Setting the scene. . .
The Washburn Ichabods will play host to the Emporia State Hornets in the annual Turnpike Tussle in Yager Stadium as the MIAA's Game of the Week on the MIAA Network. The game will kickoff at 2:20 p.m. with pregame television coverage starting at 2 p.m. on Kansas Cox 22 as well as other regional television stations in the MIAA region. Saturday's match-up will be the 107th meeting between the two schools. The Washburn/Emporia State series is the most-active series played in NCAA Division II trailing only the North Dakota/North Dakota State series at 110 games in all-time Division II meetings. The Ichabods are coming off a 45-12 win at Truman while the Hornets fell for the third straight game at Missouri Western 42-14.
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 “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.
Ichabods on Television . . .
Saturday's game against Emporia State will be the first of two for the Ichabods to appear on the MIAA's Game of the Week. The will be broadcast live on Cox 22 in Topeka. Mark Ewing will provide play-by-play and Rich Baldinger will handle color commentary duties and Neil Harwell will handle pregame festivities and sideline duties.
The Coaches . . .
Washburn head football coach
Craig Schurig was named head coach of the Ichabod football program Dec. 28, 2001. Schurig is 59-41 (.588) in his ninth season as the Ichabod head coach and he is 46-32 (.579) against the MIAA. He has led the Ichabods to two NCAA Playoff appearances in the last five seasons and to the 2005 MIAA Championship as well as recording six straight winning seasons for the first time in the program's history. Schurig's 59 wins is the second-most in school history behind Dick Godlove (1946-58) who recorded 67 wins. Schurig is 7-1 against Emporia State - tied for the most wins against any school with Truman who the Ichabods topped last weekend.
Emporia State head coach Garin Higgins has compiled a career record of 65-38 in his seventh year as a head coach. He is 14-29 in his fourth season at his alma mater. He had a 51-9 career record as the head coach at Northwestern Oklahoma, including two trips to the national championship game. Higgins was a quarterback for ESU from 1987-90 and was on the 1989 national runners-up team. He is 0-3 against Washburn coaching the Hornets.
Last time out for the Ichabods . . .
(Oct. 30, 2010) KIRKSVILLE, Mo. -- The Washburn Ichabods rolled off 38 unanswered points turning a 9-7 deficit into a 45-12 win over Truman. Washburn (5-4, 4-3 MIAA) will be back in action in its final home game of the season when they will play host to Emporia State on Saturday in Yager Stadium with a 2:20 p.m. start time.
The Bulldogs scored first to open the scoring after the Ichabods were forced to punt on the opening drive of the game and marched 84 yards capped by a 2-yard Phillip Davis run. However the Ichabods took only 2:19 to respond when the Ichabods knotted the score on a 26-yard touchdown pass from
Dane Simoneau to Tore Hurst.
The Bulldogs added two more points on a safety when the Ichabods special team units faltered with a bad snap going over
Austin Hills' head into the end zone and Hills pushed it back for the two points for the Bulldogs pushing the Bulldogs to a 9-7 lead with eight minutes to play in the first half.
The Ichabos scored 14 points in the final 2:02 of the first half after forcing a punt. The first score was on a Simoneau to DeJuan Beard pass play covering 32 yards. After a quick three and out by the Bulldogs, Washburn took possession at the Truman 25 after a personal foul on the Bulldogs and it took three plays for the Ichabods
Justin Cooper scoring from one yard out with 13 seconds to play in the half sending the Ichabods into the locker room with a 21-9 lead.
The Ichabods conintued their run of 38 straight points with a 32-yard field goal by
Steve Ivanisevic. Simoneau connectd with
Ronnell Garner on a 8-yard touchdown pass stretching the Ichabod lead to 31-9 with 5:35 to play in the third quarter.
Cameron Kasel came in at quarterback and engineered a 7-play, 68-yard dirve when he hit Garner for his second touchdown reception of the game on a 22-yard catch from Kasel putting the ichabods up 38-9 with 10:19 to go in the game. After a Bulldog punt,
Terrence Lowe rushed around the right side for a 39-yard dash putting the Ichabods up 45-9.
Truman added a Derek Koon field goal with three minutes to go in the game.
Lowe had 64 yards and one touchdown while Simoneau finished 15 of 25 for 237 yards and three touchdowns.
