'Shawn Mosley has pulled within 593 yards of breaking Trent Hearn's (2003-06) all-time rushing mark of 3,154 yards. Entering the game with the Griffons, Mosley has 2,561 career yards. To break the record, Mosley needs to average 84.7 yards per game the remainder of the regular season to snap the record.
• Zach Watkins is on pace for 170.5 tackles this season with 64 (32 solo, 32 assisted tackles) through four games. The Washburn single-season record is 152 held by Bill Guidetti set in 1984. The NCAA Division II record for tackles in a season is B.J. Russell of Mesa State set in 2004 (71 solo, 98 assisted tackles).
• The 142 in total offensive yards against Central Missouri was the fewest for an Ichabod team since they recorded 151 in a rain-soaked game against Truman last season on Oct. 21.
• Cary Williams has had one interception in each of the last three games returning the last one for a touchdown against Central Missouri for 49 yards.

Up next . . .
The Ichabods will return home on Oct. 6 when they take on Missouri Southern at 1 p.m. in Yager Stadium.