• The Washburn Ichabods return to Yager Stadium on Sept. 6 to home the home slate with top-10 ranked Northwest Missouri.
• Tonight's game will be the second-straight season the Ichabods have open the home schedule with Northwest Missouri.
• In 2017, the No. 1-ranked Bearcats held off a final drive by the Ichabods picking up a 20-14 win over the Ichabods.
• Northwest leads the all-time series 31-6 winning the last 13 meetings.
• Washburn's last win in the series came in a 31-28 win in Maryville on Oct. 8, 2005 en route to the Ichabods' only MIAA football championship.
• The Ichabods will be looking to snap a 12-game winning streak by the Bearcats in Topeka.
• Washburn's last win over the Bearcats in Yager Stadium came on Oct. 8, 1994 in a 48-14 win.
• The Bearcats are coming off a 28-6 win over Missouri Western in their home opener.
• The Bearcats were 9-3 last season falling in the opening round of the NCAA Playoffs.
• Washburn improved to 76-46-6 all-time in season openers with their win over Lindenwood on Aug. 30 in St. Charles in the 27-14 win while winning its third-straight season-opening game.
• In the win over Lindenwood last week, the Ichabod defense allowed only 85 yards by the Lions in the win.
• The Ichabods are coming off a 7-5 season going 6-5 in the MIAA winning the Heart of Texas Bowl in Copperas Cove, Texas 41-25 over Angelo State in their seventh postseason appearance under 17th-year head coach Craig Schurig and their 13th overall in program history.
• The Ichabods were picked seventh in both the MIAA Coaches and Media preseason polls.
• The Ichabods were one of six MIAA teams who earned postseason berths in 2017 with four going to postseason bowl games and two in the NCAA Playoffs … all four MIAA teams won their bowl games (Central Oklahoma, Pittsburg State, Central Missouri and Washburn).
•  Three of the four Kansas NCAA Division II postseason schools earned postseason berths this year with Fort Hays State as the No. 1 seed in the Division II for the playoffs, Pittsburg State at the Texarkana Bowl and Washburn in the Heart of Texas Bowl.
  • The Ichabods are 6-31 all-time against Northwest Missouri.
• The Bearcats have won the last 13 meetings.
• Washburn's last win came in a 31-28 win on Oct. 8, 2005 in Maryville when the Ichabods went on to win the MIAA championship.
• The Bearcats are 15-4 in games played in Topeka and 16-2 in games played in Maryville.
• Overall the Bearcats have won the last 12 games in Topeka. Washburn's last win in Yager Stadium over the Bearcats came in 1994 in a 48-14 win on Oct. 8, 1994.
  Washburn Ichabod head coach Craig Schurig . . .
•  was named head coach of the Ichabod football program Dec. 28, 2001.
•  is 111-74 (.599) in his 17th season as the Ichabod head coach.
•  is 92-63 (.603) against the MIAA.
•  has led the Ichabods to three NCAA Playoff appearances and four bowl appearances and three bowl championships.
•  led the Ichabods to the 2005 MIAA regular season outright championship.
•  led the Ichabods to the program's first 10-win season and their first NCAA or NAIA playoff game victory in school history with a win over Abilene Christian during the 2011 season.
•  is Washburn's all-time winningest football coach with 111 wins.
•  is 1-16 against Northwest Missouri.
 
Northwest Missouri head coach Rich Wright . . .
• is in his second season as head coach at Northwest Missouri.
• is 10-3 on the Northwest sidelines as the head coach.
• has been an assistant at NWMSU since 2004 and the defensive coordinator since 2011.
• has gone 173-25 since Wright has been on the Bearcat coaching staff.
• He is 1-0 against Washburn.
  • After one week of action, the Ichabod defense is ranked fourth in the MIAA allowing 263 yards in the win over Lindenwood while limiting the Lions to 85 in the second half.
• Offensively the Ichabods piled up 341 yards with 209 through the air ranking sixth after one week of MIAA play.
• Washburn is ranked fourth in both scoring offense and scoring defense scoring 27 points while allowing 14.
• Blake Peterson is ranked fourth in passing at 209 yards per game in the MIAA rankings … he is tied for second in scoring at 12.0 points per game.
• James Brania-Hopp is fourth in the MIAA in receiving yards per game at 89 yards.
• Perry Schmiedeler is sixth in the MIAA in overall scoring at 9.0 points per game while leading all kick scoring in the conference.
• Austin Tillman is tied for the league-lead in tackles at 15 per game.
• Derrick McGreevy is seventh in the league in tackles at 13 per game.
• Heath Tucker's two forced fumbles leads the MIAA and is halfway to the Ichabod single season record of four set by Corey Phipps in 1999. • Northwest Missouri was the preseason favorite by both the media and coaches to win the 2018 MIAA football championship. The Bearcats received 14 first-place votes and 382 points in the media poll. Northwest had four first-place votes and 103 points in the coaches poll.
• The Bearcats topped Missouri Western in their season opener 28-6 last time out.
• Redshirt freshman quarterback Braden Wright rushed for 63 yards and passed for 216 yards and three scores in the win over the Griffons.
• Former Griffon Josh Caldwell had 42 yards rushing for the Bearcats playing against his old team.
• Shawn Bane had four catches for 102 yards and a touchdown.
• Defensively Jack Richards had 13 tackles and Andy Hessley has 10 tackles with four for loss to lead the Bearcats.
  (Aug. 30, 2018) ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The Washburn Ichabods opened the 2018 season with a 27-14 win over Lindenwood on the road.
The Ichabods held the Lions to 85 total yards in the second half pitching a shutout after taking a 17-14 lead into the locker room after Perry Schmiedeler connected on a 19-yard field goal. Schmiedeler moved into the top spot on the Ichabod kick scoring chart recording his 217th point of his career passing Chad Todd who had 210 from 1998-2000. Schmiedeler's 217 points ranks sixth overall on the scoring chart.
Washburn jumped on the board first with a 7-0 lead on a Blake Peterson's 3-yard touchdown run on the Ichabods' second drive of the season capping a six-play, 63-yard drive. The 3-yard plunge was set up by a Peterson to James Brania-Hopp 41-yard connection down to the Lion three yard line.
The Lions came back on the ensuing drive to tie the score on a 4-yard run with 12:48 left in the first half finishing off an 83-yard drive in 15 plays and would take the lead at 14-7 with 6:34 to go in the half after forcing an Ichabod three-and-out.
Washburn took the kickoff and marched 67 yards in 12 plays converting three third down conversion attempts and a fourth down attempt as Curtis Whitten recorded his first collegiate touchdown with a 1-yard run knotting the score at 14-14 with 1:46 to play in the half. The Ichabod defense would then hold the Lions to another three-and-out and Washburn moved into the half capping a 78-yard drive on Schmiedeler's 19-yard score sending Washburn to a 17-14 halftime lead.
On the Lion's first drive of the second half, the Ichabods defense forced Lindenwood into a punt and James Letcher, Jr., returned it 51 yards setting the Ichabods up at the Lion 10 yard line and two plays later Peterson scrambled from nine yards out to put Washburn up 24-14. Letcher, Jr., finished with five punt returns for 122 yards averaging 24.4 yards per return.
Neither team would score until 48 seconds left in the third quarter when Schmiedeler hit a 45-yard field goal staking the Ichabods to a 27-14 lead. The Ichabod defense limited the Lions to 35 yards of offense in the third quarter including -1 rushing yards.
The Ichabods and Lions combined for six punts and two interceptions in the fourth quarter including a Washburn interception by Alvin Houston at the Lion 27.
Washburn (1-0) held the Lions to 262 yards in the shutout during the second half and were led by Austin Tillman's 15 tackles (8 solo) and a fumble recovery while Derrick McGreevy had 11. Heath Tucker forced two fumbles in the win as the Ichabods had nine tackles for loss including a team-high 2.0 for 8 yards by true freshman Braden Rose.
Whitten led the Ichabods on the ground with 49 yards on 12 carries and Peterson finished with 45 yards. Brania-Hopp had four catches for 89 yards and Letcher, Jr. had four grabs for 43 yards en route to 204 all-purpose yards..
  • lift the Ichabods to 551-579-44 in their football history.
• improve the Ichabods to 7-31 all-time against the Bearcats.
• improve the Ichabods to 2-0 on the season.
• be the first win against Northwest Missouri since a 31-28 win on Oct. 8, 2005 in Maryville when the Ichabods went on to win the MIAA championship.
• snap an 13-game losing streak to the Bearcats overall and a 12-game losing streak to Northwest Missouri in games played in Topeka … Washburn's last win over NWMSU in Topeka was on Oct. 8, 1994.
  • drop the Ichabods to 550-580-44 in their football history.
• drop the Ichabods to 1-1 on the season.
• drop the Ichabods to 6-32 all-time against the Bearcats.
• mark the second-straight season the Ichabods have opened the home schedule with a loss to the Bearcats.
  •  Washburn is 550-579-44 (.484) in the 128th year of Ichabod football.
•  The Ichabods are ranked 15th in NCAA Division II history in wins.
•  The Ichabods have 12 conference titles with the last coming in 2005 in the MIAA.
•  Washburn has had 142 first team all-MIAA picks and 48 first team all-MIAA selections.
•  Washburn has had 78 All-American selections and 54 All-American picks since joining the NCAA Division II ranks in 1989.
•  Washburn has made 12 postseason appearances including bowl games and tournament games going 5-2 in seven bowl games.
•  Five Ichabods have been picked in the NFL Draft.
  WACO, Texas -- For the 12th time in the last 15 years, the Washburn Ichabod football team received votes in the American Football Coaches Association Top 25 Coaches presason poll released to start the season. The Ichabods are one of eight teams in the MIAA who received votes in the annual preseason poll. The Ichabods, under head coach Craig Schurig, have been ranked or have received votes in the AFCA poll 64 times and have been ranked in the top 10 a total of 15 times.
  The Ichabods will return to the road when they will take on Fort Hays State on Sept. 15 with a 7 p.m. start. Following the game with the Tigers, Washburn will be home on Sept. 22 against Central Missouri as part of the Family Day activities with a 1 p.m. kickoff.