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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's football team stated its case for an NCAA Division II playoff berth with a 38-28 Senior Day win over Missouri Southern Saturday at Yager Stadium, notching its sixth straight win to finish off a 9-2 regular season.
On Sunday the Ichabods will find off if it was enough.
Washburn will learn its postseason fate with the NCAA selection show scheduled for 4 p.m. at ncaa.com. Only the top seven teams in the final regional rankings will advance to the playoffs and the Ichabods are among a group of 9-2 bubble teams. The Ichabods were No. 9 in the most recent regional rankings.
Washburn would also be in line for a possible bowl game berth and coach Craig Schurig said it would be unfortunate if the Ichabods don't get the chance to play another week.
"Hopefully we play on and I would be real disappointed if we don't get another game with these guys because they're just a great group,'' Schurig said. "They handle practice right, everything they do is right and it's nice to have a reward, so hopefully we do.
"Hopefully we have another set of practices and we're preparing to play a game.''
Washburn's Chase Ast sacks Missouri Southern quarterback Dawson Herl in Saturday's 38-28 Ichabod win at Yager Stadium. [Photo by Phil Anderson/Special to TSN]
Missouri Southern (3-8) jumped out in front 7-0 on a 31-yard touchdown pass with 10:20 left in the first quarter, but the Ichabods responded with 38 straight points to take a 38-7 lead with 9:38 in the third quarter. Southern scored 21 straight points to end the game, but the Lions were never able to get any closer than the final margin.
Senior Zach Willis got the Ichabods on the board with a 2-yard run at the 5:38 mark of the first quarter and Washburn took the lead for good at 10-7 when freshm Trenton Brehm hit a 34-yard field goal.
Washburn pushed the lead to 17-7 when senior Mitch Schurig hit junior Peter Afful for a 60-yard touchdown strike with 11:28 to go in the first half and Schurig connected with senior Jace Williams with 33 seconds to play in the half on an 11-yard TD pass as Washburn took a 24-7 lead into the break.
Washburn had the opening possession of the second half and Schurig scored his second career rushing touchdown with a 1-yard sneak as the Ichabods went up 31-7.
"We stalled on our first possession, had it inside the 50 and we need to put up points, but then we got rolling with 38 unanswered and we played complimentary football,'' Mitch Schurig said. "You don't do that without the defense getting stops and special teams helping out with field position, so that's always fun.''
Washburn senior offensive lineman Colton Dunkle is congratulated after scoring the first touchdown of his career in Saturday's 38-28 win over Missouri Southern. [Photo by Phil Anderson/Special to TSN]
Than, after a Missouri Southern fumble on a punt attempt gave the Ichabods the ball at the Missouri Southern 1, senior Colton Dunkle moved from the offensive line to fullback and scored his first career touchdown on his first career carry to put the Ichabods up 38-7.
"We practiced it twice on Thursday,'' Dunkle said of his scoring play. "I've been lobbying for it for about six weeks now.
"I actually made a bet with my mom that I would score this season so I won that and now she has to buy me an iron set.''
Sophomore Taylon Peters had 123 rushing yards on just 11 attempts (11.2 yards per carry) and Willis finished with 74 yards on 20 carries.
Schurig was 20 of 27 passing for 225 yards and two scores. James Letcher, jr. had eight catches for 73 yards.
Defensively, the Ichabods were led by Peyton Lane with 10 tackles (eight solo) while Christian Clark and Grant Bruner both were in on six stops. Chase Ast had two sacks.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
OK, so Washburn University's men's basketball season-opener didn't go exactly as planned Friday afternoon, but the end result was exactly what the No. 11-ranked Ichabods were looking for, notching an 86-65 win over No. 15 Northern State at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.
Washburn was without key returners Jonny Clausing and Tyler Nelson and lost All-American point guard Tyler Geiman two minutes into Friday's game with an ankle injury, but junior Jalen Lewis turned in a big game and several Ichabod newcomers turned in solid contributions as the Ichabods pulled away in the second half for the 21-point victory.
Lewis led Washburn with 18 points, including four 3-pointers, while McNeese State transfer Jeremy Harrell hit five 3-pointers and finished with 17 points.
