Missouri Western groups together just after sweeping the double header against Washburn University to enjoy being the schools first MIAA regular season champions.

The Griffons are the MIAA baseball regular season champions for the first time in history, and improve their record to 34-7.

After sweeping the double header against Washburn University in the last regular season home game, and after the ice cold Gatorade shower, coach Buzz Verduzco told his players they get a steak dinner after this one.

“I’m so proud of you guys,” Verduzco said. “I want you to enjoy every bit of it because you guys deserve it.”

Game one was controlled by Western’s pitcher, Jerad Hawkins, as he only allowed one run on three hits in a complete game to get his sixth win on the season.

“It feels great,” Hawkins said. “We’ve worked hard and accomplished it with our work ethic. There’s no more pressure on us this weekend, we’re just going to keep playing hard and win as many games as we can.”

Hawkins told the coach after pitching Sunday that he was ready for this one.
Game two was where the batting really got back to what they often do. Western run-ruled yet another team and did it with incredible energy. First baseman, Spencer Shockley, ended it with a blasted home run over left field.

“It definitely feels good,” Shockley said. “It feels good to be a part of a great team this year and it’s a huge boost of confidence. It’s really something special to be a part of.”

Shockley’s game winning and MIAA clinching home run was his second homer of the day. He finished the double header with four runs, four hits and four RBI’s.

Seven different Griffons contributed runs in the second win.

Third baseman, Grant Fink, batted a run in on a triple and a double and his hitting a .411 average on the season. Second baseman, Kyle Simpson also had two RBI’s, and scored two runs of his own.

Western pitcher, Mark Spreckels, recorded the win in game two. Spreckels went five innings allowing five hits and one run. Kyle Kelly and Mason Queen finished the last three innings giving up no hits and no runs. Kelly recorded four strikeouts in his two innings.

With a team batting average of .363, the Griffons have the second highest team average in division II. Short Stop, Michael Schulze, is leading the high hitting by batting .436, and has the eleventh highest individual average in the country. The Griffons also have the second most home runs in the country.

“It was a surprise,” Athletic Director Kurt McGuffin said. ”It was a family move. His wife is a pharmacist and she got offered a job she couldn’t turn down.  It was a financial thing; he has two little kids. He wanted to spend more time with his family.”

The move comes very late in the year and leaves McGuffin less than ideal time to find a replacement as jobs for fall coaching positions are usually filled in the early winter months.  Despite the timing, McGuffin doesn’t want to rush a new hire. He plans to meet with the players individually this week and come to a resolution of whether to look internally or search for new candidates from outside of Western.

Frederick compiled a 37-72 record at Western after taking over a team that won only four games in the season before he took over the head coaching position.  The Griffons showed gradual improvement each season under Frederick and went 16-16 last season in one of the most competitive volleyball conferences in Division II.

“He did a good job of progressing each year and this fifth year I was getting ready to see good things,” McGuffin said. “They basically have the whole group back so I think they are going to be pretty good.”

Although he would have liked to know sooner, McGuffin still feels he can find the right candidate to replace Frederick and has already begun receiving phone calls from coaches inquiring about the position.

“I think our jobs are pretty well sought after,” he said.

The players usually sign their scholarships before going home for the summer, which is another reason why the late timing presents a challenge for McGuffin to find the replacement.

Frederick came to Western after winning a men’s national championship at Park University in 2008.  He coached nine All-MIAA selections in his tenure with Western including Stephanie Hattey who has been an all conference team selection in each of her three seasons including winning the Freshman of the Year award in 2010.

It took Shockley less than three seasons to break Javier Martinez’ record of 42 doubles – which stood for 16-years and was accomplished in four seasons – after transferring from Western Iowa Community College after his freshman season.

“Honestly, I didn’t even know I was close to breaking it, but its pretty cool that I will have some tradition with the school now and it means a lot,” Shockley said.

Shockley credits his ability to get so many extra-base hits on his lack of ability to knock the ball completely out of the park. “I just can’t get them over the fence. That extra 10 feet kills me so I end up with doubles.

According to Coach Buzz Verduzco, the reason Shockley has been so successful as a hitter starts with the amount of work that he puts into the game.

“He’s got power and the kid is a worker,” Verduzco said. “He’s always been a weight room kid and does his work in the offseason and during the season to maintain his strength. Any time you have that type of work ethic, it’s going to carry over to the field.”

Verduzco noted that it’s is an unbelievable feat to break such a long-standing record in the timespan that Shockley has been a Griffon.

“It just goes to show what kind of hitter he is and just how tough a hitter he is,” Verduzco said. “He has a superb eye that allows him to go deep into the count. When he’s on, he’s one of the toughest in the league to get out – he’s that good.”

Shockley has the distinction of knowing what it feels like to win a championship as he transferred into Western after his team won the junior college world series at Iowa Western.

“It’s a very similar feeling with the guys we have this year and the guys we had at my JUCO team,” Shockley said. “We’ve got guys that can hit the ball good. We get big hits when we need them so it’s just a good feeling going into the postseason.”

Nothing would make him happier than to win another championship in his final season of college baseball, this time as a Griffon. And he has full confidence that his team can accomplish the goal.

“Having a senior year like this is all you can ask for,” Shockley said. “Just putting yourself in a good position as a team and making a championship happen. If we play like we can play and if we get our timely hits and the pitchers keep throwing like they do, then good things will happen.”

The Griffons’ hitting has been nothing short of amazing this season, and Lincoln found that out first hand Easter weekend. In three games, Western cranked out nine homeruns, 53 hits and 42 runs.

It was just another testament to a great season. The series sweep of Lincoln brought the Griffons’ record to 24-4 overall and 19-1 in the MIAA. After the end of the 17-game win streak, Western was quick to start up another one, as they have won their last six.

Freshman pitcher Kyle Kelly doesn’t pay much attention to the streak part of winning, compared to the focus it takes to get wins against any opponent.

“We maintain focus out of necessity,” Kelly said. “Every team can be dangerous if not taken seriously. We want more for one another, so we stay focused for the guy next to us. During a win streak, we don’t really notice the ‘streak.’ We focus on winning for where we want to be at the end of the year.”

Kelly pitched four innings against Lincoln, allowing four runs and seven hits while recording his second win on the season.

Despite the great start to the season, coach Buzz Verduzco believes the biggest challenges are coming up in the next few weekends.

“Our next month that we have is going to be really tough,” Verduzco said. “It’s going to be Pittsburg State, Lindenwood, Central Missouri and of course Missouri Southern. So those weekends we’re going to start facing everybody’s best, the top portion of the league and we’re going to see what we’re really made of now.”

Three of those teams are ranked in the top four of the MIAA, behind only Missouri Western. Those are the next four weekend series for the Griffons. The last one, against Missouri Southern, will be the last series of the regular season.

In fact, Central Missouri is currently ranked No. 8 in the nation in the same poll that Missouri Western is ranked No. 12 in, according to College Baseball Lineup.

Verduzco has no problem awarding some of this season’s success to Cobb, a player who does most of his work behind the curtain.

“Harrison Cobb is a fifth year senior and we’re going to miss him when he graduates,” Verduzco said. “We’ll take [batting practice] at the beginning of the day, and Harrison Cobb is the first guy to grab a bucket of balls and throw to everybody else. He’s not worried about himself taking batting practice; he’s worried about everybody else getting as much of whatever they need for us to win.”

Denise Chiao and Meara Smith play a double against tow other players. Joyce Stevenson | Staff Photographer

“The wind today wasn’t steady and it was gusting so you feel like you have a handle on your shots with the wind but its hard to manage and be consistent,” Griffon Women’s Tennis Coach Ron Selkirk said. “I was glad the girls weren’t too cautious and just let the game flow, learning how to manage the elements. It’s just the matter of being patient.”

The match started off with doubles action and the Griffons soared, getting three points with No. 1 Meara Smith and Denise Chiao getting an 8-3 victory.
No. 2 Kayla Dysart and Alyssa Dougan paired up to defeat Kamaria Braye and Ashley Rolling 8-1.

“Everybody is figuring it out and hitting their stride,” sophomore Kayla Dysart said.

Ceara Boldridge and Jody Goers defeated Gabrielle Quine and Jasmine Daniel 8-4 in the No. 3 doubles.

“I think we started off slow but once we got into the groove we started to play better,” freshman Jody Goers said. “The wind was really affecting the balls we were hitting but when we are on our game and believe in ourselves, I feel like we can play with any of the other schools.”

With singles action, the Griffons’ Denise Chiao made quick of her opponent, defeating Gober 6-1, 6-0.

