For starters
> The Washburn Ichabods are back on the road this week as they travel to Joplin, Mo., to face the Missouri Southern Lions at 4 p.m. in Hughes Stadium.
> The Ichabods (2-4, 2-4 MIAA) snapped a four-game losing streak in a big way last time out with a 70-13 win over Northeastern State winning their eighth in a row over the RiverHawks.
> The Lions are 1-5 on the season after falling to Missouri Western last time out 43-34.
> The Lions lone win came in a 38-14 victory over Lincoln on Sept. 12 as they will be looking to end a four-game slide against the Ichabods.
> The Ichabods lead the all-time series with the Lions 25-21-1 and have won the last four in a row including a 63-7 win last season in Topeka on Homecoming for the largest Homecoming win in school history.
> The Lions' last win in the series came on Sept. 27, 2014 in a 42-21 win in Joplin.
> Washburn has won 17 of the last 19 in the series.
> Ichabod head coach Craig Schurig will be going for his 100th MIAA win against the Lions … he is 99-72 in MIAA regular season games … Schurig also recorded his 100th overall win against Missouri Southern on Oct. 8, 2016 becoming the fifth MIAA coach to reach 100 overall wins.
> Schurig is 13-2 against Missouri Southern and his 13 wins versus the Lions are the most against any other school.
 
 Series notes
Series Record_________________ WU leads 25-21-1
Streaks_______________________ WU has won the last four
First Meeting__________________ 21-21 (10/17/1970) in Joplin
Last Meeting__________________ WU 63-7 (10/13/2018) in Topeka
Last WU Win__________________ 63-7 (10/13/2018) in Topeka
Last MSSU Win_______________ 42-21 (09/27/2014) in Joplin
Largest WU Win_______________ 63-7 (10/13/2018) in Topeka
Largest MSSU Win____________ 44-14 (10/03/1992) in Joplin
 
 Coaching
Washburn Ichabod head coach Craig Schurig . . .
>  was named head coach of the Ichabod football program Dec. 28, 2001.
>  is 117-84 (.599) in his 18th season as the Ichabod head coach.
>  is 99-72 (.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 116 wins.
>  is 13-2 against Missouri Southern.
 
Missouri Southern head coach Jeff Sims . . .
>  is in his first season as the Lions head coach.
>  comes to the Lions with more than 24 years as a high school and collegiate coach … for the previous four seasons, Sims was the head coach at Garden City where he has led the team to a 32-12 record, including the 2016 Junior College National Championship
>  is 0-0 against Washburn.
 
 Dee's World - Honoring #17 >  Game 1 vs Lincoln - Alvin Houston … Houston had one tackle in the game starting at safety.
>  Game 2 vs Northwest Missouri - James Letcher, Jr. … Letcher had 8 catches for 113 yards and one score and finished with 182 all-purpose yards.
>  Game 3 vs Fort Hays State - Josh Wright … Wright recorded eight tackles with five solo stops and added a pass break up.
>  Game 4 vs Central Missouri - Kevin Neal, Jr. ... Neal led the Ichabods with eight total tackles with a tackle for loss.
>  Game 5 vs Missouri Western - Channon Ross ... Ross had a career-high eight tackles adding a pass breakup.
>  Game 6 vs Northeastern State - James Letcher, Jr. … Letcher had five catches for a team-high 87 yards and one touchdown adding two carries for 21 yards and two punt returns for 35 yards tallying 143 all purpose yards.
>  Game 7 vs Missouri Southern - Channon Ross
>  Game 8 vs Central Oklahoma - Kevin Neal, Jr.
>  Game 9 vs Emporia State - Alvin Houston
>  Game 10 vs Pittsburg State - Senior Day - no one will wear #17
>  Game 11 vs Nebraska-Kearney - Josh Wright
 
 Ichabod team captains
>  The 2019 Ichabod team captains are seniors Kyle Emerick, Kyle Hinton, Alvin Houston, Austen Hubert, Will Jones, Josh Wright and junior Mitch Schurig.
 
