SCENE SETTER
• The Washburn Ichabod football team is back on the road for the consecutive week as they will head south this week to face the Central Oklahoma Bronchos starting at 7 p.m. Saturday night in Edmond.
• The Ichabods are 1-2 this season after dropping their final non-conference match up of the season with Colorado Mines 41-27 in game that took 7:39 to complete due to several lightning delays.
• The Bronchos are 1-1 this season and have been idle since a 27-24 over then No. 13-Pittsburg State on Sept. 6 with a bye week this past weekend.

 BOD NOTES
• J.C. Heim leads the MIAA tackles with 43 and L.J. Minner, Jr.  is second with 35.
• L.J. Minner, Jr. double-digit tackles in each of the last six games dating back to last season …Minner, Jr. also ranks 11th in active career tackles per game with 7.3 in the D2 ranks and 11th in solo tackles per game at 4.04 … Jordan Finnesy is 60th with 5.23 on the active tackles chart per game.
• Finnesy's 209 career tackles is 18th on the NCAA D2 active chart and he is 12th on the D2 active solo tackles chart with 128.
• Jake Zeller is fifth on the NCAA D2 active punting average chart at 41.6 and he is eighth in total punt yards (5,284).
• Last time out, the 41-27 win by the Orediggers was an Ichabod football Scorigami … through 1,242 Ichabod games, there have been  300 games in which a score has happened only one time. In all, there have been 526 unique scoring games … the score was the Ichabods' first Scorigami of the season.
 
PRO BODS
• The Washburn Ichabods have two former players on NFL rosters this season and one in the Canadian Football League.
• Kyle Hinton is on the 53-man roster of the Atlanta Falcons.
• Corey Ballentine is on the practice squad roster in New England.
• James Letcher, Jr. is a standout return specialist and wide receiver  in the Canadian Football League playing for the Montreal Alouettes in his second season in the CFL.
 
COACHES
Washburn head coach Zach Watkins . . .
• is 1-2 in his first season as the Ichabod head coach.
• named the 38th head coach in Washburn program history on Nov. 26, 2024.
• first Ichabod alumnus to lead the program in more than 30 years.
• spent 11 seasons as Washburn's co-defensive coordinator before becoming head coach
• four-year starter at linebacker for Washburn (2006–09).
• recorded 100+ tackles each season, finishing with a school-record 473 career tackles (third all-time in NCAA Division II at the time).
• the 2006 MIAA Freshman of the Year, 2006 Honorable Mention All-MIAA and Second Team All-Region, First Team All-MIAA (2007–09), 2009 MIAA & Daktronics Regional Defensive Player of the Year, 2009 AFCA First Team All-America and Daktronics Second Team All-America, Three-time Academic All-MIAA, Three-time MIAA Scholar Athlete, 2008 ESPN The Magazine / CoSIDA Academic All-American, 2010 Ken B. Jones MIAA Student-Athlete of the Year finalist, Three-time All-American by Don Hansen's Football Gazette.
• bachelor's degree in Finance and Business Management, Washburn University (2009).
• master's degree in Sports Administration, Fort Hays State (2013).
• married to Amanda; two children, Parker and Naomi.
• is 0-0 against Central Oklahoma.
 
Central Oklahoma head coach Adam Dorrel. . .         
• was hired to lead Central Oklahoma in December 2021 and has a 23-14 record at UCO in his third season.
• has a 118-54 career record in his 15th season as a head coach.
• the Maryville, Mo. native played for and coached at Northwest Missouri, winning three national championships as the head coach … he spent the six seasons coaching at Abilene Christian.
• he is 8-1 against Washburn with the lone loss coming while coaching at Central Oklahoma.
 
 NOTING THE BRONCHOS
• Central Oklahoma moved up in on of two national polls Monday following a bye week for the Bronchos. UCO is No. 8 in the D2Football.com Media Poll, up from 12th last week. The Bronchos remained at No. 15 in the AFCA Coaches' Pol
• The Bronchos have been off since a 27-24 win over then No. 13-ranked Pittsburg State on Sept. 6.
• Jaylen Cottrell leads the team in rushing at 181 total yards and 90.5 yards per game averaging 10.1 yards per carry.
• Jett Huff is 18 of 40 passing with three touchdowns and 106.5 yards per game … UCO does not have a passing touchdown this season in two games.
• Johnny Wilson leads the team with 13 total tackles adding three tackles for loss and one sack.
• UCO is ranked 15th in the D2 rankings in tackles for loss allowed and 57th in total offense averaging 386.0 yards per game.
• UCO opened the season with a 34-14 setback at UT Permian Basin, which is ranked No. 7/11 this week. The Bronchos then opened the home schedule with a 27-24 win over Pittsburg State, ranked No. 10/18 this week.
 