“In doubles, I felt like me and Meara gelled pretty well,” freshman Denise Chiao said. ”I had to really adjust to wind starting off. I feel like our whole entire team is getting mentally tough and positive in every match. “
In No. 2 singles, Kayla Dysart defeated Braye 6-2, 6-0.

“The wind definintly wasn’t a fun thing to play with but soon as I settled down, I felt like I played pretty well,” sophomore Kayla Dysart said.

Meara Smith pulled out a win against Katrevich in No. 3 singles 6-4, 6-2 and Boldridge rolled over Roling 6-1, 6-1. Lindsay Beger won over Quinn 6-4, 6-2 and Alyssa Dougan started off slow but finished her match in a fury over Daniel 6-4, 6-0.
With this win, the Griffons dropped the Tigers to 1-8 overall and 0-8 MIAA match play.

“Coming in today, I feel like we’ve definetly been playing better and playing with confidence,” Selkirk said.

The Griffons’ next matchup is against the William Jewell Cardinals in St. Joseph, Mo. Match play is set to start at 2:00 pm.

Both baseball and softball have shown they have what it takes to win the MIAA, and maybe more.

Baseball has been the scariest team in the league pretty much all season. The (27-5) Griffons are a pitcher’s nightmare. They have been leading for much of the season in almost every statistical batting category.

They have knocked in 275 runs, the most by any team this season, which is 48 more runs than the Central Missouri, the team in second. They have the most hits, 382 total, which is 72 more than the team in second, Fort Hays State. They’ve cranked out 40 home runs. Northeastern State is the closest to that mark with 32, and only four teams behind them have hit over 20. Every other team has hit home runs in the teens or even fewer.

If you just took the home runs from Western’s hitters Grant Fink and Bubba Dotson, they would have 22. That would be enough to be ranked No. 6 in the MIAA.

They are also leading the MIAA in the most doubles, RBIs, slugging percentages and batting averages. Their batting average as a team is an amazing .391. Most hard hitting teams and players also seem to get paired up with the most strikeouts. Western has chosen not to follow those guidelines. Despite being the hardest hitting team, they are currently tied for the second fewest strikeouts as a team.

It’s not just the batting that is getting it done. Give just as much credit to the pitching and the defense.

The pitching has the lowest ERA in the MIAA at 3.74. All other teams are four and above. They have given up 195 hits this season, and are the only team to have given up fewer than 200.

They are clearly the team to beat in the MIAA.

Softball hasn’t gotten off to the best start they could have had, but it’s nothing they can’t move on from. Despite letting a few winning chances slip away, this team still has what it takes to beat anybody.

Currently with a record of 26-10, they are No. 4 in the MIAA.

They aren’t leading in every category, but they are among the top in batting.

Home runs are the trending thing for Western this year. They have 37 home runs of their own, more than any other team. They’ve stolen 48 bases, the second in the conference, and amazingly have only been caught stealing twice, the fewest by any team. They are sitting in the top five in the MIAA in batting average, runs, hits, triples and slugging percentages.

The pitching has the second lowest ERA at 2.23 and is tied for second for the most wins. Every other pitching category is among the top five.

Fort Hays State and Central Missouri are the toughest opponents in softball this year. They both have only lost one game in the MIAA. Western has to prove they can handle those teams if they plan on winning the conference.

They have yet to beat either of them. Western lost to Central Missouri 1-2 and 0-2. They hung with the nationally ranked No. 18 Fort Hays State for 12 innings to lose it 1-2. They got blown out of the water in the second game 3-11.

Both softball and baseball are in the top of the conference and have a chance to go far in the post season. Both being lead by arguably the greatest pitchers in Western’s history at their sport, Jackie Bishop in softball and Brandon Simmons in baseball. If these teams can live up to their expectations, this could easily be the most well-rounded, winning time of the year for the Griffons’ athletic program, and possibly one of the best spring sports seasons in Western’s history.

Western coach, Buzz Verduzco, was happy with the hitting Saturday, but disappointed the Griffons couldn’t get anything going against Pittsburg State’s top guy, Matt Stalcup.

“Heading into Sunday we knew we were going to face their best guy and probably one of the best guys in the league, and he was every bit of that,” Verduzco said. “He really did a great job against us; he threw his fast ball hard, his breaking ball was tight and we couldn’t quite get anything mustered.”

Stalcup pitched seven innings, had nine strikeouts and gave up just four hits against the top hitting team in the MIAA for his fourth win of the season.

It was almost as if Western hit themselves out of rhythm after the way they were connecting Saturday. The Griffons knocked in a thundering 10 homeruns on Saturday, six coming in the first game and four in the second.

Western third-baseman, Grant Fink, contributed to those homers, bringing his total on the season to 12; the most by anyone in the MIAA.

“I’m just trying to give my team the best chance to win,” Fink said. “We can’t think ahead, and as hitters we need to take it one pitch at a time and have a plan at the plate. We are a dangerous hitting team that has a lot of weapons and consistency, so just being in the now will keep us where we need to be.”

Pitching continued to be great in the series. Brandon Simmons picked up his seventh win on the season in the first game Saturday. Pitching was also strong in the second game as the freshman pitcher, Kyle Kelly carried four strong, scoreless innings on five strikeouts to help Banks Born get his fourth win on the season.

Verduzco is especially glad to have Kelly available now, after he red-shirted his first year.

“When you’re a red-shirt player, you wait and it seems like that year is forever before you get a chance to play,” Verduzco said. “He’s a very humble kid, he’s a competitor, got a good fastball and he can get in on people, and he learns too. He’s always trying to learn the game and he doesn’t think he knows it all, and he’s always trying to get better every time he goes out. You can see it in his performances.”

Kelly says he loves his role on the team this year coming from the bull pen because he feels it is the ultimate team first type of role, but hopes to one day be a starter.

“Obviously everyone likes to start and I’d be happy if I got the chance in future seasons,” Kelly said. “It would mean I would have learned more about pitching rather than throwing.”

The Griffons hitting has been nothing short of amazing this season, and Lincoln found that out first hand Easter weekend. In three games Western cranked out nine home-runs, 53 hits and 42 runs.

Western’s coach, Buzz Verduzco was proud of how his players performed under quick schedule changes due to weather.

“Heading into Lincoln, we kind of knew we were going to be dodging some weather in Jefferson City,” Verduzco said. “I felt that even though we traveled and played the same day, I thought we got off the bus and were really ready to play.”

It was just another testament to a great season. The series sweep of Lincoln brought the Griffons record to 24-4 overall and 19-1 in the MIAA. After the end of their 17 game win streak, Western has been quick to start up another one, as they have won their last six.

Freshman pitcher, Kyle Kelly doesn’t pay much attention to the streak part of winning, compared to the focus it takes to get wins against any opponent.

“We maintain focus out of necessity,” Kelly said. “Every team can be dangerous if not taken seriously. We want more for one another, so we stay focused for the guy next to us. During a win streak we don’t really notice the ‘streak,’ we focus on winning for where we want to be at the end of the year.”

Kelly pitched four innings against Lincoln, allowing four runs and seven hits while recording his second win on the season.

Despite the great start to the season, coach Buzz Verduzco believes the biggest challenges are coming up in the next few weekends.

“Our next month that we have is going to be really tough,” Verduzco said. “It’s going to be Pittsburg State, Lindenwood, Central Missouri and of course Missouri Southern. So those weekends we’re going to start facing everybody’s best, the top portion of the league and we’re going to see what we’re really made of now.”

Three of those four teams are ranked in the top four of the MIAA, behind only Missouri Western. In fact, Central Missouri is currently ranked No. 8 in the nation in the same poll that Missouri Western is ranked No. 12, College Baseball Lineup.

Those four teams are the next four weekend series for the Griffons.The last one being Missouri Southern, will be the last series of the regular season.

“There are milestones you have in your career and it’s pretty neat, but when you look at milestones like that there is a lot that goes into those wins,” Bagley said.

When Bagley thinks over her new achievement, she thinks about the dedication and hard work put in by everyone involved with the program, especially her assistant coaches.

The Griffons swept Pittsburg State 5-2,4-0 and Missouri Southern 3-1, 4-3 on Friday and Saturday.

It was the solid pitching of Jackie Bishop and Janie Smith that only allowed two total runs in the first doubleheader. Freshman Smith had a no-hitter going into the sixth inning before it was broken up and she pitched the first shutout of her career.