 Ichabod notes
> Mitch Schurig has moved into the top 10 list at Washburn on the all-time touchdowns thrown chart … he enters the Missouri Southern game with 26 ranked 10th on the Ichabod chart.
> James Letcher, Jr.'s 28.76 career kickoff return average is currently the best in school history.
> Josh Wright's 25 career passes defended (21 breakups, 4 INTs) is fifth on the Ichabod chart.
> Grant Bruner tied a career high with 10 tackles against the RiverHawks last time out.
> Kameron Lake had a career with 10 point after attempts connecting on all 10 of them against the RiverHawks.
> Marcus Meier had a career high 57 receiving yards against Northeastern State.
> Jamison Phelps had his first career interception against the RiverHawks.
> James Letcher, Jr. is second in the MIAA in all purpose yards per game at 183.0 ypg and he is ranked fourth in the nation in the same category.
> James Letcher, Jr. is 15th in the nation in kickoff return average per game at 29.5 per return ranking third in the MIAA.
> The Ichabods were 29 of 49 (59 percent) on third down the first three games of the season, but in the last three games have gone 11 of 39 (28 percent).
> The Ichabods, who wore the gray jersey tops last weekend against Missouri Western, are 6-7 while wearing those tops since the 2013 season.
 
 Noting the Lions
> The Lions are 1-5 this season dropping their last four games.
> After being held to three points in a 44-3 loss to Fort Hays State, the Lions have scored 42 against Central Missouri (71-42 loss) and 34 against Missouri Western (43-34 loss).
> The Lions are ranked eighth in the MIAA in scoring offense at 29.7 per game and 10th in scoring defense allowing 46.2 per game.
> MSSU has the second-best offensive unit in the MIAA putting up 481.5 yards per game while its defense is ranked 10th allowing 496.2 yards per game.
> The Lions have the No. 1-raked passing offense in the league at 365.0 yards per game, but have the No. 11-ranked rushing offense at 116.5 per game.
> Jacob Park leads the Lions and the MIAA in passing yards per game averaging 347.2 throwing 12 touchdowns and 19 interceptions which also leads the MIAA.
> Charles West is averaging 62.5 yards per game on the ground and he also leads the team with 26 receptions.
> Dwayne Lawson is averaging 19.4 yards per reception with 93 yards per game on 24 catches for three touchdowns.
> Richard Jordan, Jr. leads the team on defense with 48 tackles including 3.5 for loss adding a sack … his father Richard is in the MSSU Hall of Fame and played for the Detroit Lions from 1997 to 1999.
 
 Last meeting with Missouri Southern
(Oct. 13, 2018) TOPEKA, Kan. — The Washburn Ichabod football team celebrated Homecoming with the most-lopsided win in its annual game's history with a 63-7 win over Missouri Southern scoring in all three phases of the game rolling to the victory over the Lions.
Washburn, who set a school record for first downs in the game with 36, scored on its first drive of the game going 66 yards in nine plays when Kamani Addison scored on a 21-yard run needing only 3:16 for the first score of the game.
The Lions (0-7, 0-7 MIAA) then took the ensuing drive down to the Ichabod 1-yard line opting for the 17-yard field goal attempt, but it was blocked by Heath Tucker and Josh Wright scooped it up and rushed 90-yards down the MSSU sidelines for the score putting Washburn up 14-0 with 7:18 to go in the first quarter.
Missouri Southern got on the board taking advantage of a short field after an Ichabod fumble to drive 33 yards on three plays for its only points of the game on a 14-yard score by quarterback Sean Kelly with 2:41 to go in the opening stanza.
Washburn returned on its next drive to go 75 yards which was wrapped up by a 1-yard dive by Mitch Schurig for the score and after a punt by the Lions, Washburn pushed the lead to 28-7 on a 5-yard touchdown completion from Ian Trapp to James Brania-Hopp.
The Ichabod wrapped up the scoring in the first half with a 1-yard run by Will Evans as the Ichabod took a 35-7 lead into the break. Washburn outgained the Lions 173 to 30 in the second quarter alone.
In the third quarter, Washburn held the Lions to a punt on their opening drive and then stretched the lead to 42-7 on a Curtis Whitten one-yard run on the Ichabods' first possession of the half.
It was the Washburn defense turn to score as Dwane Simmons picked off a Kelly pass and returned it 18 yards for the score with 9:28 to play. After holding the Lions to one of their eight punts on the day, Washburn went up 56-7 on a Schurig to Austen Hubert touchdown pass of 10 yards.
To wrap up the scoring, Trapp scored on a 4-yard bootleg run with 5:48 to play in the game moving the Ichabod advantage to 63-7.
The Ichabod outgained the Lions 570 to 182 in the game including a 264 to 95 advantage on the ground and a 306 to 87 margin through the air. Washburn's defense also held the Lions to 1 of 13 on third down conversions.
Trapp led the Ichabods on the ground as 11 different Ichabod had at least one carry in the game with 67 yards. Hunter Browning and Kamani Addison each has 11 carries for 53 and 52 yards respectively. Schurig was 15 of 19 passing for 224 yards and one score and Trapp finished 6 of 7 for 82 yards and a score.
Brania-Hopp had 93 yards receiving and one score on six catches and Will Hamilton had four catches for 64 yards.
On defense, Derrick McGreevy had six tackles to lead Washburn and Garret Barnett-Kruger had five.
The 36 first downs in the game by the Ichabod (while holding the Lions to eight) was the most by a Washburn team since recording 33 against Emporia State in 1998.
 
