• The Washburn Ichabods will be in action for the first time in 2023 in Yager Stadium as they will host Missouri Southern at 6 p.m.
• The Ichabods are coming off a 34-7 loss in their season opener at No. 4-ranked Pittsburg State last week.
• The Lions lost their opening game of the season 31-24 to No. 5-ranked Northwest Missouri.
• The Ichabods lead the all-time series with the Lions 28-21-1 and have won the last seven in the series.
• The Lions' last win in the series came on Sept. 27, 2014 in a 42-21 win in Joplin.
• Washburn has won 19 of the last 21 in the series and 10 of the last 11 overall.
  • Entering the 2023 season, the Ichabods will have true freshmen in uniform for the opener at Pittsburg State … this season, a new rule passed by the NCAA permits football players in their initial year of college enrollment at a Division II school to participate in up to three contests without using a season of competition.
• Taylon Peters needs 73 rushing yards to go over the 2,000-yard mark in his career becoming the ninth Ichabod to do so.
• Taylon Peters' 422 rushing attempts is 11th all-time at Washburn.
• Kellen Simoncic's 32 passing touchdowns is tied for 10th all-time at Washburn.
• True freshmen Jaquez White and D.J. Bell started the game for the Ichabods against Pittsburg State.
  • The Washburn Ichabods have two former players on NFL rosters after the final cuts were made last week.
• Kyle Hinton is on the 53-man roster of the Atlanta Falcons.
• Corey Ballentine is on the practice squad for the Green Bay Packers.
  Washburn Ichabod head coach Craig Schurig . . .
• was named head coach of the Ichabod football program Dec. 28, 2001.
• is 137-93 (.599) in his 21st season as the Ichabod head coach and the sixth-longest tenured football coach in MIAA history.
• is 119-80 (.603) against the MIAA in league games.
• has led the Ichabods to four 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 137 wins.
• is 16-2 against the Lions.
 
Missouri Southern head coach Atiba Bradley . . .  . . 
• named the 14th head football coach in the history of Missouri Southern on February 5, 2021.
• the first graduate of Missouri Southern to lead the Southern football program
• is 8-15 in his third season as the Lions head coach after going 1-0 in the only game of the spring 2021.
• As a player at MSSU, Bradley was a two-time All-MIAA honorable mention pick as a linebacker.
• He had four tackles against the Ichabods on Nov. 15, 2003 in a 38-35 Washburn win in Topeka and had nine tackles with six solo stops and a tackle for loss against the Ichabods on Nov. 6, 2004 in Washburn's 58-43 win in Joplin. On Oct. 29, 2005 in Topeka, he recorded 15 tackles with two for loss and a sack in Washburn's 49-35 win in Topeka.
• is 0-2 against Washburn.
  • The Lions are 0-1 this season after falling 31-24 to No. 5-ranked Northwest Missouri on Aug. 31 in Joplin.
• The Lions and Bearcats were tied entering the fourth quarter until the 2:20 mark with Northwest scored the go-ahead touchdown.
• Luke Sampson passed for 307 yards and three touchdowns going 13-of-22 passing.
• Nathan Glades led the Lions on the ground with 62 yards rushing on 15 carries.
• Jaedon Stoshak had four catches for 107 yards and a score.
• Colton Winder had 15 tackles to lead the Lions and Halid Djibril had 13 tackles and a tackle for loss.
  (Nov. 12, 2022) JOPLIN, Mo. – The Washburn Ichabods wrapped up the regular season with a 37-20 win over Missouri Southern on Saturday in Joplin. The Ichabods, who recorded their seventh-straight win over Missouri Southern, finish the season at 7-4.
The Ichabods scored first on a six-yard touchdown pass from Jared Taylor to James Letcher, Jr. to go up 7-0 following the extra point by Kameron Lake with 1:57 to play in the opening quarter. The five-play scoring drive was set up by a Micah Skebo interception return of 42 yards down to the Missouri Southern 26 setting the Ichabods up just outside of the redzone.
After the Ichabods forced a Lion (4-7, 4-7 MIAA) punt on their next drive, the Ichabods marched 65 yards in 13 plays when Tyler Bowden scored from two yards out pushing the lead to 14-0 with 9:28 to go in the first half. On the Lions' next drive, after the Ichabods tried an onside kick, the Lions scored on a 43-yard touchdown pass cutting the Ichabod lead in half at 14-7.
It only took six plays for the Ichabods to go back up two scores when Taylon Peters scored on a 4-yard run as Washburn stretched its leads back to 14 at 21-7 midway through the second quarter with the final points of the first stanza.
On the Ichabods' first drive of the second half, after an Ichabod punt, the Lions returned Jake Zeller's punt 83 yards for a touchdown as the Washburn lead shrunk to 21-13.
Washburn's next drive failed to produce a first down, but after Zeller's punt to the Missouri Southern 7-yard line, Washburn's Caeden Spencer blocked the Lions punt for a safety and a 23-13 Ichabod lead.
After the free kick by the Lions, Peters scored his second touchdown of the day on a 24-yard run building a 30-13 lead with 6:17 to play in the third quarter.
The Lions scored with 12:46 to play in the game pulling back the Ichabod lead to 10 on a 1-yard score and on the ensuing Ichabod drive, they were picked off in the endzone returning possession to the Lions with 6:57 to go.
The Ichabod defense held the Lions to a three-and-out setting up an 89-yard punt return by Letcher off of a 71-yard Missouri Southern punt. The score was Letcher's second punt return for a touchdown and his fifth overall in an Ichabod jersey as Washburn pushed out to the 37-20 lead finishing off the scoring in the game.