Homerun hitting carried Western through the second doubleheader with Southern as Tiffany Gillaspy and Maegan Roemmich hit one while Keri Lorbert hit two over the fence. Lorbert is two homers shy of breaking the all-time career record at Western.

“We don’t purposely coach to hit home runs,” Bagley said. “I don’t plan a game thinking that someone will hit one, they are just bonuses.”

This season’s Griffons have utilized scoring runs with one swing of the bat more than teams from the past.

“The whole team is hitting the ball more solid this year and the ball is going over the fence a lot more,” Lorbert said. “It’s good to have runners on base when we do that and they are doing a good job at being on base.”

The homerun ball provides excitement in the dugout and helps to reenergize the players with adrenaline.

“It helps to keep us excited and on our toes during the game,” Gillaspy said.

The Griffons improved to 24-8 on the season after winning 12 consecutive games.

“I don’t think we’ve reached our peak yet,” Lorbert said. “I’m a firm believer that there’s always room for improvement and we come to practice every day trying to become better.”

Midway through her junior season, Jackie Bishop is already the most dominant pitcher to ever step on the mound for Griffon softball.

Within the last week she became the all-time leader in strikeouts and wins at Western.

“When I’m playing, I don’t think about records,” Bishop said. “So that’s just the hard work and the part that pays off.”

Although Bishop is honored to be in the history books, she noted that individual accolades are of little importance compared to team success.

“Records are just meant to be broken and that happens along the way,” Bishop said. “Team wins are way more important than any records.”

Coach Jen Bagley says the records will bring a lot of respect to her program and that despite Bishop’s greatness, there is still plenty for her to accomplish in her final year and a half in terms of team goals like making a deep postseason run.

“I don’t think there was a bone in Jackie’s body that was hungry for that record; she’s hungry to win a conference championship,” Bagley said.

Bishop boasts a win record of 61-14 with a career 1.46 earned run average and has struck out 595 batters. She dominated right from the start of her freshman season, being named MIAA freshman of the year and throwing a no-hitter at the first ever game at the Spring Sports Complex. Bishop credits strong senior leadership for helping her transition to college and Bagley for her coaching her.

“Jonnelle Belger helped shape me into the person and pitcher that I am,” Bishop said. “Learning from her was great and I couldn’t have had a better leader when I first came in and coach Bagley helps me continue to improve by telling me what I’m doing right and wrong.”

There was no drop-off in production as Bishop returned for her sophomore season as she was named the first Griffon to win MIAA pitcher of the year in the 12 years that Bagley has been head coach. She was also named South Central Region pitcher of the year and a second team Darktronics All-American.

So far in her junior season, Bishop is off to a 12-3 record with a 1.78 earned run average while striking out 128 batters.

“There’s always room for improvement and there’s a whole bunch of other goals to set,” Bishop said. “I will just keep continuing to do the best that I can. I’m just here to win as many games as I possibly can.”

Brett Weiberg gets his first head coaching opportunity  at a four-year university with Western.

Brett Weiberg plans to bring back the winning tradition that once saw the Western men’s basketball program as a perennial contender under Tom Smith, but there are things that he won’t sacrifice to get there.

“It will be a little bit of a process, but I’m willing to be patient,” Weiberg said of a turnaround after three straight losing seasons. “What we wont be patient with is effort and character and trying to do the best we can do.  Above everything else, we want to do it with good people and develop a culture of just competing.”

The 38-year-old Weiberg’s only head coaching experience is the last seven years at Northern Oklahoma, where he racked up 125 wins including a 27-4 record and a conference championship this past season. However, his experience in basketball goes far beyond what his resume shows.

Weiberg spent his entire life around basketball and took over the Northern Oklahoma program from his legendary father after serving five years under him as an assistant. He’s taking over for a legend once again at Western as Tom Smith held the head coaching position for the past 25 years.

“I’m just looking forward to continuing the winning tradition that he’s established,” Weiberg said. “It’s been done here and been done here for a long time. He will be someone that I will lean on greatly and I’m hoping that will be just fine with him.”

Although Smith built the program into a perennial winner in the past, the team has suffered through three consecutive losing seasons including a 10-17 mark this past season. Weiberg believes he can get the program back to its winning ways by finding the right mix of talent and character.

“We are going to play hard, we will play with passion, we will play together and we are going to have fun doing it,” Weiberg said. “I am a competitor, It’s part of who I am and how I was raised and we are going to have young men in here that will compete every single night.”

Weiberg stated that he will not sacrifice character and integrity when recruiting players. While Smith chose to only get his players from the junior college ranks, Weiberg plans to build a base of players straight out of high school and add transfers to push them over the top.

At Northern Oklahoma, he graduated 80 percent of players with an associates degree and will place heavy importance on making sure his teams graduate at Western.

“It’s the promise that I make every single mom and dad when I recruit them,” Weiberg said. “If they are willing to put the effort in then we are going to get them out of here with a degree. That’s going to be a challenge and something that we are going to do and really push these young men.”

The hire is Athletic Director Kurt McGuffin’s second during his time at Western. The first was women’s coach Rob Edmisson, who took the program from nine to 16 wins in his first season. McGuffin has known Weiberg and his family for eight years.

“They stand for everything I think all of us should stand for in athletics and that’s character, integrity and work ethic,” McGuffin said. “We’re going to get a guy who has been in it, grew up with it. He was born to coach in my opinion, he followed his dad around to many different spots and lived the game.”

Weiberg says his team will play mostly man-to-man defense and will play it tough. His team at Northern Oklahoma led the country in opponent field goal percentage and 3-point percentage last season.   Offensively, the Griffons will run a motion offense tweaked to fit the individual talent on the team.

“The way we play gives you a chance to win on the road too,” Weiberg said. “It gives you an opportunity to get physical, be solid and take great shots and really make it difficult for the other team to score. Those are recipes to win anywhere but especially on the road.”

Western’s one loss to Central Oklahoma came Friday evening and is the only conference loss it has had in their 15 MIAA games so far this season. The Griffons have been playing outstanding all season both offensively and defensively, and have shown every team they’ve faced thus far why they are sitting at the top of the MIAA.

Westerns coach, Buzz Verduzco, has moved on from the win streak talk and is now looking on the bright side of entering into the middle of the regular season.

“The streak is over, so I can say that now,” Verduzco said. “We’ve kind of gotten past that now but it was a great run. Now as far as how we talk to the team and what that means is, we try to get them to be a little bit more consistent minded during the middle part of the season.”

Top pitcher Brandon Simmons saw that loss as a reminder for how bad losing feels, and motivated the team to not want to feel like that again.

“This weekend was a good test for us,” Simmons said. “[Central Oklahoma] was a very competitive team and they gave us kind of a reality check. Their pitching was outstanding and really shutdown our hitters, who have been on fire. I think this past weekend really put the nasty taste of losing back into our mouth and no one enjoyed it.”

Hitting for the Griffons has been off the charts so far in the first half of their season. Westerns hitting numbers are greater than their opponents in every statistical batting category. Runs have been the biggest standout number, having a total of 221 runs scored, averaging out to the team scoring 9.6 runs per game, which is almost twice as many as their opponents 114 runs, at 4.9 runs per game. Western has scored 10 or more runs in 12 games.

Simmons believes that teams that have such dominant hitting are capable of taking the pressure off of their pitchers.

“Having a lineup such as this one it really makes the game so much easier,” Simmons said. “It makes you not afraid to go out and throw strikes and if you give up a run or two, then our team will come up a get them back. It really makes pitching a whole lot easier in general.”

The key to their hitting seems to be coming from their power. The Griffon big bats have already hit 30 homeruns. With seven players hitting over .400, and five players slugging over .600, it’s hard not to get rack up the runs.

Westerns own Michael Schulze, Kyle Simpson and Bubba Dotson are three of the top four hit leaders in the MIAA.

Schulze and Dotson have been the MIAA hitters of the week these last two weeks. Schulze feels that the good hitting between players motivates everyone to elevate their game.

“We are all just very confident and focused,” Schulze said. “Friendly competition is definitely there between all of us. Once one guy hits everyone wants to hit, so it’s actually a good thing. Offense in baseball is contageous so we all definitely feed off each other at the plate. In the end, we all have the same goal and that is to win.”

Although the 17 game win streak ended, another streak still continues. Schulze is currently on a 16 game hit streak. Ever since the first game cancellation, he has recorded at least one hit in every game.

Michael Hill recieves a pass during the NFL Pro-day on Friday March 22. Tevin Harris | Photo Editor

Possibly getting Hill and Bass to the next level is a big achievement for coach Jerry Partridge and his staff. While Zuerlein only spent one season kicking at Western, Bass and Hill were program players who each spent five years as Griffons. Both players were largely unrecruited by other universities coming out of high school, redshirted their freshman seasons and made strides in performance every year.

