Setting the scene...
The Washburn Ichabods will play a December football game for the fourth time in school history as they will take part in the second annual Lower's Heating and Cooling Kanza Bowl which be played on Dec. 4 at Hummer Sports Park in Topeka. The Ichabods will take on the Midwestern State Mustangs from Wichita Falls, Texas. The Ichabods enter the game with a 7-4 record while the Mustangs are 8-3 and ranked No. 24 in the American Football Coaches Association Top 25 Poll and No. 22 in the D2football.com media poll. The game will be the first postseason appearance for the Ichabods since the 2007 NCAA Playoffs when they fell to West Texas A&M in the first round 41-40. The bowl appearance will be the fifth for the Ichabods following the 1974 and 1976 Boot Hill Bowls in Dodge City, Kan., the 1986 Aztec Bowl in Mexico City, Mexico and the 2004 Mineral Water Bowl in Excelsior Springs, Mo.
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.
The Coaches . . .
Washburn head football coach
Craig Schurig was named head coach of the Ichabod football program Dec. 28, 2001. Schurig is 61-41 (.588) in his ninth season as the Ichabod head coach and he is 48-32 (.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 seven straight winning seasons for the first time in the program's history. Schurig's 61 wins is the second-most in school history behind Dick Godlove (1946-58) who recorded 67 wins.
Midwestern State head coach Bill Maskey was hired as the 12th head football coach and fourth of the modern era (since 1988) in March of 2002. In his eighth season, he is the longest-tenured coach in the Lone Star Conference and will serve on the NCAA Divsion II National Football Championship Committee this fall. During his eight seasons at the helm, MSU has posted a record of 60-27 making him the winning coach in Midwestern both in terms of total wins and winning percentage while reaching the NCAA Division II postseason in 2004 and 2006. Maskill is entering his 39th year as a football coach. His coaching experience includes stops as a Division I assistant at Vanderbilt (twice), Southern Methodist, Wake Forest, Oregon, Tulane, Louisville, Arizona State, Bowling Green and Iowa.
Last time out for the Ichabods . . .
(Nov. 13, 2010) JOPLIN, Mo. -- The Washburn Ichabods wrapped up the regular season with a 23-7 win over Missouri Southern sealing a 7-4 regular season record wrapping up their seventh straight winning season for the first time in school history.
The Ichabods took the opening kickoff and marched 67 yards in five plays capped by a 47-yard touchdown strike from
Dane Simoneau to Tore Hurst for the only points of the first quarter. The Lions scored on a Collin Hard pass to Kellen Cox with 9:26 to play in the second quarter tying the score at 7-7.
The Ichabods took the lead for good on a Simoneau to DeJuan Beard six-yard touchdown pass with 7:47 to go in the first half.
Steve Ivanisevic kicked three field goals in the second half for the lone points for either team. The first was from 31-yard outs with 8:09 to play in the third quarter and the other two were at the 13:34 mark of the fourth quarter on a 20-yard connection and with 2:05 left to play in the game, Ivanisevic connected on a 45-yard field goal into the wind.
Simoneau finished the game 25 of 40 for 385 yards and two touchdowns raising his single-season to 3,109 yards breaking his own record set as a sophomore. He has 6,852 career yards passing trailing all-time leader Jordan Brill by 189 yards.
Joe Hastings had 11 catches, tying his career high for 185 yards giving him 77 catches on the season, needing seven more catches to tie the single season of 84 set by Ron Hamilton in 1980.
Jahmil Taylor led the Ichabod defense with 14 tackles including two tackles for loss and one sack.
Sam Pour had a career high seven tackles.
Washburn had 385 yards of total offense while holding the Lions to 175 of offense on the day. Washburn held the Lions to 84 yards of offense in the second half.
About Midwestern State . . .
The Mustangs enter the game with an 8-3 record with a No. 24 ranking the AFCA top 25 coaches poll and No. 23 in the D2football.com media poll. The Mustangs finished the regular season with an 8-3 mark after thumping Northeastern State 28-8 Nov. 13.
MSU has now received a national ranking for each of the last 23 reporting periods after entering the poll at No. 24 on Sep. 14, 2009 and has appeared on at least one ballot in 58 of the last 59 reporting periods dating back to the 2006 season.
The Mustangs are fifth in the Lone Star Conference in scoring a game 33.5 points per game while their defense is allowing 22 points per game which is third in the LSC. The Mustangs are also fifth in total offense with 411.5 yards per game and fourth in total defense allowing 359.2 yards per game. On the ground the Mustangs lead the league at 213 yards per game averaging 5.6 yards per carry with 28 touchdowns. They are 11th overall in passing offense at 198 yards per game. Midwestern State is the most efficient red zone team in the Lone Star Conference converting 44 of 46 chances inside their opponents 20 yard line scoring 34 touchdowns (23 rushing) and 10 field goals.