 LAST MEETING WITH THE BRONCHOS
(Nov. 9, 2024) TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabod football team took the No. 8-ranked Central Oklahoma to the brink but a blocked field goal as time expired ended the game with the Ichabods falling 28-27 on senior day.
Neither team would score until the Bronchos went up 6-0 at the 5:23 mark of the first quarter, however after an offsides penalty called on the Ichabods, UCO decided to go for two, but the rush attempt failed.
Washburn (2-8, 2-7 MIAA) wrapped up their first score on its first drive of the second quarter when Sam Van Dyne hit Maury Sullivan on a 15-yard strike as the Ichabods took a 7-6 lead with 12:54 left in the first half.
UCO (9-1, 7-1 MIAA) came back with a 75-yard drive of its own, retaking the lead 13-7. The teams traded punts and going into the break, the Ichabods had a 35-yard field goal blocked sending Washburn to the locker room trailing 13-7.
Washburn took the second-half kickoff and needed just two plays to take a 14-13 lead when Van Dyne hit Tre Richardson for an 80-yard touchdown pass. On UCO's next possession, Julius Jackson picked off a pass for the second week in a row setting up another score as Van Dyne and Richardson again on a 48-yard hook up as the Ichabods pushed their lead to 21-13 with 12:27 left in the third quarter.
The two teams traded turnovers, an interception by the Ichabods, then a turnover by UCO from a forced fumble by L.J. Minner, Jr.
With the Ichabods taking a 21-13 lead into the fourth quarter, UCO tied the score on a 19-yard touchdown pass with 12:47 to play.
The Ichabods fumbled on their next drive at the Washburn 41 and UCO took advantage on a seven-play, 65-yard drive taking a 28-21 lead with 6:17 to play.
Washburn then marched 65 yards of its own in seven plays on a shovel pass from Van Dyne to Connor Searcy, but the extra point was missed as the Ichabods trailed 28-27 with 3:00 to play.
The Ichabod defense held UCO to three plays and a punt. Washburn took over with 63 seconds left and after a 17-yard pass to Tyce Brown, a 25-yard completion to Sullivan and a 7-yard pass to Tyler Bowden and another 13-yard pass to Sullivan to the UCO 23,the Ichabods' field goal attempt from 43 yards was blocked ending the game.
Bowden rushed for a season-high 80 yards on 17 carries and Van Dyne finished with a career-high 406 yards passing going 23 of 43 with four touchdown passes. Richardson had 193 yards receiving with 151 yards after catch and finished with 228 all-purpose yards.
Minner led the Ichabods with 10 tackles with seven solo stops and a forced fumble.
Washburn outgained the Bronchos 547 to 465 in the game averaging 6.9 yards per play as Washburn had 26 first downs.
Four of the Ichabods' eight losses have been by under three points or less.
 
 SERIES HISTORY WITH THE BRONCHOS
• The Bronchos lead the all-time series 8-5.
• The Ichabods are 3-4 in home games and 2-4 in road contests against UCO.
• The Ichabods have averaged 23.8 ppg in 13 meetings with UCO. UCO has averaged 25.8 including scoring a series-high 41 points in 2023's 41-7 win over the Ichabods.
• Washburn will be looking for its first win in Edmond in a 29-17 win on Oct. 23, 2021 … WU fell 41-7 on Nov. 4, 2023 in the last match up in Oklahoma.
• The team who scores first in the game during the series is 7-6.
   
 LAST TIME OUT FOR THE ICHABODS
(Sept. 13, 2025) GOLDEN, Colo. – The Washburn Ichabod football team put together a strong second-half push but could not overcome a big rushing day from No. 24-ranked Colorado School of Mines, falling 41-27 on Saturday afternoon in Golden, Colo., withstanding more than four hours of lightning delays in the second. The Ichabods dropped to 1-2 overall while the Orediggers moved to 2-0 on the season.
Mines jumped out to a 27-7 lead at halftime, leaning on a ground attack that piled up 365 rushing yards and five touchdowns on the day. Washburn struggled to contain the Orediggers' explosive plays, but the Ichabods battled back after the break with 20 second-half points, including a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns that narrowed the deficit.
Quarterback Logan Madden, playing near his hometown of Arvada, Colo., completed  11 of 17 passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns in his first action as an Ichabod. Justin Lewis added 106 yards through the air on 9 of 20 passing with two scores of his own. Combined, the duo accounted for all four Ichabod touchdowns, throwing passes to eight different receivers.
Henry Mohrmann proved to be a reliable red-zone target with two touchdown grabs, finishing with 30 yards on two catches. D.J. Bell provided the biggest spark, catching five passes for 51 yards and a touchdown while also breaking free on a 37-yard rush. Overall, Washburn tallied 256 passing yards but was limited to just 42 net rushing yards on 27 attempts, as Mines' defense controlled the line of scrimmage.
Defensively, the Ichabods were led by J.C. Heim who recorded a game-high 17 tackles with seven solo stops for a career-high tally. L.J. Minner, Jr. recorded 11 stops.
Special teams offered some stability as punter Jake Zeller booted eight punts for an impressive 43.6-yard average.
 
 A WIN OVER THE BRONCHOS WOULD
• even the Ichabods' record to 2-2 on the season.
• snap a two-game losing streak to the Bronchos.
• move the Ichabods to 6-8 all-time against the Bronchos.
• improve the Ichabods to 3-4 in games played in Edmond against UCO.
 
  A LOSS TO THE BRONCHOS WOULD
• drop the Ichabods to 1-3 on the season.
• be the Ichabods' third loss overall in a row.
• drop the Ichabods to 5-9 all-time against the Bronchos.
• be the Bronchos third-straight win over the Ichabods and the second-straight in the Edmond and would tie UCO's three-game winning streak over the ichabods in 2017, 2018 and 2019 for the longest in the series.
 
 ICHABOD FOOTBALL HISTORY
• Washburn is 582-616-44 (.484) in the 135th year of Ichabod football.
• The Ichabods are 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 177 all-MIAA picks and 62 first team all-MIAA selections.
• Washburn has had 97 overall All-American selections and 73 individual 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.
 
 UP NEXT
Washburn make its return home to Yager Stadium after a two-week hiatus coming back to the friendly confines hosting Nebraska-Kearney on Sept. 27 for Washburn's Family Day.