Bass, a 6-4 262 pound defensive end, came to Western weighing in at only 200 pounds and added 60 to his frame in the weight room. He started for four straight years and broke the all-time Western sack record with 39.5 for his career.

“He looks the part,” Partridge said of scouts looking at Bass after he broke the record. “His measurements are good, he just needs to put some numbers up and he’s already done that throughout his career.”

Scouts got a look at Bass already at the NFL combine and in the East West Shrine Bowl where he competed alongside top FBS Division I prospects and showed promise.

“Bass has room to refine his pass rush moves to be more effective, but he flashed in practice why he was able to be so productive in college,” said Dane Brugler of NFLDraftScout.com.

Bass projects is projected to be drafted sometime in between rounds four and seven.

Hill’s future in the NFL is considered less of a sure thing, but the 5-10 204 pound halfback’s stock has been on a steady rise, which should be no surprise to those who have seen him play.

Hill broke the all-time and single season rushing record at Western and carried for 4,601 yards as a Griffon. He led the entire nation in rushing yards as a senior and was a finalist for the Harlon Hill trophy, awarded to the nation’s best Division II player.

He was a power runner at Western who would hit defenses just as hard as they hit him. He would routinely send corners and safeties from opposing defenses out with injury from hitting them when they were supposed to be punishing him.

Hill dominated at the Raycom College All-Star Classic, which also featured 22 players from the SEC – widely considered the best football conference in the nation at any level. Hill put himself on the map with two long runs for 45 and 54 yards with two touchdowns.

Even if he doesn’t hear his name called in the draft, Hill is likely to be invited to a pro camp and have an opportunity to make a team.

Arian Foster, who went undrafted in 2009, but eventually made the NFL as a free agent and is a three time all-pro. Hill hopes to be a diamond in the rough for any team that takes a chance on him.

“We are starting to put the pieces all together and feel really good about where we are,” Coach Jen Bagley said. “But I don’t feel really good about the fact that we have snow on our field again.”

Western was scheduled to play several more games, but snow forced the cancellation of the Missouri Western Softball Classic and the Griffons were only able to reschedule four.

The Griffons defeat Lincoln University 8-3

After entering the third inning down by a run, the Griffon offense exploded for five runs in the bottom half. Tiffany Gillaspy scored after she hit a triple that drove in two runs and Michelle Stevenson hit a home run.

Western tacked on two more runs as the game went on when Bree Fleschner stole home and Kendall Sorensen hit a triple and then made her way home after an error from the second basemen.

Pitcher Janie Smith got the win after pitching all seven innings and allowing just two earned runs and seven hits. Smith is off to a 9-3 start to her freshman season.

Western edges Emporia State University 4-2

The Griffons pulled away in the fourth inning after three scoreless innings in this non-conference game between two of the top teams in the MIAA.

In the bottom of the fourth, Sorensen hit a double that scored Gillaspy. Taylor Anding and Maegan Roemmich both singled to drive in runs and push the Griffons lead to 3-0.

Emporia fired back with a two-run sixth inning, but it wasn’t enough as Western added another run off of a Roemmich double in the bottom half of the inning.

Jackie Bishop pitched all seven innings and gave up six hits and two earned runs while striking out seven batters.

“I felt really good about the way we approached the plate offensively,” Bagley said. “Their pitching is always among top in the league and we really made it seems easy. It was good it see. All of those things came together and showed us what type of things we are capable of.”

Western outscores Northern University 11-6, Bishop breaks record

Western’s bats warmed up in game one of a double-header as the Griffons put two runs on the board in the first inning when Michelle Stevenson hit a double that scored Gillaspy and Fleschner.

Northern responded and tied the game after a throwing error from the Griffons. Western took control of the game in the third inning with four runs off of four hits to make the score 7-2.

Kat Steponovich and Fleschner added home runs to extend the lead.

Jackie Bishop went all seven innings for the win, which put her in the history books ahead of Cheri Kemp as Western’s all-time win leader. Bishop is only in her junior season and is 10-3 on the year.

“Ever since I’ve been here people ask me if I know who Cheri Kemp is,” Bagley said. “To be able to take a record form her is something that Jackie should be very, very proud of because those records and her name have stuck with this program for many years.”

Bishop is now just one win away from the becoming the all-time wins leader.

Griffons blowout Nothern University 15-1 in game two of doubleheader

Fleschner continued her hot hitting by blasting a homer to right field to open up a 2-0 lead in the first inning. The Griffons scored six more runs in the first inning to make it 8-2 and the route was on.

Smith pitched her way to her second win of the weekend by going all seven innings.

Fleschner had four of the 12 hits for the game for Western and finished the two games against Northern hitting a perfect 8-for-8 with six runs batted in.

“What we need is confidence and consistency and I think we are starting to achieve that,” Bagley said.

Weather hasn’t been kind to the Griffons so far this spring and they are forced to try and keep their momentum from the eight game winning-steak while practicing in the GISC.

“You go into the indoor and we are grateful to have it, but it isn’t the surface we play on,” Bagley said. “Everything looks different when you have the roof on you. Taking the momentum of us being able to practice on the field is something I’m concerned about.”

Western returns to action on Friday, March 29 at Missouri Southern.

Missouri Western Men’s basketball facing the 20 points lost against Northwest. Gilbert Imbiri | Asst. Photo Editor

The Bearcats came out hot right from the opening tip, getting out to a 8-0 lead. The Griffons tried to fight back, but everything was falling for Northwest as it extended the lead out to 25-6.

“It’s incredibly hard to come back,” Jordan Yurth said. “You really have to come together as a team — even when you do that — it’s still hard to come back. We really weren’t hitting shots like we were supposed.”

The Griffons went into the halftime break down 35-14. Northwest guard Alex Sullivan outscored the Griffons by himself in the first half 18-14.

Western was forced to abandoned their zone defense in the second half, but it was Northwest who came out hot once again to start the second half. The Bearcats pushed the lead out to an insurmountable 41-14.

Western never gave up and continued to battle, going on a 9-0 run to make the score 40-23. However, that was the closest the Griffons got to the Bearcats in this one-sided affair.

“It was tough to come back from how they were shooting in the first half,” Dylan Frantz said. “It felt like they had all the confidence and momentum in the world every time they shot it. They were on our throats from the beginning and it was tough.”

The Griffons shot just 4-for-20 from 3-point distance while the Bearcats hit a scorching 15-for-29.  Western turned the ball over 13 times to Northwest’s six.

Cedric Clinkscales and Reed Mells were the only players to score in double-figures for the Griffons with 10 points each.  Dzenan Mrkaljevic added six points and four rebounds, but couldn’t connect on either of his attempts from distance.

The Bearcats were led by Sullivan who scored 27 points on 8-for-16 from 3-point distance and DeAngelo Hailey who went for 21 points and six rebounds including 5-for-7 from distance.  Northwest shot 44 percent for the game and 51.7 percent from 3-point range.

An obnoxious Northwest crowd of over two thousand people played a factor in helping the Bearcats sustain momentum and worked to disrupt the Griffons.

“Just when they are making shots, they feel the momentum,” Frantz said. “If we would have made some shots, it would have quieted them down, but it didn’t happen tonight.”

Junior Heather Howard plays tough defense against the lopers of Nebraska-Kearny. Tevin Harris | Photo Editor

Missouri Western started off slow, losing against the Lopers 7-3. After that, the Griffons turned up the pressure and went on a 21-2 run, forcing the Lopers to 20 first-half turnovers. After the Griffons trailed by 4 points in the opening minutes, they never looked back, not trailing at all in the entire game.

Western Coach Rob Edmisson knew that the defensive intensity was going to be a factor to the Griffons winning the game. The Griffons’ defense made the Lopers uncomfortable the entire game, grabbing 13 steals in just the first half.

“Our defense intensity was really good and this was a much needed win,” Coach Edmisson said.

Western forced the Lopers to 39 turnovers. It’s a fun way to play, getting points from our defense and we needed this really bad. It lifted our spirits,” Western forward Heather Howard said. Western had 28 steals from the Lopers leading to many points.With the Lopers under the Griffons stifling defense there pressure was to much to overcome.

The Griffons were energized from the 2071 in attendance, with the crowd roaring when the Griffons went into halftime, leading 37-13.

In the second half, the Griffons didn’t let up, outscoring the Lopers 34-23. The Griffons held the Lopers scoreless from the three-point line in the entire game.