Marcus Mathis is 10th in the LSC in rushing offense at 71.1 yards per game. Zak Eskridge has completed 175 of 282 passing attempts for a 62 percent average with 17 touchdowns and six interceptions. David Little is the team's leading receiver at 63 yards per game. Eskridge also ranks sixth in total offense at 230 yards per game. Gunter Elenburg is sixth in the league in punting at 39.1 yards per game in 36 attempts.
Ty Duncan and Ryan Craven lead the team with 69 tackles each. J.D. Corcoran has six tackles for loss for 32 yards. Matt Ellerbrock has 8.5 tackles for loss for 24 yards.
Midwestern State has one common opponent as the Ichabods this season in Abilene Christian. The Mustangs fell to the Wildcats 31-28 on Oct. 9 in Abilene.
Last time out for Midwestern State . . .
(Nov. 13, 2010) - (MSU Sports Information) WICHITA FALLS, Texas - Midwestern State's Lester Bush ran for 149 yards and two touchdowns to lead the 25th-ranked Mustangs to a 28-8 Lone Star Conference crossover win over Northeastern State Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.
The Mustangs rolled up 325 rushing yards to overcome an early 8-0 deficit led by Brandon Kelsey, who made his first collegiate start in place of injured starter Zack Eskridge.
Kelsey rushed for 99 yards on 10 carries including a 6-yard scoring run in the second quarter while also completing 8-of-12 passes for 68 yards.
Northeastern State drew first blood in the game when Josh Lewis scored from 1-yard out for an early 8-0 lead before Kelsey and Bush rushed for scores in the second quarter to give the Mustangs a 14-8 halftime advantage.
Keidrick Jackson scored on a 4-yard run in the thiird quarter before Bush closed out the scoring with a 15-yard run in the fourth.
Kenny Davis paced the RiverHawks with 258 yards on 19-of-27 passing, but was intercepted twice and sacked six times, while Edward Victorian had four receptions for 104 yards.
Midwestern State improved to 8-3 while the LSC North Division co-champion RiverHawks close the season at 6-5.
Midwestern State schedule and results. . .
Sept. 2 at New Mexico Highlands W 52-6
Sept. 11 at Eastern New Mexico W 44-17
Sept. 18 SOUTHWESTERN OKLA. W 46-9
Sept. 25 at Central Oklahoma W 30-24
Oct. 2 INCARNATE WORD WO 38-31
Oct. 9 at #5 Abilene Christian L 28-31
Oct. 16 ANGELO STATE W 35-21
Oct. 23 at #17 West Texas A&M L 29-42
Oct. 30 TARLETON STATE W 31-26
Nov. 6 at #4 Texas A&M-Kingsville L 7-27
Nov. 13 NORTHEASTERN STATE W 28-8
Series Notes . . .
The Kanza Bowl meeting will be the first between the two teams in the programs' history.
Washburn Football History . . .
Washburn is 504-549-44 in the 120th year of Ichabod football.
A win for Washburn would . . .
lift the Ichabods to 505-549-44 in their football history … move the Ichabods to 8-4 on the season … be the 11th time in the program's history the Ichabods would have recorded at least eight wins … be the fifth time the Ichabods have recorded at least eight wins under head coach
Craig Schurig in nine seasons … improve the Ichabods to 3-5 in postseason games … improve the Ichabods to 3-1 in bowl games (the 1986 Aztec Bowl is not counted as a win because the game was not against collegiate competition).
A loss for Washburn would . . .
drop the Ichabods to 504-550-44 in their football history … drop the Ichabods to 7-5 on the season … drop the Ichabods to 2-6 in postseason games … drop the Ichabods to 2-2 in bowl games.
Missouri Southern revisited . . . the win . . .
lifted the Ichabods to 504-549-44 in their football history … moved the Ichabods to 7-4 on the season and 6-3 in MIAA play … was the eighth-straight win over the Lions … evened the series at 20-20-1 all-time between the the schools … was the fourth-straight win over the Lions in Joplin … gave the Ichabods at least seven wins in a season for the 23rd time in the program's history and the sixth time under head coach
Craig Schurig … the six MIAA wins would tie the 2004, 2006 and 2009 Ichabod teams for third in conference wins behind the 2005 and 2007 teams who recorded seven wins.
The Ichabods in the National Polls . . .
The Ichabods received seven points in the AFCA Coaches top 25 poll this week … counting the poll out the Ichabods would be 36th overall.
