By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's football team will close out the 2022 regular season on Saturday with a trip to Joplin, Mo. to face Missouri Southern in a 2 p.m. MIAA contest.
Washburn football coach Craig Schurig discusses a non-pass interference call during last Saturday's game against No. 5-ranked Pittsburg State. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Craig Schurig's Ichabods, 6-4 overall and in the MIAA, have already clinched a winning regular season, but Schurig admitted that a seventh win would be a great way to end the regular season.
"Going 7-4 sounds a lot better than 6-5,'' Schurig said.
Washburn also still harbors hopes of a postseason bowl game and could help its case with a victory over the Lions.
"We want to end on a high note and then maybe we get a bowl game,'' Schurig said. "We'll be among some teams that will be looked at because if you're 7-4 in this conference you get pretty good consideration.''
After going 9-3 and making the NCAA Playoffs in 2021, the Ichabods have gone through a somewhat up and down regular season, with three of their four losses coming by between two and eight points.
"This style of team, with the seniors that we have and type of team we have, our goals were set much higher,'' Schurig said. "You were thinking that this week would be a week you've got to win to be in the playoffs for sure and it just didn't round out that way.
"Last year's team we seemed to win those closer games and this year's team we've won a few of them, but we've lost a few and that's what makes this conference so good.''
The Ichabods are coming off a 37-23 loss to No. 5-ranked Pittsburg State last Saturday while the Lions (4-6, 4-6 MIAA) are riding a four-game losing streak after falling at No. 11-ranked Northwest Missouri, 27-5, last week.
Washburn will be looking for its seventh straight win against the Lions. Schurig is 15-2 against Missouri Southern, the most wins of any team Schurig has coached against.
Senior linebacker Grant Bruner leads the nation in tackles at 12.7 per game and is first in solo tackles with 7.96 per game.
Senior receiver/returner James Letcher Jr. is 15th in the nation in receiving touchdowns (9), 11th in receiving yards (1,005), 11th in receiving yards per game (100.5) and seventh in receptions per game (7.4). He is also 19th in all-purpose yards (141.4).
Letcher is ranked third among active NCAA D-II players with 5,462 all-purpose yards, fourth with 2,921 receiving yards and third with 222 receptions. Letcher needs 79 yards to become only the third Ichabod to reach at least 3,000 receiving yards in a career, joining Sam Sissom (3,288) and Michael Dritlein (3,103).
Missouri Southern's last win was a 37-14 decision over Lincoln on Oct. 8 and the Lions' other three wins came against Northeastern State, Central Oklahoma and Fort Hays State.
Nathan Glades leads the Lions with 787 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 166 carries while Dawson Herl has thrown for 1,041 yards and five TDs.
Richard Jordan Jr. leads Southern with 86 tackles.
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