“We played comfortable tonight and this win got us back where we need to be,” Western guard Denis White said.

Denis White was great coming off the bench, shooting 5-6 with 10 points and 2 steals. Western allowed the Lopers to have only eight field goals in the second half. With this win, Western was able to complete their season sweep over Nebraska-Kearney. Western’s largest lead of the game was 37 points at the 4:23 mark in the second half.

With the Griffons outscoring the Lopers in bench points 35-8, the starting five had plenty of help. Sharniece Lewis had 12 points, nine in the first half with three three-pointers. Heater Howard stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, four rebounds, four blocks and three steals. JaQuitta Dever was another spark off the bench, adding 12 points and four steals.

Missouri Western shot 42.4% field goal and 27.6 percent behind the 3 point line. Western shot 70% free throw.

Missouri Western was able to showcase their talents in their first televised MIAA Network home game.

The Griffons next matchup is against Fort Hays State on the road. After that, the Griffons’ last game is next Saturday at home against Southwest Baptist. The MIAA tournament starts Tuesday March 5th at campus sites.

“I’m glad our seniors could go out on a good note,” coach Rob Edmisson said. “Our kids played with a lot of intensity and every one of our seniors did something special tonight.”

Western had five seniors playing their last regular season game: KC Clouser, Alicia Bell, Heather Howard, Brittany Griswold and Kallie Schoonover. With the win, Western was able to finish the season 15-11 overall and 8-10 in MIAA play. Heather Howard got a double-double, she has 13 on the season.

Every time the Bearcats inched close in an overall tight game, the Griffons had an answer.

In the first half, the Griffons were trading baskets with the Bearcats until the 12:58 mark, when Western went on a 7-0 run after the game was tied 7-7. After that run, the closest the Bearcats got was two points, but the Griffons never lost the lead.

“Our kids showed some toughness and our speed led us to force turnovers,” Edmisson said.

Going into halftime, the Griffons forced the Bearcats to 13 turnovers and held a lead over the Bearcats 32-26.

After an Alicia Bell lay-up and a Sharniece Lewis 3-pointer, the Griffons jumped out to a double-digit lead over the Bearcats, 37-26.

Southwest Baptist took their first lead of the second half after a made 3-pointer, but the Griffons responded right back with their own 3 from Heather Howard, making the score 48-47 Griffons. The Griffons pulled away, going on a 7-0 run, making it 55-47.

The Griffons didn’t look back the rest of the game and outscored the Bearcats in the second half, 39-38. Western never let the Bearcats’ offense get comfortable, forcing 20 turnovers throughout the night.

Sharniece Lewis came off the bench and went 4-for-6 from the 3-point line, scoring 12 of Western’s 34 bench points. Heather Howard had 14 points and 13 rebounds. Alicia Bell added 8 points and five rebounds.

“I don’t know if it has sunk it yet and I love all these girls; this is my home. Having my whole family be able to be here, it feels really good,” Alicia Bell said. “We all knew we had to get this win when we are getting down to the nitty gritty.”

Missouri Western was able to convert on 22-30 from the free-throw line, which was more than double what the Bearcats made the entire night.

Brittany Griswold added six points and fellow senior KC Clouser was able to add three points and three rebounds.
Kallie Schoonover  added six points and two rebounds.

“Tonight was pretty emotional and of all the gyms to choose from, I wouldn’t chosen anything else than Looney Arena,” Schoonover said. “Everyone came out and did their part and contributed.”

Junior Cedric Clinkscales goes up for a layup aginst the defenders from Nebraska-Kearney. JQ Dever | Staff Writer

The 6-7 230-pound big-man leads the Griffons in points and rebounds while being the only member of the team to make the Dean’s Honor Roll, which requires a 3.5 grade point average or better.

“It’s big for me,” Clinkscales said. “That’s the first time it’s ever happened. It’s just showing that I’m trying to be committed to school for real this time. I’m serious about it.”

In the past, basketball was his main focus and he didn’t put as much emphasis on academics. It was fatherhood and time away from the game that transformed his outlook to classroom first.

Clinkscales, father of two, put his basketball career on hold when his first son was born. He knew he needed to work and be there for support. Once he was able to save up some money, he gave school and basketball another try. He came back a much more mature person than before.

“I have kids that are going to look up to me now so I have to set a good example,” Clinkscales said. “When I had my son, I noticed how much he looked up to me so I didn’t want him to see me doing anything bad.”

Clinkscales hails from Anderson, South Carolina, which is a very small town. He attended T.L. Hanna High School, which is famous for being the setting for the movie Radio. He played at Roane State Community College last season in Tennessee and averaged 13.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per game while being an all-conference selection. He was recruited by Western assistant coach Mike Nicholson and committed after taking a visit because he liked the people and the campus.

“We thought we had a pretty good player and several other coaches in the league felt like we got a pretty good player,” coach Tom Smith said.

According to Smith, some coaches won’t recruit players with children of their own, but that issue isn’t of any importance to him when looking for prospective athletes. That policy is paying off for Smith with Clinkscales as he’s shown to be very reliable in doing the things he’s supposed to do.

“I think having kids changes the outlook on things and puts things in perspective for what you focus on,” Smith said. “Some guys in college fool around and have a good time. I don’t think that’s Cedric.”

Clinkscales has been the big man in the paint for the Griffons this season, averaging 13.4 points and 6.3 rebounds per game and impacts the game defensively with steals and blocks. His great spin move and soft touch around the basket often result in him getting double-teamed by the opposition.

“It’s all about trust, my teammates trusting me and getting me the ball in a position to where I can make some plays,” Clinkscales said.

Smith knows that Clinkscales is going to have to come up big if the Griffons are going to get hot at the end of a losing season.

“He’s shown that he’s as good as big man as there is in the league,” Smith said. “The only thing that has affected his overall performance a little has been some injuries.”

Clinkscales is the only Griffon to start all 25 games so far, but he’s played through several injuries including a hurt hand, shoulder and a sprained ankle that kept him out of action during part of the first half of Saturday’s game. He came back and fought through the injury to finish out the game and relies on trainer Myron Unzicker to help him be at his best physically.

“Myron is my lifeline,” Clinkscales said. “I go to him for everything and he helps me stay on the court. Myron is my best friend right now.”

Clinkscales has learned that MIAA competition is tough and any team in the league is capable of fighting for a win on any given night. He’s seen some pretty good big men this season, but none that he’s scared of.

He plans to earn his degree in Sports Management with hopes that it opens up the door for him to pursue a coaching career in basketball. Until then, he plans to finish out this season strong with a tournament appearance.

“I was really relieved and it felt petty good,” Smith said. “I just felt like I was in the dentist chair all game. I thought we had some pretty good possessions at the end and it was good to win this last game. I tried to tell myself it didn’t mean anything, but it does.”

The win also guaranteed Smith would get to coach at least one more game as it clinched the final seed  in the 12-team MIAA postseason tournament. Western improved to 10-16 overall and 6-12 in conference play.

Fans stayed in their seats after the game to pay tribute to Smith as he took the mic and thanked everybody in an emotional moment. A large group of ex-players made the trip to Saint Joseph to celebrate with their coach.

“The teary eyed stuff isnt because I’m leaving necessarily, but from seeing all of the players here,” Smith said. “It means a lot because we are talking about kids who don’t have a lot of money and everything else.”

The Griffons have played at a higher level on the road than at home this season, with a 1-6 record coming into the game.  Smith stressed to his team before the game to ignore all the hoopla and celebration of his career and focus on the outcome of the game.

“He wanted us to come out here and just play,” guard Kalvin Balque said. “Amongst all the stuff that was going on today, he just wanted us to come out and get the win.  If we would have lost, it would have hurt him.”

The Griffons wasted no time taking control of the game as they were up 22-11 after a Balque dunk, one of three on the afternoon.  Western went into halftime with a 33-19 lead.

Southwest Baptist was able to close the gap after some cold shooting from the Griffons, and cut it to 47-42 with five minutes to play. The Griffons got their focus back and made some big plays down the stretch to pull away for the win including two highlight-reel worthy alley-oops flushed home by Balque.

“I get real amped after catching the oop and it gets the crowd and my teammates into it,” Balque said. “I know I can go get it and dunk it, so that’s what I do. Coaches want me to show off my athleticism.”

Cedric Clinkscales posted a double-double for the Griffons with a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds.  Clinkscales was named an honorable mention on the MIAA all-conference team.