 Last time out for the Ichabods
(Oct. 12, 2019) TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Washburn Ichabods scored on their first five possessions of the game incuding a stretch of 28-straight rolling to a 70-13 win over Northeastern State Saturday afternoon as nine different Ichabods scored.
The Ichabods took the opening drive of the game going seven plays in 75 yards as Zach Willis capped the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run with 12:40 on the clock. After the Riverhawks (0-6) scored on their opening drive tying the score at 7-7, Washburn's Percy Mitchell scored on a 2-yard plunge capping a 9-play, 88-yard drive with 4:13 to go in the first half.
Washburn went up 21-7 on a 32-yard touchdown pass from Mitch Schurig to James Letcher, Jr. and after a 35-yard run up the middle by Taylon Peters pushed the lead to 28-7.
Washburn's Jamison Phelps picked off a NSU pass, Schurig found Collin Wilson in the back of the end zone on for a one-handed catch wrapping up the scoring in the first half.
Washburn had 336 yards on on 36 plays in the first half averaging 9.3 yards per play while holding the RiverHawks to 4.89 ypp on 176 yards of offense.
The second half was much the same as the Ichabods again put up 35 points holding the RiverHawks to a single touchdown with a missed extra point. Peters opened the scoring for the Ichabods in the second half with a 13-yard touchdown run putting Washburn up 42-7.
NSU scored on the its next drive cutting the lead to 42-13 with eight minutes to go, but then the Ichabods scored on rushing plays of 25 yards by Curtis Whitten, six yards by Ryan Peroo, 49 yards by Will Evans and 11 yards by Matthew Harris wrapping up the scoring and the 70-13 win over NSU for the largest win in the series history as the Ichabods won their eighth-straight over the RiverHawks.
Mitch Schurig completed 88 percent of his passes hitting 21 of 24 passes for 251 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Peters had 82 yards rushing on five carries. James Letcher, Jr. had five catches for 87 yards and one score. Defensively, the Ichabods were led by Grant Bruner with 10 tackles adding a tackle for loss. Garret Barnett-Kruger, Channon Ross and Braden Rose each had six tackles and Phelps had an interception.
Overall, the Ichabods scored 10 of 16 times they had the ball on the afternoon. The Ichabods had 344 rushing yards while holding the RiverHawks to 61 in the game averaging 8.2 yards per carry. Washburn finished with 595 total offensive yards on 66 plays. The 695 yards of offense is the eighth-best in school history.
 
 A win over Missouri Southern would
> lift the Ichabods to 557-589-44 in their football history.
> improve the Ichabods to 26-21-1 all-time against the Lions.
> be the fifth-straight win over the Lions in the series.
> be the second-straight win over the Lions in Joplin.
 
 A loss to Missouri Southern would
> drop the Ichabods to 556-590-44 in their football history.
> drop the Ichabods to 2-5 on the season.
> drop the Ichabods to 25-22-1 all-time against the Lions.
> snap a four-game winning streak by the Ichabods over the Lions.
 
 Ichabod football history
>  Washburn is 556-589-44 (.484) in the 129th 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.
>  Six Ichabods have been picked in the NFL Draft.
 
 Ichabods in the national polls
The Ichabods, under head coach Craig Schurig, have been ranked or have received votes in the AFCA poll 66 times and have been ranked in the top 10 a total of 15 times.
 
 Up next
Washburn will return to Yager Stadium on Oct. 26 for Homecoming as the Ichabods will face Central Oklahoma.