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 Missouri Southern he pushed his single-season receiving total to 1,323 yards and 77 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 … the 1,323 receiving yards are the second-best single season total in school history … he leads the MIAA lead receiving yards per game with 120.3 yards per game averaging 17.2 yards per catch … he is second in the MIAA in receptions per game with 7.0 … prior to this season his Washburn career numbers were 32 catches for 487 yards and one touchdown … he is also fifth in the MIAA in scoring averaging 7.6 ppg … Hastings' 1,323 yards is second on the Ichabod single-season receiving chart, trailing Troy Slusser's 1,512 yards in 1988 … his 77 receptions are second on the single-season chart trailing Ron Hamilton's 84 from 1980 … his 1,810 career receiving yards is seventh all-time at Washbun and his 109 career receptions is ninth in school history.
Quick Kicks - Washburn's
Steve Ivanisevic has connected on 34 of his 38 career field goal attempts and 96 of 99 extra point attempts … his 34 field goals made are second all-time trailing Chad Todd's 36 (1997-2000) at Washburn and the 96 extra points are third all time at Washburn trailing Chad Todd's 102 and Connor Sabel's 157 … his 89.5 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 Northwest Missouri on Oct. 24, 2009 and Missouri Southern on Sept. 12, 2009 … his 34 career field goals trails Nick Kresic's 35 (1983-86) and Chad Todd's (1997-2000) school-best 36 … his 198 career points scored is seventh at Washburn and with two more points he would become the seventh Ichabod to score at least 200 points in a career and the first Ichabod to score at least points in only two seasons.
Sim-City - Junior signal caller
Dane Simoneau has started the last 27 games … has passed for 6,852 yards averaging 236 yards per game in his career passing … he has thrown for a school-record 61 touchdowns completing 57.6 percent of his career passing attempts … he has thrown for at least 300 yards in a game ten times … he trails Ichabod all-time passing leader Jordan Brill (2004-07) who passed for 7,041 yards by 189 yards … against Missouri Southern he became the school's all-time leader in passing completions raising his total to 453 passing Jordan Brill's 446 career completions … Simoneau already has the Washburn single-season completion record with 205 … Simoneau also set the single-season passing record in the Missouri Southern game raising his total up to 3,083 yards becoming the first Ichabod to pass for more than 3,000 yards in a season … he also owns the Ichabod career touchdown passing mark at 61 and the single season record of 30 both set this season … he also owns the Ichabod single season total offensive record at 3,083 yards breaking his own record of 2,922 set in 2009 … he has recorded 6,736 career total offensive yards which is third on the all-time chart behind Jordan Brill's 6,766 yards and Tyler Schuerman's 8,315 yards.
Tell me Moore - Sophomore running back
Vershon Moore leads the team and the MIAA in rushing yards averaging 106.6 yards per game as the only conference running back averaging at least 100 yards per game and he is fifth in the MIAA in all-purpose yards with 131.4 yards per game … he sat out the Truman and Emporia State games this season … he has recorded 1,920 career rushing yards and 17 touchdowns averaging 6.0 yards per carry and 96 yards per game in 20 career appearances … he has moved into eighth all-time on the Ichabod rushing charts … Moore enters the Midwestern State game with 959 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 530 yards this season and six touchdowns while going over the 1,000-yard mark for his career … he is 13th on the all-time rushing chart with 1,481 yards.
Fear the Beard - Ichabod redshirt freshman DeJuan Beard is second in the MIAA punt returns with a 12.4 yard per return average … this season he is averaging 61.1 all purpose yards per game adding 23 catches for 337 yards and four touchdown receptions averaging 14.7 yards per catch … he is second on the team with 23 receptions.
Rare air - Senior punter
Austin Hills is averaging 40.0 yards per punt this season on 39 attempts, which is fifth in the MIAA if he averaged the 3.6 punts per game to be ranked … his net punting average of 32.7 yards per punt is sixth in the MIAA … his 5,613 punting yards is seventh all-time at Washburn and his 39.5 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.
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 42 times on 49 trips into the red zone with 31 touchdowns and 11 field goals. In 2009, the Ichabods scored in 54 of 59 trips inside their opponents red zone and have scored touchdowns on 39 of those trips with 22 coming on the ground. Opponents have scored 27 times in 31 trips inside the red zone scoring 22 touchdowns with five field goals this season.
Ichabods vs the Lone Star Conference - The Ichabods are 0-4 against the Lone Star Conference falling twice to Texas A&M-Commerce (then called East Texas State) during the 1977 and 1978 seasons and falling to West Texas A&M in the NCAA playoffs and to Abielene Christian in Topeka earlier this season. The NAIA Ichabods took on then East Central and dropped a 36-35 game on Sept. 24, 1977 and on Sept. 23, 1978 in a 33-3 decision. Under head coach
Craig Schurig, Washburn is 0-2. The Ichabods did take on current member Northeastern State on Sept. 24, 1988 when the Ichabods fell 35-30 when Washburn was still a member of the NAIA as was Northeastern State. Washburn also took on current LSC member East Central (Okla.) on Nov. 6, 1976 and lost a 30-24 decision when East Central was a member of the NAIA.
Three dot ( . . . ) thoughts
The Ichabods are 22-19 all-time in MIAA road games under
Craig Schurig … the Ichabods are -5 in the turnover battle this season gaining 13 fumble recoveries with seven interceptions while giving the ball away 25 times with 11 interceptions and 14 fumbles lost … the 25 turnovers is the tied for the most in the MIAA this season with Pittsburg State … in first half of games this season the Ichabods are 36 of 71 (.507) on third down conversions … in the second half the Ichabods are 36 of 80 (.450) … in the first quarter the Ichabods are 17 of 30 on third down conversions … Washburn is being outscored 83 to 64 in the fourth quarter this season … Washburn is outscoring opponents 113 to 94 in the second quarter and 113 to 68 in the third quarter … the Ichabods have had 95 plays of more than 30 yards with 58 of them coming through the air …
Joe Hastings has 26 plays of more than 30 yards with all of them coming through the air … DeJuan Beard has 12 with nine on receptions, two on punt returns and one on kickoff returns …
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 …
Greg Schoenberg leads the team in special teams with eight tackles with five coming on kickoff coverage units …
Marty Pfannenstiel and
Jahmil Taylor lead the team with 81 tackles each … Pfannenstiel leads the team with 52 tackles against opponents running plays …
Pierre Desir leads the team with 27 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 31 yard line.
Ichabods in the postseason play . . .
The Washburn Ichabods are making their fifth bowl game appearance also having played in two NAIA postseason games and two NCAA postseason appearance in 2005 and 2007 for their eighth overall postseason appearance. The Ichabods are 2-5 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 as the game was not played against collegiate competition.
Record – 2-5
11/30/74 - Boot Hill Bowl - Dodge City, Kan.
Washburn 21, Millikin (Ill.) 7
11/20/76 - Boot Hill Bowl - Dodge City, Kan.
Benedictine 29, Washburn 14
12/6/86 - NAIA Quarterfinals - Pittsburg, Kan.
Pittsburg State 58, Washburn 24
11/27/88 - NAIA Quarterfinals - Monticello, Ark.
Arkansas-Monticello 20, Washburn 13
12/20/86 - Aztec Bowl - Exhibition - Mexico City, Mexico
Washburn 27, Mexican All-Stars 8
12/4/04 - Mineral Water Bowl - Excelsior Springs, Mo.
Washburn 36, Northern State 33
11/19/05 - NCAA Second Round Playoffs - Topeka, Kan.
Northwest Missouri 42, Washburn 32
11/17/07 – NCAA First Round Playoffs - Canyon, Texas
West Texas A&M 40, Washburn 39
Team single season records in reach or already have been broken. . .
Category Record, year Currently
Passing yards 3,214 (2009) 3,229 (2010)**
Passing TD's 34 (2004) 31 (2010)
Receiving yards 3,214 (2009) 2,844 (2010)
Passing completion pct. 59.3 (1983) 58.6 (2010)
Total offense 5,208 (2009) 5,004 (2010)
Total points scored 449 (2009) 401 (2010)
**new school record already set
Schurig moving up the coaching ranks . . .
Ninth-year head coach
Craig Schurig has compiled a 61-41 all-time record at Washburn. Dick Godlove, who coaches from 1946 to 1958, is the Ichabods' all-time victories leader with 67.
Ichabods on Dec. 4 . . .
Since the 1961 season, the date of when games were available in media guides, the Ichabods are 1-0 on Dec. 4 in their only game played on that date in a 36-33 win over Northern State in the 2004 Mineral Water Bowl.
Up next . . .
The Ichabods will open the 2011 season when they will play host to Nebraska-Omaha on Sept. 3 in Yager Stadium. The Mavericks will be one of six home games during the 2011 season including a Sept. 10th home date with Lincoln in the Blue Tigers' first MIAA game.
Ichabod junior quarterback
Dane Simoneau
Ichabod senior wide receiver
Joe Hastings
Ichabod senior safety
Michael Wilhoite
Ichabod head coach
Craig Schurig