“Again, it’s my teammates,” Clinkscales said. “Once they seen that I was scoring then they kept getting it to me.  Baptist wasn’t playing me as aggersiive as some of the other teams in the conference has. They were on their heels.”

Balque added 17 points off the bench on 7-for-9 shooting and stole the ball two times.

The game was also the last home game for seniors Alex Tuluka-Mfumupembe, Dylan Frantz.  Both seniors made some strong hustle plays on the offensive glass and impacted the game on their final night at the Fieldhouse after spending two years in a Griffon uniform.

“We always felt like we were the team that could beat other teams in this league,” Clinkscales said.  “It just wasn’t happeneing for us, but now we need to seize this momentum going into the tournament.”

Junior Cedric Clinkscales goes up for a layup aginst the defenders from Nebraska-Kearney. Photo by JaQuitta Dever

Western men’s basketball fell victim to hot three-point shooting by Nebraska-Kearney in the second half as they were defeated 75-70 at the MWSU Fieldhouse on Military Appreciation Day.

The Griffons fell to 9-15 on the season and 5-11 in MIAA conference play.

“Kearney played well and im not taking anything away from them, but in 25 years here this ranks as one of my toughest losses,” coach Tom Smith said. “I’m really taken back by this. We just gave a team life that didn’t think they had any life.”

Nebraska-Kearney hit 15 shots from 3-point distance including 9-for-16 in the second half.  The Griffons went into the halftime break with a 32-27 lead, but two consecutive 3′s by guard Thomas Cooper near the beginning of the second half gave the Lopers a 44-41 lead and never gave the lead back to Western.

The Griffons have not had good results playing at home as their record at the MWSU Fieldhouse is just 1-6 in conference play.  According the Smith, this is the first team in 25 years that doesn’t play well at home.  In the past, even in bad years, the fieldhouse has provided a home-court advantage for the Griffons.

“This team cannot play at home,” Smith said. “They can’t take all the people and they cant take the hoopla. They couldn’t take it. This is pathetic when we come out and give this kind of effort in front of this kind of crowd. We are actually intimidated by our own fans.”

Cedric Clinkscales led the Griffons with 14 points on 6-for-10 shooting and added 10 rebounds.  Clinkscales twisted his knee in the first half and was forced to sit out the last seven minutes before coming back to start the second half.

“We got players who can step up and do their job, but it may have hurt us,” Clinkscales said. “We have to defend their shooters. They got a lot of open 3′s in the second half and then we gave up a lot of rebounds too.  We have to execute,make shots and get defensive stops.”

Dylan Frantz scored 13 points on 5-for-9 from the field and added three assists while Reed Mells scored 10 points and dished out six assists.  Kalvin Balque scored seven points while providing the highlight of the night when he dunked home a lob pass from Mells. Alfreeman Flowers scored eight points and added five rebounds.

Western shot 51 percent from the field and 9-for-22 from 3-point distance.  They struggled at the free-throw line, connecting on just three out of eight attempts.

There are only two games left in the regular season for the Griffons and Smith in his final season as head coach.  The final is a home game next Saturday against Southwest Baptist University at 3:30 p.m.

The Griffons are currently in No. 11 out of the 12-team field for the MIAA Tournament in Kansas City, but could need a win in one of these last two games to guarantee their invite.

Baseball is not only his oldest passion, but it is one of his first memories. Ever since his grandfather started tossing him wiffleballs to hit when he was 2-years-old, it was all he wanted to do. Simmons knew at a very young age that he wanted to be a collegiate athlete, and it wasn’t until high school that he knew it would be a possibility.

Lucky for Missouri Western, one graduate may have been the deciding factor as to why Simmons chose to be a Griffon.

“On my visit it was a place that felt like home,” Simmons said. “The players were a joy to be around and made me feel welcome. My assistant coach in high school is an alumni from here and he set the whole thing up. I took my visit and instantly became a Griffon.”

The three time First Team All State pitcher fit in quickly at the college level. He led the team in wins with six in his first season pitching as a Griffon. Despite a slight sophomore slump, Simmons still managed to get six wins and become an All MIAA Honorable mention for his second year in a row.

It wasn’t until his Junior season that Western found out how dynamic of a pitcher they really had.
Simmons busted out with 12 wins, the most ever by a pitcher in a single season at Western. His 12-win season was not only enough to lead the MIAA, it was enough to lead the nation in wins.

Western’s coach Buzz Verduzco really sees the positive for the team as a whole with Simmons as the lead pitcher.

“He’s the ace of our staff,” Verduzco said. “Since he got here as a freshman four years ago we could tell at the very beginning he was going to be special, because he really controls the game for us.”

The ace pitcher is coming off his biggest season, and is with a team that has what it takes to push Western farther than they have ever been before.

Simmons has always had one pre-season goal, to be better than the previous year. Despite his record breaking Junior season, his drive to be the best and obtain his goal is still in his sights.

“This year will be no exception,” Simmons said. “I’ve been in this league for four years and have a pretty good idea on how teams will approach the game, and I do my best to disrupt that.”

Coach Verduzco also notices where Simmons pitching game carries over into his leadership qualities.

“The thing that he does for us too is really help out the young pitchers and teach them how to pitch,” Verduzco said.

One young pitcher in particular, Kyle Kelly who was a redshirt freshman last season, sees how Simmons makes players around him better.

“Brandon is a great leader,” Kelly said. “He is a lead by example player and our guys feed off him. He is very detailed in his routine and it shows in his success.”

Simmons success has made him the stand out pitcher he is today. He hopes to not only have individual success, but have team success in his last collegiate season.

“Our expectations are to finish top in our league and eventually win a world series,” Simmons said. “This team has the tools that are needed to win it all.”

After posting a 34-17 record last year, the baseball team is bringing out the bats in hopes of having an even more productive season than last year.

This season, the team is filled with players who have been on the team for years, and their leadership will be needed as they start another season.

Head coach Buzz Verduzco feels that this season will be just like any other season, but the fact that they are ranked as a Top-2 team in the MIAA does heighten up the expectations.

“I think like any other year we have high expectations,” Verduzco said. “This year might be a little different because we have a pretty veteran group. They are coming off a pretty good season last year so I think that players and the coaches have some pretty high hopes as far as where we can finish in the conference and regionally.”

Verduzco noted that this years’ roster is deeper than in the past. The combination of transfers and veterans gives him fresh legs for their long season.

“I think with as many junior and senior type kids that we have, if any body goes down or falls through, we have somebody else to pick them up,” Verduzco said. “We are deeper than what we have been in the past.”

Personality is one of the things that the program pays attention to when picking up transfers from around the country. Verduzco said that this year will be no different.

“We are really big on the type of character a player is when he comes to our program,” Verduzco said. “These men are just awesome guys. They are great teammates and they have been able to fit in with what we do here as well as being able to play with the guys who are playing.”

The Griffons enter the season with five players being named to the all-Region team. Brandon Simmons (RHP), Spencer Shockley (1B), and Grant Fink (3B) are three of the seniors that where named to the all-Region first team.

Senior designated hitter Nate Ramier and Junior SS Michael Schulze were named to the all-Region second team.

Spencer Shockley hopes to bring some veteran leadership to the team as well as a championship in his last season with the team.

“I am expecting to finish pretty high up,” Shockley said. “Hopefully take first in conference, get to a regional, and see what we can do from there. I want to bring some good leadership to the team, get my bat going as well as keeping good momentum.”

Brandon Simmons expectations and hopes are as big as Shockley’s. Both players spoke very heavily about improving from last year and bringing leadership. Simmons said he was excited for another season with new players and winning is the top priority for them.

“We have a lot of returning guys, plus some better guys,” Simmons said. “I expect for us to be better. I just want to bring everyone together and play like a team. We get along well, we bond like a family and we are definitely confident.”

“It’s hard because it’s my third year and I’ve faced everyone for three years and I need to step my game up because they are going to know exactly what I throw,” Bishop said.

The 21-year old has built all of these records in just a few years. Though she appears to be the big beast behind the mound, deep down she’s just trying to hold back her nerves and keep her confidence throughout the game.  In order to do this, she can’t focus on her stats, she said.

“I just try to be positive as I can and relax,” Bishop said. ‘The team knows I get nervous but I’m trying to not show as many nerves this year. You just have to realize that sometimes stuff’s going to fall your way and sometimes it’s not. You have to let it go and move on,” she added.

One thing that Bishop is currently working on is perfecting her drop ball that she hopes will throw the batters off their rocker, especially the ones that have seen her before on the mound. Head softball coach Jen Bagley noted that overall Bishop is the pitcher she was two years ago, but this drop ball will only add to her success.

