Game Facts Date:     Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009 Time: 6 p.m. CST Location: St. Joseph, Mo. Stadium: Spratt  Stadium (7,500) Series History: MWSU leads 19-16-2 Series Streak: WU has won the last three

Washburn (3-0, 1-0 MIAA) Polls 22nd in AFCA Poll 25th in d2football.com Poll Leaders Rushing: Justin Cooper 33 att/221 yds/2 TD/70.3 ypg Passing: Dane Simoneau 45-68-2/669 yds/8 TD/223.0 ypg Receiving: Brad Cole 9 rec./175 yds/4 TD/58.3 ypg Tackles: Michael Krajicek 21 TT / 3.0 TFL / 1.0 Sack

Missouri Western (3-0, 1-0 MIAA) Polls RV in AFCA Poll 24th in d2football.com Poll Leaders Rushing: Thomas Hodges 44 att/230 yds/4 TD/73.3 ypg Passing: Drew Newhart 45-60-1/702 yds/10 TD Receiving: Cedric Houston 14 rec./406 yds/7 TD/135.3 ypg Tackles: Sean Whiters 18 TT/0.5 TFL/2 FF

Radio: AM 580 WIBW Web Stream Live Stats: gogriffons.com Live Video: Through b2tvlive.com Washburn Football Page Roster Statistics Schedule Game Notes Missouri Western Football Page Roster Statistics Schedule Game Notes

Setting the scene. . .
The Washburn Ichabods (3-0, 1-0 MIAA) will take on one of the other remaining unbeaten teams this Saturday when they travel to St. Joseph, Mo., to take on Missouri Western at 6 p.m. in Spratt Stadium. The Ichabods, Griffons and Central Missouri are the only three undefeated teams remaining this season. The Ichabods are coming off a 54-31 last time out over Missouri Southern while the Griffons topped Fort Hays State 58-31 in Hays last time out. Following the game with the Griffons, the Ichabods will return home for two straight when they will play host to Central Missouri on Sept. 26 and Fort Hays State on Oct. 3. The Ichabods are the nation's leading scoring offensive team with a 54.33 points per game average.

Ichabods on Radio . . .
The game will be broadcast live on AM 580 WIBW. The game can also be heard on the internet at www.wusports.com by following the “Live Audio” link under football. Bruce Steinbrock will be the play-by-play voice of the Ichabods and former WU quarterback Mark Elliott will be the color analyst. Jan Lunsford will provide sideline insight for listeners on the field.

The Coaches . . .
Washburn head football coach Craig Schurig was named head coach of the Ichabod football program Dec. 28, 2001. Schurig is 49-34 (.575) in his eighth season as the Ichabod head coach and he is 37-26 (.580) against the MIAA. He has led the Ichabods to two NCAA Playoff appearances in the last four seasons and to the 2005 MIAA Championship. Schurig is 4-3 against Missouri Western.
Missouri Western head coach Jerry Patridge enters his 13th season on the Griffons' sidelines.  Partridge is 89-52 as the Griffons head coach and ninth in the MIAA in victories. He led the Griffons to their first MIAA title and to its first ever DII Playoff appearance in 2006. He shared MIAA Coach of the Year honors in 2000 after leading the Griffons to an 8-1 MIAA record.