Jalen Lewis
Jeremy Harrell
Freshman Michael Keegan added 13 points while freshman Jaden Monday had 10 points and five assists and freshman Andrew Orr had six points and grabbed a team-high five rebounds.
The Wolves jumped out to a six-point lead at 11-5 before the Ichabods used a 12-1 run to go up 17-12. The Ichabods stretched their lead to as many as six points in the opening half after a 3-pointer by Harrell with 7:32 to play in the half but the Wolves (1-2) rallied to tie the score at 24 before the Ichabods again jumped out to a five-point lead after another trey by Harrell.
Keegan hit a layup with 67 seconds left in the first half to send Washburn to the break with a 2-point lead at 31-29.
The Ichabods scored the first seven points of the half to force a timeout by Northern State and the Ichabods would build their lead to 14 (46-32) after a layup by Orr with 15:15 to go.
Northern State trimmed the lead back to as few as four at 52-48 before a 16-3 run by the Ichabods pushed the lead to 17 with and the Wolves did not mount a threat the rest of the way.
Cole Bergan and Jacksen Moni each had 11 to pace the Wolves.
The Ichabods shot 49 percent from the field for the game, hitting 19 of 32 shots in the second half for a 59 percent clip. Washburn was 14 of 29 overall from 3-point range and hit 8 of 11 free throws.
Northern State was held to 37 percent shooting by the Ichabods and were forced into 18 turnovers while the Ichabod committed just six turnovers.
Washburn will play Augustana on Saturday in Kansas City.
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THE PENNANT PLAYER PROFILE
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
In some ways, the 2021 football season is one Washburn University junior linebacker Grant Bruner would love to forget.
In other ways, it's a year he'll cherish forever.
A nagging hamstring injury forced the 6-foot, 220-pound Bruner to spend a big chunk of the season on the sidelines, but the Gretna, Neb. native has bounced back to provide a defensive spark for the 8-2 Ichabods, who will take a five-game winning streak into Saturday's 1 p.m. Senior Day contest against Missouri Southern at Yager Stadium.
Grant Bruner
"This has probably been the toughest year sports-wise I've had in my life,'' said Bruner, who led the Ichabods with 73 in tackles in 2019 before the 2020 season was wiped out by COVID-19. "Coming into the season I had such high expectations for myself personally, and obviously the team, and then I think it was the fourth day of fall camp is when I got hurt and then it was one of those things that just kept lingering.''
Intent on returning to action as soon as he could, Bruner aggravated his injury in his first action of the season and is just now feeling close to 100 percent physically.
"It was just so frustrating because if it's anything besides a hamstring you can usually wrap it up and play, but the hamstring you've got to have it to run and I just wasn't able to go,'' said Bruner, who received All-MIAA honorable mention in '19. "The most frustrating part was physically you think you feel fine and you're ready to go and then you're not as good as you thought.''
The good news for Bruner and the Ichabods is that now he is finally able to flash the form that was expected out of him at the start of the fall.
"This last game was the best I've felt all year, I had no pain or anything,'' he said.
Bruner, who now has 39 total tackles in five games (20 solo), has been in on at least six tackles over the past three games and is coming off the best game of his career in last Saturday's 28-26 win at Pittsburg, registering 20 tackles, with 10 solo stops.
"I think even back in high school the most I had was upper teens,'' Bruner said. "They said after the game I had 20 tackles and I was like, 'Oh boy.' ''
And the game itself, which went down to the wire, is also one Bruner will never forget.
"I was telling people after the game, 'That was the most fun I've ever had playing football,' just being out there in a close game and the different swing of emotions that there was for both sides from penalties to big returns to turnovers.'' Bruner said. " It was just up and down and it was a blast. The most fun I ever had.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It's hard to comprehend some of the numbers that senior quarterback Carter Brian and the Cair Paravel Latin football team have put up this season.
Cair Paravel has outscored its opposition by a 560-78 margin and not had a game closer than 42 points en route to a perfect 10-0 season, while Brian has ranked among the nation's best Eight-Man passers, throwing for 2,179 yards and 48 touchdowns.
Cair Paravel Latin senior quarterback Carter Brian has thrown for 2,179 yards and 48 touchdowns this season for the 10-0 Lions. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But while the Lions' incredible season might be a surprise to those outside the Cair Paravel program, Brian said it's not a big shock to his team.
"We worked hard all summer,'' Brian said. "We played 7 on 7, we were lifting and doing all the things we needed to do and we knew that it was possible for us to be undefeated and when it came to game time, we just executed.''
Now the goal is to cap off the dream season with a win in Saturday's 1 p.m. Kansas Christian Athletic Association title game against perennial KCAA power St. Mary's Academy at Highland Park.
The Lions handed the Crusaders their only loss of the season in a 54-8 home regular-season victory in Week 5, a win that Brian said was a big momentum-builder.
"That was definitely a big statement game,'' Brian said. "I think it proved to us we were better than we thought we were and that we could hang with any team.''
But Brian said the Lions also know things will be tougher the second time around.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's No. 2-ranked volleyball team will close out its regular season at Lee Arena Friday and Saturday, hosting Missouri Western and No. 5 Northwest Missouri in 6 p.m. matches.
Ten Ichabod seniors will be recognized on the court after the conclusion of Saturday's match.
Former Shawnee Heights star Faith Rottinghaus is one of 10 Washburn volleyball seniors who will be recognized Saturday at Lee Arena. [File photo/TSN]
The Ichabods have won five matches in a row and are 24-3 (16-2 MIAA) entering the weekend.
On Friday WU will face a Missouri Western team that has lost four of its last five matches and has a record of 14-13 (6-12 MIAA). On Saturday the Ichabods will face a Bearcat team that is coming off three sweep victories last week and is now 22-4 (15-3 MIAA) on the year.
Washburn faced both Missouri Western and Northwest Missouri earlier this season, falling at Northwest Missouri in five sets on Oct. 15 and then posting a sweep at Missouri Western the following day.
The Ichabods have won five MIAA regular season titles, all under Herron, in 2002, 2005, 2010, 2011 and 2013. Washburn shared the regular season title with Central Missouri in 2010, 2011, and 2013. If the Ichabods win both matches this weekend WU and Central Missouri will be co-MIAA regular-season champions again.
As a team, Washburn leads the MIAA in nine of 12 statistical categories and is ranked in the top-three nationally in kills per set (15.17 kills/set - first in DII), assists per set (13.79 assists/set - second in DII), and hitting percentage (.304 percent - second in DII).
The Ichabods have also held their opponents to a conference-low .134 hitting percentage as well as the lowest in opponent assists (9.54 assists/set), kills (10.54 kills/set), service aces (0.80 aces/set), and blocks (1.37 blocks/set).
Allison Maxwell (.450) and Sydney Fitzgibbons (.422) are the only two hitters in the MIAA who currently hold an attacking percentage above .400.
Allison Sadler was named the MIAA Setter of the Week on Monday for the third time this season after she set up an offense that hit .386 and averaged 14.57 kills per set in a pair of road victories last week.
The Ichabods moved up one spot for the second straight week to No. 2 in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll. Washburn has been ranked in the top five in 25 of the last 26 official polls (excluding the 2021 spring season), dating back to the final rankings of 2018. The Ichabods were ranked No. 8 in this fall's preseason poll.
The MIAA continues to be well-represented in the nationall poll as Central Missouri checks in at No. 4, Northwest Missouri is No. 5, and Nebraska-Kearney is No. 12.
The second edition of the NCAA regional rankings were released on Wednesday, with Washburn moving up one place to No. 3 on the list. Eight of the top-10 teams in the final Central Region rankings will advance to the NCAA Tournament.
Washburn posted two road victories last week with a 3-1 win at Pittsburg State and a sweep at Missouri Southern.
Genna Berg leads the team with 330 kills and is second in the MIAA with 3.59 kills per set. She has recorded double-figure kills in 19 of the 27 matches played.
Allison Maxwell has 292 kills this year and is third in the nation with a .450 hitting percentage. She is also second in the conference with 1.10 blocks per set and her 3.17 kills per set ranks ninth in the league.
Faith Rottinghaus averages 6.49 digs per set (third in Division II) and has 597 total digs (eighth in Division II). She has had 20 or more digs in 17 matches.
Washburn has already clinched a place as one of the top-four seeds in the MIAA standings and will host a quarterfinal match next Tuesday. The official tournament bracket will be announced on Saturday evening.