“[It] will help her as we go further into the season because that’s something team’s haven’t seen yet,” Bagley said.

Bagley included that the number one improvement that she’s seen in Bishop has been her in mental game and growing wisdom on the field. She’s definitely not the young kid anymore, she explained.

“Being a pitcher sometimes its hard to be a team leader because there’s so much responsibility just on your own self that’s necessary,” Bagley said. “The maturity is Jackie is only going to allow her to get stronger. That’s probably the one thing that held her back in the past was just being young. Now nothing’s changed except that she’s two years older.

A positive outlook and an optimistic perspective are the main things that the team must have for a successful year. For Bishop, she understands that it all starts with her. No matter how the ball falls from her hand, if she can stay level headed and mentally focused, she knows her team will follow.

“She’s a very, very involved player leading by her ability on the field,” senior catcher  Keri Lorbert said. “When Jackie’s feeling confident in what she’s throwing for the day, the whole team has more confidence,” Lorbert said.

Denise Chiao played the most competitive match of the Griffons, falling to Ivana Belajova 6-2, 6-3.

Northeastern improved to 5-1 on the season and 1-0 in conference play.  The Griffons next match is Feb. 22 against Lincoln University and Maryville University at the St. Joseph Tennis and Swim Club with a start time of 9:30 a.m.

Softball went 5-1 over the weekend to improve its record to 7-3 on the season.  Pitcher Janie Smith has four wins, while Jackie Bishop has won three games this season.  Sarah Elliott leads the team in batting average with .517 on the season.

Baseball swept a three-game series against Emporia State on the road over the weekend to improve to 4-3 on the season after starting 1-4.  Pitcher Brandon Simmons is off to a 2-0 start to the season and is on pace to break the all-time wins record at Western in the next few games.

“It’s been a long-standing program expectation to finish in the top of the conference and make it to the NCAA Tournament,” Bagley said. “That’s definitely something we aim for every year and I don’t see any reason why our talent level or anything would make us question that goal this year. If we can get ourselves into a position to be there then I feel good about our chances to continue and go deep.”

The Griffons have been successful in making the NCAA tournament for the last two seasons, but haven’t been able to make a deep run once they got there.  That’s a fact that catcher Keri Lorbert believes will inspire them on the field.

“It makes us have that much more of a hunger for the postseason when we have all had a taste of it,” Lorbert said.

Western returns eight players who hit over .300 last season including Senior Maegan Roemmich who led the team with a .347 batting average.  She knows that expectations are high, but that they can play better than their 7-3 start to the season.

“I think we have as much if not more potential than any year that I’ve been here,” Roemmich said. “Our team chemistry is really good and we know eachothers personalities and how to work as a team, we just need to come together.  These past two weekends we’ve seen that there are things that we still need to put together.”

Pitcher Jackie Bishop returns as the ace of the pitching staff after going 24-5 last season and winning the MIAA Pitcher of the Year award and setting the single season strikeout record with 243.  Besides working on her own game, Bishop has served as somewhat of a mentor to freshman Janie Smith.  Smith is the only freshman on the team and has already racked up a perfect 4-0 record to the start of her career at Western.

“Jackie’s main focus besides herself is helping Janie develop too and showing her what to expect in MIAA competition,” Bagley said. “It will be interesting to see how that progresses. I think she has had a great teacher in how to be that person in Jonnelle Belger.”

The homerun ball has been a strength for the Griffons in the early season.  Lorbert leads the team with four while first basemen Tiffany Gillaspie has three.  Third basemen Sarah Elliott has also contributed a pair of homers.

“We are excited by the power that we have been seeing,” Bagley said.  ”Sarah Elliott, who doesn’t usually generate that kind of power normally, is seeing the ball big right now and taking good aggressive hacks. So that’s fun.”‘

Its a trend that Bagley isn’t sure will continue or not.  ”It’s early and when it’s early it means that everyone is a little more hungry,” Bagley said. “The other thing is pitchers aren’t usualy as sharp. Teams that we have played against don’t have a lot of footage on us.”

It was a road game at Central Oklahoma where the Griffons found themselves down by double digits at halftime. Yurth did his best to motivate the team and contribute with the minutes he got and the team came back and won. He’s been part of the rotation ever since.

“One of the things I talk about is toughness and I feel like Jordan helps us there,” Smith said. “He’s a tough kid that’s willing to take charges and stick his nose in there. His playing time has gone up as he’s gone along.”

Yurth, a 6’4 swingman, was an all-city player in high school out of Lincoln, Neb. If it was playing time that he valued the most, he would have went to one of the NAIA schools that recruited him.

Instead, he was more excited about playing for a hall of fame coach, even if he had to earn every minute he gets.

“I feel like at the NAIA’s, I could have gotten more playing time, but I like Saint Joe and the people here. I like the coaching staff,” Yurth said. “This is a higher level and I knew that coming in. I knew that my opportunities would be harder to get but I looked at it like a challenge.”

According to Smith, it is increasingly rare in this day and age to find a player willing to work hard in practice every day without any guarantee of playing time.

In his experience, most of the time, a player will leave or decide that it’s not worth the daily grind of being a college basketball player with no reward. Yurth has been the exception to that.

“I’ve just always tried to be there for the team off or on the court,” Yurth said. “I practice hard, try to get the guys motivated by me playing hard. This year, it’s nice to get some minutes because I know I can contribute.”

When Smith took over making the substitutions from his assistant coach this year, he remembered Gary Hooper. Hooper’s dad was a star player while his son was less talented.

The father told Smith that he could do what he wanted with his son, but that any kid that can practice with you day in and day out against your team, and you think your team is decent, can certainly play for a few minutes. That’s something that Smith always had in the back of his mind when figuring out his substitution patterns.

Aside from a good-looking jump shot, Smith commends Yurth for always keeping his morale high. He’s had kids who sulk when they don’t see the type of playing time they want, whereas Yurth does the opposite.

“When he doesn’t get minutes, he’s supportive of the people playing,” Smith said. “He’s helping and he’s talking to them and that’s another reason why he needs to be rewarded. Guys sitting there and just caring about themselves don’t need to be rewarded. Jordan needs to be rewarded.”

When Yurth’s opportunities come, he does his best to seize them and is willing to help the Griffons win in any capacity.

“I always feel confident when I go in, whether that’s playing defense or shooting the ball,” Yurth said. “I’m out there to make sure we do the best job possible on the court, to help out rebounding or whatever we need.”

Smith first saw Yurth at a camp where he felt that he had the most potential of any player who wanted to try out. Yurth has shown steady improvement over his years at Western, practicing against some very talented players everyday.

“I feel like what he has done over the last couple of years is he has practiced against enough good players that he’s become a better player,” Smith said.

He might never play 25 minutes per night, but he continues to have a positive impact on the program in many ways.

“I do it just for the love of the game,” Yurth said. “You don’t have to be the best player, but I like being around players and playing the game a lot.”

Yurth is working on a double major at Western in management and marketing. Afterwards, he plans to pursue a master’s degree. He isn’t sure what he will do after that, but his plans displays the same work ethic and selflessness that he’s become known for at Western.

Senior Heather Howard drives to the basket looking to score against the Lady Blues. | Tevin Harris Photo Editor

Western has been floating around the middle of the pack in the MIAA for the last few weeks. A combination of recent losses and possible future losses could drop them back, which is something Edmisson doesn’t want to see happen.

“We are trying to stay up in that No. 8 spot so we can play at home for sure,” Edmisson said. “We have all the reason why we need to play well and play hard.”

Western’s hopes were high at the start of the season. They were especially high 10 games in, when they were looking almost unbeatable with a record of 9-1, a record that already surpassed the 7-20 Western team who made the MIAA tournament just the season before. That team had lost 11 of their last 13 regular season games before entering tournament play.

A lot of collegiate teams have trouble finishing strong near the end of their seasons. More times than not, there is a trend of losing away games. It’s always tough to play on the road, but this team is currently 6-5 at away games. Although it isn’t ideal, being above .500 on the road is always a plus.

Another common problem teams can have late in the season is stamina. This likely isn’t the case for Western either. Actually, the Griffons often show stamina as being in their favor, and play it to one of their strengths.

Western has had a high pressured defense all season long, forcing other teams to commit 20 turnovers per game so far this season, combining for 83 more turnovers than the Griffons have, despite turnovers being one of Westerns biggest issues.

Edmisson is still relying on their physical abilites to keep them in a reasonable spot as they head into the MIAA tournament.