Peters finished with 83 yards on 19 carries and the one score while Taylor was 16 of 22 passing with two touchdowns and 215 yards. Letcher had six catches for 71 yards and one score.
Defensively, the nation's leading tackler, Grant Bruner, had 10 tackles adding an interception and a tackle for loss while Brent Peavler had eight tackles. The Ichabods had eight tackles for loss in the game with Daniel Piburn and Braden Rose each recording two. Rose had two of the Ichabods' three sacks in the game.
The Ichabods outgained the Lions 337 to 283 overall.
  • The Ichabods lead the all-time series with the Lions 28-21-1 and have won the last seven in the series.
• The Lions' last win in the series came on Sept. 27, 2014 in a 42-21 win in Joplin.
• Washburn has won 19 of the last 21 in the series and 10 of the last 11 overall.
• The Ichabods are 14-11-1 in games played in Joplin and 14-10 in games played in Topeka.
• The first match up was a 21-21 tie on Oct. 17, 1970 played in Joplin.
  (Aug. 31, 2023) PITTSBURG, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabod football played No. 4-ranked Pittsburg State Gorillas to a touchdown after 30 minutes, but the Gorillas scored on three-straight drives adding a defensive score as Washburn fell 34-7 in the season opener on Thursday.
The Ichabods (0-1, 0-1 MIAA) trailed at the half 6-0 after the Gorillas (1-0, 1-0 MIAA) connected on a 45-yard field goal to end the second quarter. In the opening half, the Ichabods were outgained 223 to 91 in the first 30 minutes including a 142 to 29 advantage by the Gorillas in the second quarter.  In the first half, the teams forced turnovers on downs on four of the nine combined drives.
The Ichabods took the second half kickoff, but an interception on the third play of the drive inside their own 20 returned to the ball back to the Gorillas and four plays later pushed their lead to 13-0 on a 1-yard run with 12:09 to play in the third quarter.
Washburn would then go on a 14-play, 80-yard drive taking 7:05 off the clock cutting the Gorilla lead to 13-7 with 4:51 to play in the third quarter. The drive was capped on a 1-yard pass from Kellen Simoncic to D.J. Bell for the first Ichabod points of the season. The Ichabods converted a fourth down play on the drive on a 15-yard pass completion from Simoncic to Tyce Brown.
Pittsburg State upped its lead to 20-7 on the first play of the fourth quarter and a two-point conversion was picked off in the endzone by Jordan Finnesy. The drive was a 12-play, 66-yard drive taking 4:55 off the clock.
Washburn picked up a first down on its ensuing drive, but back to back holding calls stalled the drive and the Ichabods were forced to punt as the Gorillas regained possession. The Gorillas would then go on a 12-play, 69-yard drive to take a 27-7 lead after the two-point conversion with 6:44 to go in the game.
On the Ichabods' next drive, a fumble on the second play of the drive, a fumble by Washburn was picked up by Pitt State and returned 18 yards for a score stretching their lead to 34-7 with 6:17 to play for the final score of the game.
Washburn was outgained 365 to 217 in the game including 220 to 55 on the ground.
Tyce Brown had six catches for 66 yards and Bell finished with six catches for 20 yards and a score in his first collegiate action. Taylon Peters had 20 rushes for 56 yards and Simoncic finished 23 of 40 for 162 yards and a score.
Defensively Finnesy led the Ichabods with nine tackles including six solo stops. Byron Alexander and Patrick Altenor each had six tackles. Phoenix Smith had both of the Ichabod sacks for 16 yards.
  • improve the Ichabods 55-22-4 in season openers played in Yager Stadium.
• improve the Ichabods to 29-21-1 all-time against the Lions.
• be the Ichabods' eighth-straight win over the Lions.
• move the Ichabods to 1-1 on the season.
• move the Ichabods to 3-3 on Sept. 7 all-time.
• move the Ichabods to 15-10 all-time against the Lions in Yager Stadium.
  • drop the Ichabods to 0-2 on the season for the first time since 2002 when the Ichabods lost their first five games of the season in head coach Craig Schurig's first season on the Washburn sidelines.
• snap a seven-game winning streak over the Lions.
• be the Lions's first win over the Ichabods since Sept. 27, 2014 in a 42-21 win in Joplin.
  • the loss dropped the Ichabods to 79-47-6 all-time in season openers.
• the loss snapped a four-game winning streak in Pittsburg.
• the loss was the Gorillas' first win over the Ichabods at home since Nov. 26, 2011 in a 31-22 loss in a NCAA Second Round playoff game.
  • Washburn is 575-600-44 (.484) in the 133rd 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 171 first team all-MIAA picks and 61 first team all-MIAA selections.
• Washburn has had 96 All-American selections and 72 All-American picks since joining the NCAA Division II ranks in 1989.
• Washburn has made 14 postseason appearances including bowl games and tournament games going 5-2 in a bowl games.
• Seven Ichabods have been picked in the NFL Draft.
  The Ichabods, under head coach Craig Schurig, have been ranked or have received votes in the AFCA poll 79 times and have been ranked in the top 10 a total of 15 times.
  Washburn will be back on the road with a trip to Lincoln on Sept. 16 with a 6 p.m. start. The game will be a non-conference game for the Ichabods as the Blue Tigers are leaving the MIAA. Washburn will return to Yager Stadium on Sept. 23 hosting Central Missouri for Family Day starting at 1 p.m.