September 7, 2011

MIAA Football Notes: Week Two

Central Missouri
Last week, the Central Missouri passing attack picked up where it left off from a season ago and rolled to a 42-24 season-opening win over Missouri Southern. Tommy Corwin tied the school and MIAA record with six touchdown passes on the night as the Mules racked up 452 yards in total offense. Corwin finished 22-of-34 for 397 yards. David Cannon, Taylor Dyer and Jamar Howard had two touchdowns apiece for The Mules, with Howard gaining 134 yards on five catches. Defensively, Patrick Lewis led the Mules with 10 tackles. The victory gave UCM four straight wins in season-openers.

Emporia State
Emporia State rolled to 516 yards of total offense in week one, but four turnovers proved costly in a 27-17 loss at Fort Hays State. Tyler Eckenrode led Emporia State, finishing 23-of-38 passing for 270 yards and a touchdown with an interception. He also led ESU in rushing with 71 yards. This week, the Hornets are looking to win two straight over the Gorillas for the second time in the last ten years.

Fort Hays State
Last Time Against Truman: The Tigers claimed their only MIAA win last year over Truman, winning 34-9 in Hays. It was the first MIAA game of the season for the Tigers, as they went on to lose eight straight in conference to close out the season. The Tigers have won the last two meetings with Truman after losing their first three meetings in school history with the Bulldogs.

Whitehill Leading Tiger Defense: Fort Hays State's Alex Whitehill has been tabbed as a Preseason First Team All-American by Consensus Draft Services. He had a breakout season in 2010 by finishing second in the MIAA in tackles with 118, averaging 10.7 per game. Whitehill became the first player since 2003 at FHSU to record 100 tackles in a season. He now has nine games with 10 or more tackles in his career after posting a team and career-high 15 against Emporia State in the season opener. Whitehill currently leads the MIAA in tackles and ranks third in the nation.

Low Key Leg: Fort Hays State returns last year's top performer in conference at punter, in regards to average yards per punt, in senior Ethan Kosjer. Kosjer averaged 42.7 yards per punt on 42 attempts. Mysteriously he was left off the All-MIAA teams last year, but earned second team honors and all-region honors in 2009 with a lower average of 40.3 yards per punt. The 42.7 yards per punt last year was second-best in school history, only behind former FHSU All-American Adam Ryan, who averaged 43.2 in 2000. Currently sitting at 42.1 yards per punt in his career, Kosjer has a chance to break the FHSU career record for yards per punt (currently owned by Ryan at 41.4). He leads the MIAA in punting and ranks second nationally after the first week of play, averaging 50.1 yards per punt on seven attempts. He booted a 77-yard punt against Emporia State last Saturday, the third longest punt in FHSU history.

Smith Tandem in Backfield Impress in First Game: Edward Smith and Andre Smith each made a significant impact in the win over Emporia State this past Saturday. The duo each nearly hit the 100-yard rushing mark, as Edward Smith finished with 97 yards on 24 carries and Andre Smith finished with 92 yards on 18 carries. The pair currently ranks second and third in the conference in rushing yards behind just Zac Dickey of Pittsburg State. Andre Smith was also utilized as the primary kickoff returner against Emporia State, averaging 27.0 yards on two attempts. He is currently tied for third in the conference in kick return average.

Allison Produces Decisive Turnovers: Fort Hays State senior safety Korey Allison produced the turnovers that led to Fort Hays State's come-from-behind win against Emporia State. With the game tied 17-17 in the fourth quarter, Allison forced and recovered a fumble at the ESU 47-yardline. That led to the go-ahead 49-yard field goal from Tyler Kimbrough. He then stopped an ESU drive with about two minutes remaining in the game with a 55-yard interception return from the FHSU 43-yardline all the way down to the ESU 2-yardline. That set up the 3-yard game sealing touchdown run by Edward Smith with 1:38 remaining.

Looking to Snap Road Skid: Fort Hays State is looking to snap a four-game road losing streak, which dates back to the 2009 season. The Tigers were 0-4 on the road last year and their last win away from Hays was the season finale in Joplin in 2009 with a 48-34 win over Missouri Southern.

Lincoln
Lincoln is playing its first MIAA football game since the 2001 season, when the Blue Tigers left the MIAA as a university. Last season, the Blue Tigers rejoined the MIAA in every sport except football, making that transition this season. Lincoln was a winner in the opening week, recording a 35-3 victory over Avila in the first game of the Mike Jones era. Robert Redmond led the Blue Tigers, completing 23-of-33 passes for 335 yards and three touchdowns.

Missouri Southern
Despite getting outscored by 18 points, Southern trailed UCM by only 35 total yards in the team's season opener ...

The Lions opened conference play this year in game one at Central Missouri. It is the first time since the 1990 season (Southeast Missouri) the Lions have opened up the season with a conference game.

The Lions racked up 202 yards rushing on the Mules. It was the first time since September 18 of last season where the Lions had rushed for 200 plus yards in a game (280) and only the eighth time in the last nine years it has been done by a Southern team in one game.