“We stressed conditioning in practice on Saturday,” Edmisson said. “We got up and down the floor quite a bit and we told the kids we aren’t playing today but we have to tax our bodies like we were playing because you can lose conditioning at this time of year. We taxed ourselves with running so it felt like we just got done playing a game and they had that appearance.”

There is one specific area that may or may not be related to their playing issues as of late. Something about this second semester could be affecting their mental focus on their season, since there has been a noticeable fluctuation in their record.

Their early 9-1 start to their season was all during their first semester. They had a 3-2 record through Christmas break, and since school started back up they have been just 2-6. Since school started back up, this has been arguably the worst semester of coach Edmisson’s 23 year career.

Edmisson has not given up this many losses in a season since his 2001-02 season at Hutchinson Community College in Hutchinson, Ks. where he finished 18-12. Edmisson is currently on his second 3-game losing streak this season, which he is not at all used to. In fact, has not had a single 3-game losing streak in at least 10 years.

It has been a stretched out schedule near the end of the regular season. Edmisson finds it difficult to stay both mentally and physically focused with such distant games. The Griffons have only played one game a week in the month of February. Western is ready to get back into consistent competitive play to hopefully finish the regular season with a few wins.

“I think our kids our excited to go play and get back on the floor,” Edmisson said.  ”We have four games left and we feel like they are all winnable games to give us a chance to finish out on a positive note.”

If Western can hold on to the eight spot and play their first game at home, their next challenge will be continuing on in the tournament in Kansas City, which is Edmisson’s main goal right now.

“There are a lot of positive things for us to look forward to,” Edmisson said.

The Griffons lost a close on to Henderson State 4-3 before putting on a display of dominance in a 12-1 win over Southern Nazarene.  Keri Lorbert went 3-for-4 at the plate with six runs batted in during the win while Michelle Stevenson went 3-for-3.  Pitcher Jackie Bishop picked up her first win of the season after taking a rare loss in the first game.

The third game was a 9-4 loss against SouthEast Oklahoma State and Western bounced back in game No. 4 with a 5-4 win over Cameron.

Sarah Elliott led the Griffons in average, going 7-for-12 to start the season.

Just like last week, the Griffons kept it close in the first half going into halftime, losing 29-23. The Griffons had their largest and only lead in the first half at the 16:01 mark, leading 7-4.

“It wasn’t a good night shooting for us,” senior guard Alicia Bell said.

The Lady Blues went on a 13-2 run to lead the Griffons 17-9. The Griffons responded with their own run, making it 17-16 at the 6:22 mark then the rest of the half was a back and forth battle.

In the second half, the Lady Blues decided to turn up the throttle.

“We weren’t aggressive attacking the rim and didn’t make layups,” Bell said.

At the 8:36 mark, the Griffons would never get another field goal with Washburn leading 40-46.

“We turned the ball over too many times, making that the pivotal point of the game,” Western coach Rob Edmisson said.

The Griffons made just five free throws the rest of the game, leaving the outcome to a 60-45 win for the Lady Blues.

“We needed to finish and we weren’t converting,” Western forward Heather Howard said.

Washburn outscored the Griffons 31-22 in the second half. Western went 15-for-46, shooting 32.6 percent field goal shooting for the game.

“Missing free throws and layups deflates you,” Edmisson said.

The Griffons went 2-for-11 on 18.2 percent shooting behind the 3-point line and shot 13-for-26 free throws on the night.

“We missed too many free throws and the free throws could’ve made the game tight down the stretch,” Edmisson said.

Heather Howard recorded a double-double, scoring 12 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. This is Heather Howard’s twelfth double-double this season. Brittany Griswold added nine points and grabbed three rebounds while Alicia Bell added four points with three rebounds. The Griffons were outrebounded 45-28 and got outscored 30-14 in the paint.

“We need to make a better effort to get into the boards,” Heather Howard said.

“We didn’t create enough second shots and we didn’t get offensive rebounds; we hurt ourselves,” Edmisson said.

The Griffons only had nine second chance points for the game. February has been a tough road for the Griffon Women, going on a three-game losing streak.

Cedric Clinkscales goes up strong for two of his nine points in the paint. *Photo by Evan Roberts

Western men’s basketball lost an overtime thriller 56-52 to Washburn University at the MWSU Fieldhouse.

Washburn had revenge on its mind after being upset by the Griffons in Topeka last Wednesday, but it was Western dominating the early part of the game.

Guard Reed Mells came out hot and was responsible for scoring the first five points of the game and seven of the first nine points for the Griffons, who were up 9-4.  Western had a 13-point lead off an Alfreeman Flowers layup, but was unable extend the lead further despite an extremely cold shooting display by Washburn.

The Ichabods shot just 26 percent in the first half and managed to score only 16 points. The Griffons struggled to create offense, but their defense allowed them to go into halftime with a 27-16 lead.

“I think the game was decided by us not making anything while the sun shined in the first half,” coach Tom Smith said. “We had every opportunity to be up by 15 or 20 in the first half and we couldn’t take advantage of it. Poor shot selection and turnovers hurt us.”

While the Griffons had problems turning the ball over to start the second half, Washburn was finding its shooting stroke. The Ichabods went on a 11-0 run early in the half to take a 31-29 lead.

The teams traded buckets right down to the end of the fourth quarter. With one minute to play, the Griffon defense forced a travel. On the offensive end, Kalvin Balque grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled with 2.3 seconds left to play. He missed the first free throw, but made the second to force overtime.

Washburn big man Bobby Chipman hit a basket inside and then hit two free throws give the Ichabods a four point lead to start the overtime period and the Griffons couldn’t respond on the offensive end.

“I think we are getting better, just not closing out games,” Mells said. “We have a lot of talent and guys who want to play hard, but we are just inconsistent. It happens, but we can’t afford it.”

Western couldn’t find its shot and hit at just 35 percent from the field for the game, a mark that Smith says will not win him very many games.

“We should have won that game,” Smith said. “We were at home with every bit equal talent and they won the game. The tougher of the two teams won this game. They played tougher and with more confidence than we did tonight.”

Mells led the Griffons in scoring with 12 points including two from 3-point distance while Alfreeman Flowers put in 10 points, including nearly hitting a full court shot at the buzzer of regulation that would have ended it. Dzenan Mrkaljevic was all over the glass for 15 rebounds as Western out-rebounded Washburn 43-34.

“That was not two great teams out there tonight,” Smith said. “I felt like we played great at Topeka and as well as any team in the league, but we didn’t tonight.”

The Griffons are down to their last four regulation games before the MIAA tournament.

Cedric Clinkscales, Junior, pushes the Washburn defense to stay on their toes. The Griffons come up short 56-52 in overtime. Evan Roberts | Photo Editor

Cedric Clinkscales gets two of his nine points in the paint, he added seven rebounds. Evan Roberts | Photo Editor

Cedric Clinkscales, Junior goes up for a rebound. The Griffons come up short 56-52 in overtime. Evan Roberts | Photo Editor.

Adarius Fulton, Junior, spins around Washburn defense to score a lay-up. The Griffons come up short 56-52 in overtime. Evan Roberts | Photo Editor

Coach Partridge signed 21 student athletes for the upcoming 2013 football season. Among these 21 included two star Quarterbacks with nearly identical stats. These two Quarterbacks will be competing for the4 2014 spot of starting Quarterback.

Skyler Windmiller of Mill Valley High School, Shawnee, Ks. and TJ LaFaver of Warrenton High School, Warrenton, Mo. both announced their intent to play for Western on National Signing Day.

Western’s coach Jerry Partridge made it clear that the two future quarterbacks will both redshirt their first season.

“We will not kill a year on mop-up duty,” Partridge said. “If they are playing next year it’s because of worst case scenario; injury.”

This means after the current quarterback, Travis Partridge, finishes his senior year this season, there will be a quarterback job opening for the following season. By that time the top two candidates, Windmiller and LaFaver will both have four years of playing time to contribute to the team.

“We historically have not had transfer quarterbacks,” Partridge said. “We’ve been able to raise our own and build them. In some cases some of them have had gigantic pedigrees, such as Drew Newhart. Some were considered option quarterbacks that couldn’t throw it and ended up being first team all-conference. So we’ve done a good job at picking kids out and developing them into football players.”

Windmiller and LaFaver are two of 15 offensive players Western had signed on National Signing Day. LaFaver is one of 13 signees from Missouri, and Windmiller is one of three signees from Kansas.
Partridge also made it known that there is no front runner for the position yet. Prior to signing, both Windmiller and LaFaver were aware of Western’s interest in each other. