GAMENOTES - GAME 7 - WASHBURN

SBU vs. Emporia State gamenotes

Emporia State University

October 16

Bolivar, Missouri

1:30 p.m.

The Series
Emporia State University - Southwest Baptist
This is the 14th meeting between the two teams. The Hornets of Emporia State lead the series 10-3, including a 5-2 mark in Emporia, Kan. The last time the Hornets came to Bolivar, SBU pulled off a 17-10 win on October 20, 2001. Prior to that victory, the Bearcats had not won since a 35-30 victory over ESU on October 14, 1995, in Emporia, Kan. The Bearcats’ other victory against Emporia came on October 26, 1991, when they won 42-20.

SBU Head Coach Ray Richards is 1-2 against the Hornets, as ESU Head Coach Dave Wiemers is 2-1. This will be Emporia’s third trip to Bolivar in five years.

The Coaches
Emporia State University - Dave Wiemers
Heading into his fourth season at ESU, Wiemers is coming off the best year in ESU football as the Hornets tied as MIAA champions and went to the NCAA playoffs. He was also named the MIAA “Coach of the Year" for his accomplishments in the 2003 season. In the 2002 season, he guided ESU to a Mineral Bowl win.

He became the 20th head coach at ESU on December 8, 2000. He started off the 2001 season 3-0. He had been the associate head coach for the Hornets the two previous seasons. Prior to ESU, he spent five years at Saginaw Valley State University as teh assistant head coach and defensive coordinator. He began coaching in 1992 at the Topeka-Seaman H.S. and then assisted the Pittsburg State defensive line in 1993. He received his bachelor’s degree in 1990 from Washburn and a master’s degree from Pittsburg State in 1995

Southwest Baptist - Ray Richards
Ray Richards begins his fourth year at SBU. He has led the Bearcats to a 12-21 record in three years and was 6-5 in his first season. The 2001 season was the first winning season in 10 years at SBU and because of his accomplishment he was named the MIAA “Coach of the Year."

Richards came to SBU from NCAA Division I University of Louisiana-Monroe. He spent two years there as the defensive backs coach. Prior to ULM, he was at Southeastern Oklahoma State for 10 years. He has also made one more stop at the NCAA Division I level as he was a graduate assistant at Texas Tech for one season.

Graduating from Northern Michigan in 1981, Richards helped NMU to the NCAA Division II playoffs in 1980.

The Teams
Emporia State University
Emporia State came within eight points of the #2 Pittsburg State Gorillas, 35-27, in the third quarter before PSU erupted for 37 points to go on for a 72-27 win.

Leading the way for ESU was Ryan Hulings as he caught four passes for 120 yards and ended with 242 all-purpose yards. Tad Hatfield threw for 269 yards and a touchdown and J.J. Richard had a career high 11 catches for 110 yards.

The Hornets quickly fell behind 35-0 but managed to close the gap to eight points by scoring four straight unanswered touchdowns. Hatfield scored the first touchdown with 00:18 left in the first half on a one-yard run. J.J. Richards caught a 10-yard pass from Hatfield to cut the lead to 35-13 with 11:19 on the clock in the third quarter. Lantrez Jones picked put the third touchdown on a five-yard run and then ESU’s defense put the Hornets within eight when Jared Swoffard returned a fumble 12-yards to make it 35-27. PSU then rolled off five touchdowns and a safety in the 22 minutes of play.

ESU had 353 yards of total offense with 291 yards in the air. Chris Peoples was the leading tackler with nine tackles.

Southwest Baptist
Trying to tie the game and send it into overtime, the Southwest Baptist University Bearcats missed a 37-yard field goal with 00:02 left on the clock as the fell to Washburn University, 38-35. SBU scored with 1:46 left in the game to go on top, 35-30, but WU scored on a six-yard pass with 00:31 left in the game.

Taking a three-point lead with 00:31 left in the game, WU looked as if they had the game all wrapped up. SBU's Michael Pearl took the kickoff and returned it 15 yards to the SBU 35-yard line. Quarterback Robert Clardy found JoJo Rawls for a 23-yard gain and then Clardy took off for a 20-yard run to the WU 22-yard line. After a timeout with 00:10 left in the game, Clardy rushed only for two yards on the next play. Ryan Smith came out to try a 37-yard field goal to tie the game but it sailed wide right as WU took over the ball and the win.

Clardy led the SBU offense as he rushed for 188 yards on 17 carries and threw for 170 yards (15-29). Marco Kirven also had 102 yards on 25 carries while Nick Smart was the leading receiver with five catches for 60 yards Rawls came away with three rushing touchdowns, 62 yards rushing, and 23 yards receiving. Joey Maiwelmal led the defense with nine tackles. Both Brad Hill and Ben Glidewell recorded sacks.

Washburn struck first in the first quarter when Ra'Shaw Moseley rushed in from seven-yards out with 6:32 to go. SBU then answered back with two touchdowns in the second quarter. Kirven scored the first touchdown from one-yard and then Rawls picked up his first of three tds with 3:54 left on another one-yard run as SBU took a 14-7 lead into the lockerroom.

It was all Washburn in the second half putting up 31 points. The third quarter was the turning point for WU as they scored 20 points. WU tied the game at 14 at the 11:16 mark on Tyler Schuerman to Sam Sissom seven-yard pass. SBU retook the lead, 21-14, with 4:11 when Clardy dashed in from seven-yards out. WU then scored twice in less than two minutes late in the third quarter. Sissom tied the game at 21 on another 13-yard pass from Schuerman and then Tramaine Young put the Ichabods ahead 27-21 at the 00:52 mark.

With 10:49 left in the game, WU nailed a 32-yard field goal for a nine-point lead, 30-21. Rawls added his second and third touchdowns of the game at the 9:08 and 1:46 mark. His second td came on a one-yard run and then darted in from nine-yards out for a 35-30 SBU lead.

WU had one last chance to take the lead. Starting at their own 27-yard line, the Ichabods converted two fourth downs to keep their drive going and then scored the winning touchdown with 00:31 left. Scheurman hit two key passes on fourth-and-five and fourth-and-10 on the winning drive.

Finding Pay Dirt
Doing something that no other freshman in the history of SBU has done, JoJo Rawls scored three rushing touchdowns against Washburn. His first came in the second quarter at the 3:54 mark on a one-yard run. The next two runs came in the fourth quarter. The second td was with 9:08 to go to come within two of WU, 30-28, and then he scored what was the go ahead td for SBU with 1:46 remaining from nine-yards out. WU then scored with 00:31 left for the win.

The only time a newcomer has scored three touchdowns in a game was Redgie Franklin in 1991. As a sophomore, his first year at SBU after transferring in, he had three touchdowns against Missouri Western in the SBU win. Marco Kirven scored two tds his freshman year in a game against Kentucky Wesleyan

NFL Watch
In his final season at SBU, senior L.V. Hill is being watched by the NFL scouts. Early on in spring practice, through summer, and now two-a-days, several NFL scouts have come to see what L.V. Hill is about. L.V. is a 6’5", 300 pound, offensive tackle that use to play tight end. Last year, he moved from tight end to strong tackle in the middle of the season because of injuries on the offensive line. Since that move, he has not left and was awarded 2003 all-MIAA honorable mention at the tackle spot.

Specs on L.V. Hill
4Squat 545
4Bench 400
4Clean 300
440 5.19
4Broad 9 ft.
4Pro I 5.2

Rushing Robert
Sophomore Robert Clardy had an outstanding day with his legs. Rushing for a career high 163 yards, Clardy also threw for 170 yards. This was the second time in three games that he rushed for over 100-yards. In the loss to CMSU, he had 100-yards rushing.

He is the first quarterback under coach Richards to rush for 100-yards. With 524 yards rushing, he is the second leading rusher on the team. Kirven has 618 yards rushing on 127 attempts while Clardy has only 81 attempts. Clardy is averaging 74.9 yards per game rushing.

Seen This Before
Freshman Nick Smart is leading the team in receiving with 418 yards on 35 catches. He is now averaging 11.9 yards per catch and is tied for fifth in the MIAA in receptions per game at 5.00.

If this sounds familiar, graduate assistant coach Marc Green took the same path as he was a converted quarterback to wide receiver. In Green’s first year as a receiver, his sophomore year (2001), he finished the season with 820 yards on 68 catches while averaging 12.1 yards per catch.

Smart is on pace to have over 600 yards receiving as a freshman. If he can keep this pace up all four years at SBU, he is on pace to break Green’s career record for yards at 2,478 and career receptions at 216.

Watch The Ball
SBU has done a great job all year in taking care of finding the ball. The SBU defense has forced 14 fumbles and intercepted nine balls. The Bearcat offense has only turned the bal lover 12 times. That turns into a +11 margin for SBU. With that margin, they lead the MIAA in turnover margin and are now #3 in the nation.

Valdosta State is #1 with a +12 margin and average 2.0 per game while Saginaw Valley and is second with +11 and a 1.8 average per game. SBU is averaging 1.6 per game.

SBU has forced 23 turnovers and are only second to Harding University and Adams State who have forced 24 turnovers.

Going National
By averaging 226.7 yards per game rushing, SBU is making some noise at the national level. They are now #22 in the nation for rushing offenses. They are the third MIAA team to be ranked as PSU is #2 at 388.4 yards per game and NWMSU is #10 with 249.3 yards per game.

Last Win vs. ESU
Three years ago, SBU pulled off a 17-10 win over ESU. In that game, they only had 274 yards of total offense. They did out gain ESU as the Hornets only had 214 total yards. In the two losses to ESU, the Hornets have out gained SBU 386-354 in 2002 and then 394-241 in 2003.

Last year, SBU had a 6-3 lead at halftime but saw the lead slip away in the second half as ESU went onto a 20-9 win.

Coach Richards is 1-0 when has played ESU in Bolivar.

Battling Hill
Sophomore Brad Hill has moved into the top 10 in MIAA this season for sacks. He is tied for fifth averaging 0.50 sacks per game. He is tied with Chad Miller from PSU. Hill has recorded three solo sacks for 29 yards. Ben Wilson (TSU) leads the MIAA with five solo sacks and is averaging 0.71 per game.

Field Goals vs. ESU
Last year, senior Steve Mattson nailed a 52-yard field goal to tie a 13-year record. On his first attempt of the game in the first quarter (9:13), Mattson hit the 52-yard field goal to give SBU a 3-0 lead. The record had not been touched since 1990 when Scott Winters hit a 52-yard field goal against Missouri Southern.