The three passing touchdowns for Collin Howard at Central Missouri were the most he has thrown in a game since the 2010 game against the Mules ... The most Howard has thrown in a game was four against Emporia State in 2009.

After starting the game on a rocky start (1-4 passing with two interceptions) Collin Howard finished the first half 9-9 and the game 21-28.

Missouri Western
Missouri Western fell in an home opener for first time since 2004.

Dominic Thomas scored his first collegiate touchdown from 60 yards out in fourth quarter.

Punter Scott Groner averaged 46.0 yards per punt in first collegiate game. He punted nine times.

Senior Nic Burrell recorded seven tackles in his first career start.

Northwest Missouri
Northwest is looking to start the season 2-0 for the first time since 2006. The Bearcats went won 14 straight before losing their only game of the season to Grand Valley State in the National Championship game.

This will be only the second meeting between Northwest and Sioux Falls. The Bearcats will be looking to keep the Cougars from finding the end zone for the first time as Northwest has shutout USF in both meetings. (65-0 and 48-0)

USF may be making the move from NAIA to NCAA DII but they are no stranger to big games. They have made five straight appearances (2006-2010) in the NAIA National Championship game, claiming the national title in 2006, 2008, and 2009.

Northwest extended their record MIAA winning streak to 47-games. The win was also the 13th time the Bearcats have scored 40 or more points and 10 points shy of equaling the largest margin of victory during the streak.

The Bearcat defense was excellent only allowing three points in their season opener and scoring twice. Northwest was able to convert all four Truman turnovers into scores as they picked off TSU twice and recovered a pair of fumbles.

Pittsburg State
For the second straight season, Pitt State scored its first touchdown of the year on a punt return score. John Brown returned a punt 84 yards for a TD in the Gorillas 34-7 season opening win vs. Mo. Western on Sept. 1. Last year, Jon Thomas returned a punt 84 yards for a score in the Gorillas 31-20 win vs. Central Oklahoma on Aug. 28, 2010.

Pitt State returned to the AFCA Division II Top 25 poll for the first time in 22 weeks, debuting at No. 25 in this week's poll. The Gorillas have been ranked in the top 25 in 130 of 154 weeks since the AFCA took over the national poll prior to the start of the 1999 season, including 106 consecutive polls between 1999 and 2007.

Pitt State has posted a 135-11-1 record in regular season home games since the start of the 1985 season.

The Gorillas will meet the Hornets for the 92nd time in series history Saturday. Pitt State holds a 57-32-2 advantage in the series and the Gorillas have won 17 of the last 18 meetings at Carnie Smith Stadium.

Pitt State has posted a 131-6 record when it eclipses 300 rushing yards in a game since the start of the 1986 season. The Gorillas opened the year with a 312-yard team rushing performance against Mo. Western.

Truman
Senior transfer J.B. Clark completed 14-of-30 passes against Northwest in the opener for just 115 yards. He attempted passes on 12 of his first 13 plays from scrimmage before throwing a interception for a touchdown early in the second quarter. His long pass was 31 yards to Michael Mayszak.

Seniors Harnish Ayora and Donald Harvey along with junior Will Mosquera all had at least five carries in the opener against the Bearcats. Ayora led the trio with 64 yards rushing aided by a 49-yard scamper while Mosquera carried the ball 10 times for 41 yards. Harvey had five carries and one reception.

Senior Anthony Brown was Clark's top target in the opener with seven pass receptions for 58 yards. Grier caught three balls for 25 yards and Mundwiller added three catches for nine. Michael Mayszak had the longest reception of the night of 31 yards.

Richie Schumacher set a career high with 14 tackles on the night with 1.5 for loss. Truman's defense had five tackles for loss and one sack (Patrick Blackwell).

This is the sixth meeting between Truman and Fort Hays State. The two teams first met in 2006 when the Tigers joined the MIAA.

The Tigers have made two previous trips to Kirksville and are 1-1. Truman leads the overall series 3-2 but Fort Hays has won the last two outings.

The Bulldogs have averaged 26.6 points per game against Fort Hays while the Tigers have averaged 21.6.

Washburn
Washburn and Lincoln are facing off in an MIAA football game for the first time since Sept. 8, 2001 (10 years to the day since the Ichabods won, 31-20). Washburn leads the all-time series, 3-0. The Ichabods are 10-12 in MIAA openers since joining the MIAA. Under head coach Craig Schurig, the Ichabods are 5-4. The game will be broadcast on the MIAA TV Network. In two appearances last season on the network, the Ichabods were 2-0, defeating Pittsburg State 35-34 in double overtime and blanking Emporia State 42-0 in Topeka. Washburn's Dane Simoneau was named MIAA Offensive Player of the Week and D2Football.com National Player of the Week after throwing for a school-record 452 yards, completing 27-of-40 attempts with five touchdowns in a 33-17 win over Sioux Falls (S.D.) in week one.