Joe Hastings finished with 108 yards on four catches going over the 1,000-yard mark for the season becoming the first Ichabod to record at least that many yards since Sam Sissom did in 2004. Hastings now has 1,095 yards this season. Beard had 65 yards on six catches as the Ichabods finished with 309 yards receiving on the day.
Dakota Palan-Johnson had a career-high 11 tackles with one tackle for loss and one sack.
Michael Wilhoite had nine tackels. Truman had 97 total yards the first quarter and finished the game with 194 yards and 13 first downs.
About Emporia State . . .
Emporia State brings a 5-5 record into Saturday's game along with a 3-5 mark in conference action. The Hornets have dropped their last three games, two of those were on the road.
On offense, the Hornets averaging 22.2 points and 301.2 total yards per game (169.6 rushing, 131.6 passing).
Sophomore quarterback Tyler Eckenrode leads the Hornets offensive attack completing 91 of 191 passes (.476) for 1158 yards (128.7 ypg) and 12 touchdowns with eight interceptions. He's also rushed the ball 69 times for 181 yards (2.6 ypc) and three scores.
Sophomore wide receiver Shjuan Richardson has been Eckenrode's favorite target catching 27 passes for 554 yards (20.5 ypc) and five touchdowns.
Junior wide receiver Benjaman Love also has 15 catches for 162 yards and two TDs, while senior tight end Tracy Hageman has 11 grabs for 121 yards (11.0 ypc) and two scores.
Senior tailback Kevin Smart has rushed the ball a team-leading 116 times for 440 yards (3.8 ypc) and four touchdowns, while junior Adrian Abner has 88 carries for 374 yards (4.2 ypc) and two touchdowns. Junior Dasor Horton has 64 attempts for 264 yards (4.1 ypc).
Defensively, the Hornets enter Saturday's action allowing 25.5 points and 346.0 total yards per game (144.3 rushing, 201.7 passing).
Michael Luthi leadsthe team with 57 tackles with 28 solostops and two tackles for loss along with three interceptions. Nathan Linsey has recorded 55 tackles (40 solo). He also has 6.0 TFLs, an interception and seven PBUs.
Senior defensive end Daniel Webb also has logged 42 stops (28 solo) with a team-leading 16.0 TFLs and 8.5 quarterback sacks.
Sophomore safety Derek Lohmann (6-1, 206) has a team-leading five interceptions as well as seven PBUs.
Junior placekicker Zak King has converted 8 of 13 field goal attempts on the season – all from inside 40 yards. He is 23-for-27 on PAT attempts.
Junior Tyler Chilson has punted the ball 59 times for a 40.3 yard average with 18 kicks inside the opponent 20 yard line.
Last time out for the Emporia State . . .
(Oct. 30, 2010) - (ESU Sports Information) October 30, 2010-Emporia State was flagged for a season high 12 penalties for 112 yards in a 45-14 loss at Missouri Western.
The Griffons took the opening kick-off and went 51 yards on four plays to take an early lead on Thomas Hodges' one yard run. The extra point missed and ESU trailed 6-0 with 13:37 left in the quarter. The Hornets answered quickly, getting a 61 yard completion from Sheldon Smith to Shjuan Richardson on their first play from scrimmage. Three plays later Smith would take the ball in from five yards out and Zak King's PAT gave the Hornets a 7-6 lead with 11:34 left in the quarter.
Both defenses settled down the rest of the quarter as the second quarter opened with ESU leading 7-6. Hodges scored his second one yard touchdown of the game and Drew Newhart's pass to David Fowler put MWSU ahead 14-7 with 14:06 left in the half.
MWSU took a 21-7 lead with 6:43 left on Newhart's four yard pass to Andrew Mead to cap a six play, 62 yard drive.
Derwin Hall took the ensuing kick-off 85 yards before stepping out of bounds at the Griffon 12 yard line. Smith would hook up with Tracy Hageman from seven yards out to pull ESU within 21-14 with 4:07 remaining in the half. MWSU answerer right back with a 10 play, 55 yard drive to go up 28-14 with 21 seconds left in the half.
ESU came out in the second half and took the ball to the MWSU 20 yard line, when offensive lineman Ayo Ademiluyi was called for a face mask penalty pushing ESU back to the 35 yard line. ESU could not convert and punted to the MWSU nine yard line. The Griffons then went 91 yards on 20 plays, eating up 9:37 before Newhart found Mead in the end zone for a 35-14 lead with 1:37 left in the third quarter. The drive was aided by a running into the kicker penalty on fourth and three from the Griffon 44 yard line.
The Griffons final score came on Hodges third one yard touchdown run of the day with 9:31 left in the game.
Smith led all rushers with 92 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown and was five of 11 for 98 yards and a touchdown. Shjuan Richardson was the leading receiver for ESU with three catches for 84 yards. Defensively David Harris was credited with a game high eight tackles.
Series Notes . . .
Saturday's meeting is the 107th 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 51-49-6. The Ichabods have won seven of the last eight meetings and the last six overall The Ichabods have won the last four games played in Topeka and the last three in Emporia. The Ichabods are looking for their seventh-straight win in the series -- the longest winning streak by either team in the series since ESU won 11 straight from 1991 to 2001.
Series Record: ESU leads 51-49-6
First Meeting: ESU 11, WU 0 (1899)
Last Meeting: WU 56-35 (11/7/09) in Emporia
Last WU win: 56-35 (11/7/09) in Emporia
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)
Last meeting with the Hornets . . .
(Nov. 7, 2009) EMPORIA, Kan. -- The Washburn Ichabods wrapped up the regular season with an 8-3 record turning a tie game into 21-point win over Emporia State in the Turnpike Tussle. The win was the sixth in a row for the Ichabods over the Hornets.
The Ichabods jumped on the board early when
Brad Haug scored a 7-yard punt return touchdown off a
Michael Krajicek block putting the Ichabods up 7-0 at the 12:58 mark of the first quarter. On the ensuing kickoff,
Patrick Myrick forced a Hornet fumble, which was recovered by Haug at the ESU 14 yard line. Two plays later,
Dane Simoneau hit
Brad Cole in the back of the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown pass putting the Ichabods up 14-0 two minutes and 52 seconds into the game.
Emporia State cut the lead in half when Sheldon Smith connected on a 68-yard pass to Danny McEvoy with 6:28 to play in the opening period.
Cole pulled down his second touchdown reception of the first quarter - this time a 20-yard pass from Simoneau with 6:28 remaining putting Washburn up 21-7. The Hornets tied the score on their next possession with Smith scored from 4-yards out with 45 seconds to play in the first quarter.
Haug scored his second touchdown on the ground at the 11:09 mark capping an 11-play, 79-yard drive. ESU scored back to back touchdowns to knot the score at 28 going into the halftime break.
In the second half, the Ichabods took the opening kickoff and marched 76 yards in three plays - two on carries of 27- and 46-yards by
Vershon Moore with Haug rushing for his third touchdown of the afternoon on a 1-yard plunge.
Moore recorded a 4-yard touchdown run of hre own at the 10:13 mark of the third quarter stretching the Washburn lead to 42-28.
After forcing a punting situation for the Hornets, Washburn's Krajicek blocked his second punt attempt of the afternoon and scooped it up for a 5-yard touchdown return. Washburn wrapped up their scoring on a 55-yard pass reception from Simoneau to
Drameagon Powers putting the Ichabods up 5-28.
ESU scored a touchdown with 47 seconds to go in the game when Smith scored from 2-yards out.
Moore finished the game with 154 yards on 13 carries while averaging 11.8 yards per attempt to lead the Ichabod rushing attack.
Simoneau, who finished 18 of 26 with 324 yards and three touchdowns, became Washburn's single-season passing leader with 2,955 yards on the season. He also recorded a new single-season total offense record with 2,923 yards.
Receiving, Cole finished with 81 yards and two touchdowns with 81 yards and Powers had three catches for 79 yards. Ten different Ichabods recorded at least one reception.
Defensively,
Brandon Jackson and
Marty Pfannenstiel had 10 tackles. Krajicek along with his two blocked punts, recorded eight tackles with three tackles for loss.
The Ichabods racked up 528 yards in total offense and with the 56 points scored against Emporia State, the Ichabods set a school record for the most points in a season with pushing their total to 449 breaking the previous record of 430.
Washburn Football History . . .
Washburn is 502-549-44 in the 120th year of Ichabod football.
A win for Washburn would . . .
lift the Ichabods to 503-549-44 in their football history … move the Ichabods to 6-4 on the season and 5-3 in MIAA play … secure the Ichabods seventh straight winning season … improve the Ichabods to 50-51-6 all-time against the Hornets … be the seventh straight win in the series for the Ichabods … be the fifth straight win for the Ichabods over the Hornets in Topeka.
A loss for Washburn would . . .
drop the Ichabods to 502-550-44 in their football history … drop the Ichabods to 5-5 on the season and 4-4 in MIAA play … drop the Ichabods to 52-49-6 all-time against the Hornets … snap the Ichabods' six-game winning streak over the Hornets … be ESU's first win over the Ichabods since a 35-28 overtime win in Emporia on Sept. 20, 2003.
Truman revisited . . . the win . . .
lifted the Ichabods to 502-549-44 in their football history … moved the Ichabods to 5-4 on the season and 4-3 in MIAA play … improved the Ichabods to 10-18 all-time against the Bulldogs … was the fourth straight win in the series for the Ichabods.
The Ichabods in the National Polls . . .
The Ichabods received four vote in the AFCA Coaches top 25 poll this week.
Bods and Ends . . .
Average Joe? - Senior wide receiver
Joe Hastings tied a school record with 13 receptions against the Orediggers in the season opener tallying 201 receiving yards in the process … against Nebraska-Omaha he tied another school record with four receiving touchdowns … against Truman game he pushed his single-season total to 1,095 yards and 61 receptions becoming the first Ichabod receiver to go over the 1,000-yard plateau since Sam Sissom gained 1,109 yards in 2004 on 65 receptions … he leads the MIAA lead receiving yards per game with 121.7 yards per game averaging 18.0 yards per catch … he is second in the MIAA in receptions per game with 6.8 and … prior to this season his Washburn career numbers were 32 catches for 487 yards and one touchdown … he is also second in the MIAA in scoring averaging 9.0 ppg … Hastings' 1,095 yards is sixth on the Ichabod single-season receiving chart and his 61 receptions are fifth on the single-season chart.
Quick Kicks - Washburn's
Steve Ivanisevic has connected on 31 of his 35 career field goal attempts and 88 of 91 extra point attempts … his 31 field goals made are third all-time at Washburn and the 88 extra points are fourth all time at Washburn … his 88.6 percent field goal percentage is first all-time at Washburn and tops in MIAA history as well among kickers who have at least 20 made field goals … against UNO he tied his own school record for the third time converting four field goal attempts in the same game … other games with four field goals were NWMSU on 10/24/09 and MSSU on 9/12/09.
Red Zone is Blue Zone for Ichabods - This season again the Ichabods are making the most of the opportunities inside the opponent's 20 yards line scoring 33 times on 39 trips into the redzone with 24 touchdowns and nine field goals. In 2009, the Ichabods scored in 54 of 59 trips inside their opponents redzone and have scored touchdowns on 39 of those trips with 22 coming on the ground. Opponents have scored 26 times in 29 trips inside the redzone scoring 21 touchdowns with five field goals this season.
Sim-City - Junior signal caller
Dane Simoneau has started the last 25 games … has passed for 6,249 yards averaging 231 yards per game in his career passing … he has thrown for 55 touchdowns completing 57.4 percent of his passing attempts … he has thrown for at least 300 yards in a game nine times … against Northwest Missouri, Simoneau became the third Ichabod signal-caller to go over 6,000 passing yards in a career … he trails Tyler Schuerman (2000-04) who passed for 6,525 yards and Ichabods' all-time leader Jordan Brill (2004-07) who passed for 7,041 yards. He enters the ESU game with 55 career touchdown passes which ranks second all-time at Washburn. Brill passed for 57 touchdowns at Washburn.
Tell me Moore - Sophomore running back
Vershon Moore leads the team and the MIAA in rushing yards averaging 114.4 yards per game as the only conference running back averaging at least 100 yards per game and he is third in the MIAA in all-purpose yards with 131.4 yards per game … he sat out the Truman game last weekend … he has recorded 1,876 career rushing yards and 17 touchdowns averaging 6.1 yards per carry and 98.7 yards per game in 19 career appearances … he has moved into eighth all-time on the Ichabod rushing charts. Moore enters the Truman game with 915 yards this season looking to become the sixth Ichabod to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season and the first since 2007 when Ra'Shawn Mosley ran for 1,199.
Hanging with Mr. Cooper - Junior running back
Justin Cooper has rushed for 438 yards this season and five touchdowns while going over the 1,000-yard mark for his career … he is 13th on the all-time rushing chart with 1,389 yards.
Rare air - Senior punter
Austin Hills is averaging 39.5 yards per punt this season on 33 attempts, a total which would rank fifth in the MIAA this season if he had the NCAA minimum of 3.6 attempts per game … his net punting average of 30.8 yards per punt is ninth in the MIAA … his 5,356 punting yards is eighth all-time at Washburn and his 39.4 yards per punt average is fourth trailing Kevin Cummings (1979-80) who had a 39.99 yards per punt average.
Block party - The Ichabods have blocked five punts this season with
Brody Schuler leading the way with two … for his career Schuler has three which is tied for third all-time at Washburn for blocked punts.
Ichabods and the non-conference - Since joining the NCAA ranks, the Ichabods are 20-17 in non-MIAA games. Under head coach
Craig Schurig, the Ichabods are 12-6 in non-conference games since the 2002 season during the regular season following the loss to Abilene Christian. In non-conference regular season away games under Schurig, the Ichabods are 6-2 and in home games during the regular season against non-MIAA foes, the Ichabods are 6-4.
Three dot ( . . . ) thoughts
The Ichabods are 21-19 all-time in MIAA road games under
Craig Schurig … the Ichabods are -4 in the turnover battle this season gaining 12 fumble recoveries with four interceptions while giving the ball away 20 times with 11 interceptions and nine fumbles lost … the 20 turnovers is the third-highest total in the MIAA this season ahead of Missouri Southern who has 24 and Central Missouri who has 20 … in first half of games this season the Ichabods are 30 of 59 (.543) on third down conversions … in the second half the Ichabods are 25 of 61 (.413) … in the third quarter the Ichabods are 10 of 25 on third down conversions … Washburn is being outscored 83 to 58 in the fourth quarter this season … the Ichabods have had 80 plays of more than 30 yards with 48 of them coming through the air …
Joe Hastings has 22 plays of more than 30 yards,
Pierre Desir has 10 with nine coming on kickoff returns … the 74-yard touchdown run by
Vershon Moore against NWMSU was the Ichabods' longest scoring play and longest play overall this season …
Payton Iverson and
Brad Haug have seven special teams tackles to lead the team with all of them coming on kickoff coverage for both Ichabods …
Marty Pfannenstiel leads the Ichabods with 65 tackles and of the 65 tackles 42 have come against the rush …
Pierre Desir leads the team with 24 tackles on passing plays … the Ichabods' average starting field position this season has been on the 34 yard line … Ichabod opponent's average starting field position has been the 32 yard line …
Zach Falldorf had a caereer-high 1.5 tackles for loss against ESU last season …
Brad Haug scored a career-high 18 points and three touchdowns against ESU on Nov. 7, 2009.
Ichabods 10th in the NCAA Regional Rankings . . .
The Washburn Ichabods were No. 10 in the first regional rankings which were released this week. The four Ichabod losses this season have come to No. 1 Abilene Christian, No. 2 Central Missouri, No. 4 Northwest Missouri, and No. 7 Missouri Western.
1. Abilene Christian 9-0 9-0
2. Central Missouri 9-1 9-0
3. Texas A&M-Kingsville 8-1 8-1
4. Northwest Missouri State 7-1 7-1
5. West Texas A&M 7-2 7-2
6. Midwestern State 7-2 7-2
7. Missouri Western State 6-3 6-3
8. Central Washington 6-3 5-2
9. Humboldt State 7-2 5-1
10. Washburn 5-4 5-4
Schurig moving up the coaching ranks . . .
Ninth-year head coach
Craig Schurig has compiled a 59-41 all-time record at Washburn. Dick Godlove, who coaches from 1946 to 1958, is the Ichabods' all-time victories leader with 67.
Ichabods on Nov. 6 . . .
Since the 1961 season, the date of when games were available in media guides, the Ichabods are 3-4 on Nov. 6. The Ichabods are 0-2 against the Hornets on Nov. 6 since the 1961 season.
Up next . . .
Washburn will wrap up the regular season at Missouri Southern at 2 p.m. in Joplin.