Last time out for the Ichabods . . .
TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabod football team topped Missouri Southern 54-31 winning their seventh straight over the Lions in Yager Stadium in their MIAA opener. With the win, the Ichabods improve to 3-0 and 1-0 in conference play and will take on Missouri Western on Sept. 19th in St. Joseph, Mo. at 6 p.m.
The Lions scored the first points of the game as Andrew Gassen converted a 40-yard field goal on the opening drive of the game. The Ichabods would then roll off 38 unanswered points scoring 28 in the second quarter putting the game out of reach for the Lions.
The Ichabods Justin Cooper and Dane Simoneau had 1-yard touchdown rushes in the run while Brad Cole had two touchdowns receptions of 7- and 48-yards. Cameron Knox also had a 2-yard pass reception from Simoneau.
Steve Ivansisevic tied a school-record for the second straight week – this time he connected on all four field goal attempts of 33-, 27-, 31- and 24-yards. He tied Mike Cassin (1978 vs Missouri Valley), Dan Brown (1992 vs Emporia State) and Chad Todd (2000 vs Wisconsin-LaCrosse).
Washburn's Greg Schoenberg wrapped up the Ichabod scoring with a 19-yard scamper with 5:54 to go in the game.
Simoneau finished 20 for 27 passing for a career-high 306 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for another score. He was 18 of 23 in the first half for 263 yards and played only three quarters in the game.
Cole finished with 86 yards receiving on five catches and two touchdown receptions. While Vershon Moore had 54 yards on 12 carries.
Michael Krajicek had a game-high 12 tackles and Casey Curran had nine stops with an interception return of 60 yards on the final play of the first half. Washburn recorded five sacks led by Eric Lawrence's 2.5 sacks for 12 yards and 3.5 tackles for loss for 14 yards. Dakota Palan-Johnson had 1.5 sacks and Brandon Jackson added a solo sack.
Washburn finished with 499 yards of total offense and averaged 7.3 yards per play. Missouri Southern had 377 total yards of offense with 234 coming in the second half.

About Missouri Western . . .
The Griffons are 3-0 and 1-0 in MIAA play this season coming off a 58-31 win at Fort Hays State. The Griffons are averaging 47.3 points per game this season while allowing 19.7 per contest. They are averaging 416 yards per game while giving up just over 300 per game. Nearly two-thirds of their yards come through the air averaging 273.0 per game. Quarterback Drew Newhart has completed 75 percent of his passes (45 of 60) with one interception for 702 yards and 10 touchdowns. His favorite target has been Cedric Houston who is averaging 29.0 yards per catch on 14 receptions. Seven of his 14 grabs have gone for touchdowns as he is averaging 135.3 yards per game receiving. Thomas Hodges leads the Griffons ground attack with 73.3 yards per game. He has added four rushing touchdowns. Houston also is averaging 193.0 all purpose yards per game counting both punt and kickoff return yards. Defensively, the Griffons are led by Sean Whiters who has 18 total tackles with one tackle for loss. Daniel Atkinson also had 18 tackles with three sacks and two tackles for loss with two forced fumbles.

Last time out for the Griffons . . .
(Sept. 12, 2009) HAYS, Kan. – The Missouri Western Griffons outscored the Fort Hays State University Tigers 31-7 in the second half earning a 58-31 victory moving their record to 3-0, 1-0 MIAA. The Griffons held the Tigers to just 10 points after the first quarter giving up only 31 rushing yards in the contest. Thomas Hodges ran for 97 yards on 16 carries with three touchdowns. Fort Hays falls to 2-1 on the year and 0-1 in the MIAA.
The Griffons and the Tigers came out and gave the crowd plenty of offense in the first quarter as they scored a combined 35 points in the quarter. The Tigers would score the first touchdown of the contest just six minutes into the contest when Mike Garrison hooked up with Jacobb Irvin from seven yards out capping off an eight play 60 yard drive. Western would respond driving 60 yards in six plays on the next possession with Hodges blasting in from eight yards out tying the game at seven.
The two teams would combine to score 21 more points before the quarter was over with Hays scoring on a 39 yard strike from Garrison to O.J. Murdock with 3:45 left in the quarter. Western would answer again with Hodges pounding it in from three yards out capping off a four play 44 yard drive with 2:02 left on the clock. The Tigers were not done scoring with no time left in the first quarter on a 23 yard pass from Garrison to Robert Mercer giving the Tigers the seven point lead after a quarter.
In the second quarter the two defenses would stiffen with Western only giving up three second quarter points while the Tigers gave up 14. The Griffons tied the score at 21 after a muffed punt by the Tigers punt return team setting Western up on the Fort Hays ten yard line. Drew Newhart would dive in on fourth and goal from one yard out. Western would take the lead for the first time with 8:56 left in the half when Newhart hooked up with Cedric Houston from 49 yards out giving them the lead at 27-21 after a Brad Beckwith missed extra point. Hays would cap off the scoring in the first half on a Nathan Rausa 44 yard field goal with 2:47 left giving the Griffons the 27-24 lead heading into the locker room.
Western compiled 206 yards of total offense with the Tigers putting up 239 yards of offense with 215 coming through the air. Hodges led Western on the ground with 63 yards on eight carries and two touchdowns. Sean Tray Bryson, Sean Whiters and Matt Glades all had five tackles.
In the second half the Griffons got the ball and drove 57 yards on eight plays with Newhart hooking up with Houston from 14 yards out for their second touchdown of the game giving Western the 34-24 lead. Hays drove down inside the Griffon ten on the next possession but safety Nate Bruto intercepted a Garrison pass and ran it back 100 yards to give the Griffons the 41-24 lead with 5:00 left in the third quarter.
Western would dominate the Tigers on both sides of the ball the rest of the game outscoring the Tigers 17-7 on their way to the victory. Newhart finished the contest with 195 yards on 14-of-19. Adam Clausen had five catches for 62 yards while Houston had 71 yards on four catches and two touchdowns for Western.
The Griffons finished with 342 yards of offense with 147 coming on the ground. Garrison led the Tigers with 394 yards passing on 37-of-55 and four touchdowns. Garrison also threw one interception. Matt Glades led the Griffons defensively with eight tackles. Daniel Atkinson had six tackles with 1.5 sacks. Gordon Butler led the Tiger defense with 14 tackles.

Series Notes . . .
Saturday's meeting is the 38th meeting in the series between the Griffons and the Ichabods. The Griffons lead the all-time series 19-16-2. Washburn has won four of the last five meetings and have won 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 won in St. Joseph 31-24 on Sept. 29, 2007 for their first win since Nov. 10, 1990 snapping an eight-game losing streak in Spratt Stadium. In Topeka, the Ichabods lead the all-time series 11-7.
Series Record: MWSU leads 19-16-2
First Meeting: WU 58-3 (9/16/72) in Topeka
Last Meeting: WU 21-17 (9/27/08) in Topeka
Last WU win: 21-17 (9/27/08) in Topeka
Last MWSU win: 28-21 in ot (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 the Griffons . . .
(Sept. 27, 2008) TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Washburn Ichabods' Zach Watkins picked off his second pass of the afternoon on the very last play of the game on a batted ball from Xavier Beckford as time expired as the Ichabods held on for a 21-17 win over Missouri Western.
With 12:54 left in the game, Missouri Western's Ferrell McGhee pulled in a 26-yard pass from Drew Newhart to take a 17-14 lead over the Griffons.
The Ichabods took possession following the extra point with 12:47go and converted two first downs on scampers of 10- and 8-yards to keep the drives alive. With Iverson sitting out a play following the second run, Brandon Walker took the snap and rushed 22-yards to the Griffon nine setting up Justin Cooper's first touchdown of his Washburn career - a 9-yard run putting the Ichabods up 21-17.
The Griffons took over and drove to the Ichabod 25 with just under three minutes to play and but Watkins picked off his first pass at the Ichabod 15 and reutrned it 22 yards to the Washburn 37.
Missouri Western forced a three-and-out and took possession after a 42-yard punt by Austin Hills putting the Griffons at their own 15 yard line.
Newhart completed three straight passes of 15-, 8-, and 9-yards with a 9-yard rush in between sending the line of scrimmage to the Washburn 25. After the Griffons spiked the ball to stop the clock, Newhart has two incomplete passes, but connected with Andrew Mead on a fourth and 10 down to the Washburn three. The Griffons called a timeout with six seconds left. From the 3-yard line, Newhart's pass to Zach Sharp fell incomplete. With two seconds left, Newhart pass attempt to Mead was batted by Beckford and grabbed by Watkins to seal the win for Washburn.
The Ichabods scored first in the game on an Iverson to Cameron Knox 2-yard touchdown reception with 5:17 to go in the first quarter. The Griffons tied the score up on a 13-yard pass reception from Newhart to Hodges with 11 minutes left in the first half. Iverson scored with 3:52 left in the second quarter putting Washburn up 14-7 heading into halftime.
The Griffons opened the scoring in the second half on a 32-yard field goal by Dustin Strickler.
Defensively for the Ichabods, Watkins finished with 16 tackles, including nine solo stops to go with his two interceptions. Casey Curran had 11 tackles and Bruce Ringwood had 10 tackles. Curran added an interception.
Washburn's Walker rushed for 106 yards on 12 carries including a 56-yard run. Iverson was 5 of 11 passing with one interception and one touchdown pass. Drameagon Powers led the Ichabods with 18 yards receiving on three catches.
Newhart was 31 of 47 for 349 yards and two touchdowns with three interceptions. Zach Sharp had 12 catches for 120 yards.
The Griffons had 32 first downs in the game compared to eight for the Ichabods. Washburn did outgain the Griffons on the ground 190 to 121. Overall, the Griffons had 470 yards of offense and the Ichabods had 228. Missouri Western had 38:45 in time of possession while Washburn had the ball for 21:15.

Washburn Football History . . .
Washburn is 492-542-44 in the 119th year of Ichabod football.

A win for Washburn would . . .
lift the Ichabods to 493-542-44 in its football history … be the fourth straight win over the Griffons  … be the fifth win in the last six meetings … be the second straight win over the Griffons in St. Joseph … give the Ichabods a 4-0 record overall and a 2-0 record in the MIAA … be the first time since the 1986 season an Ichabod football team would start the season 4-0 … it would be the 12th 4-0 start  for an Ichabod team in school history (1976 - 5-0); (1971 - 5-0); (1955 - 5-0); (1953 - 6-0); (1946 - 6-0); (1939 - 4-0); (1931 - 6-0); (1907 - 8-0); (1906 - 5-0); (1905 - 6-0); (1904 - 4-0); (1900 - 4-0) … be the fourth time the Ichabods had won their first two MIAA games of the season (2006, 2004, 1997).

A loss for Washburn would . . .
drop the Ichabods to 492-543-44 in its football history … snap the Ichabods three-game winning streak over the Griffons … drop the Ichabods to 1-1 in MIAA play and 3-1 overall.

Missouri Southern - revisited – the win . . .
lifted the Ichabods to 492-542-44 in its football history … was the seventh straight over the Lions … was the 11th win in the last 12 meetings … was the sixth straight win over the Lions in Topeka … gave the Ichabods a 3-0 record overall and a 1-0 record in the MIAA.

The Ichabods in the National Polls . . .
The Washburn Ichabod football team has cracked the top American Football Coaches Association top 25 poll coming in at No. 22. It is the first time the Ichabods have been ranked in the top 25 since the week three poll of the 2008 season. Washburn received votes in the fourth week and the ninth week of the poll last season and have received votes in each of the first two regular season polls as well as the preseason poll this year.

Bods and Ends . . .
Watkins climbing tackle charts - Ichabod senior linebacker Zach Watkins has a career tackle total of 378, which is second on the all-time Washburn chart. Watkins trails Grant Gould (2002-05) who had 459 career tackles on the top of the charts. Watkins' 204 career assisted tackles is second all-time at Washburn trailing Gould's 254. Watkins' 174 solo tackles for his career is fourth all-time at Washburn trailing Gould's 205.

A one-sided coin?? - The Ichabods won the opening coin toss of the 2009 season against Colorado Mines and deferred. The Ichabods lost the coin toss with New Mexico Highlands and Missouri Southern. Washburn was 1-10 last season and a combined 2-12 over the last two seasons. The only coin flip the Ichabods won last season was against Pittsburg State and they deferred to the second half.

No need for paper or plastic - The Ichabods have gone two straight games not allowing a sack to their opponents. Against the Orediggers, the Ichabods did not allow a sack in 27 passing attempts. The Ichabods offensive line did not give up a sack in 20 passing attempts against New Mexico Highlands. The Ichabods did give up their first sack of the season against Missouri Southern - only one in 29 passing attempts. The Ichabod offensive line allowed only 17 sacks last season including only three in the last three games against Northwest Missouri, Pittsburg State (which is when all three occurred) and Nebraska-Omaha.

Record Breaker - Washburn's Eric Lawrence recorded 3.5 tackles for loss against Missouri Southern giving him 39 for his career breaking the previous record of 37 held by Tony Scollieri (1994-97). With his 2.5 sacks against the Lions, Lawrence moved into fourth on the all-time sack chart with 18.0 sacks. The school record is 29.5. He needs three total sacks to move into second place on the all-time chart.

Quick Kicks - Washburn's Steve Ivanisevic has connected on all five of his field goal attempts this season in his first three games in an Ichabod uniform. The most attempts a Craig Schurig-led team at Washburn has attempted in a season has been 13 in 2004 and the most field goals made under Schurig has been six in 2007 when the Ichabods were 6 of 10 that season.

Red Zone is Blue Zone for Ichabods - This season the Ichabods have scored in 21 of 22 trips inside their opponents redzone and have scored on their last 19 straight trips into the redzone with 14 touchdowns and five field goals.

Second quarter has been owned by the Ichabods - This season, the Ichabods have outscored their opponents 78 to 7 in the second quarter including out bursts of 28-0 against Missouri Southern and 37 to 7 against New Mexico Highlands. Washburn outscored Colorado Mines 13 to 0 in the second quarter of the opening game of the season.

The Ichabods in MIAA openers - The Ichabods improved to 10-11 in MIAA openers since joining the conference. The Ichabods had their four-game MIAA opener streak snapped last season at Fort Hays State. Under Schurig, the Ichabods are 5-3 in their first MIAA game of the season.

Odd years lead to successful seasons - In both the 2005 and 2007 seasons, the Ichabods reached the NCAA playoffs and they are looking to continue that trend in 2009.

Ichabods in the national individual statistics . . .
Category    Name    National Rank    Statistic
Rushing    Justin Cooper    T-84    70.33
Passing Efficiency    Dane Simoneau    8    181.76
Total Offense    Dane Simoneau    55    222.67
Interceptions    Pierre Desir    T-98    .33
     Ben Vann    T-98    .33
     Casey Curran    T-98    .33
     Zach Watkins    T-98    .33
Punt Returns     Casey Curran    42    9.33
Field Goals    Steve Ivanisevic    T-9    1.67
Scoring    Steve Ivanisevic    23    11.67
     Brad Cole    T-59    8.00
Sacks    Eric Lawrence    T-16    1.17
     Ben Bianchino    T-23    1.00
     Dakota Palan-Johnson    T-43    .83
Tackles For Loss    Eric Lawrence    T-18    2.00
Ichabods in the national team statistics . . .
Category    National Rank    Statistic
Rushing Offense    12     235.33   
Passing Offense    26     273.33   
Total Offense    5     508.67   
Scoring Offense    1     54.33   
Rushing Defense    37     108.00   
Pass Efficiency Defense    96     130.79   
Total Defense    45     305.33   
Scoring Defense    60     22.00   
Net Punting    64     32.67   
Punt Returns    61     10.25   
Kickoff Returns    88     19.27   
Turnover Margin    17     1.33   
Pass Defense    67     197.33   
Passing Efficiency    4     190.25   
Sacks    11     3.67   
Tackles For Loss    28     8.00   
Sacks Allowed    T-7     .33

Schurig moving up the coaching ranks . . .
Eighth-year head coach Craig Schurig has compiled a 49-34 all-time record at Washburn. He passed Ernest Bearg for fourth on the all-time win chart. Next on the coaching win chart is Larry Elliott who recorded 58 wins in two stints as the Ichabods' head coach from 1974-78 and 1984-89.

Ichabods on Sept. 19 . . .
Since the 1961 season, the date of when games were available in media guides, the Ichabods are 2-3 on Sept. 19.
1970 - St. Mary's of the Plains W 30-6
1981 - Missouri Valley - W 12-9
1987 - Central Missouri - L 17-26
1992 - at Truman - L 8-42
1998 - Southwest Baptist - LOT 20-26

Up next . . .
The Ichabods will return home to take on Central Missouri on Sept. 26th and Fort Hays State on Oct. 3 in back to back MIAA home dates.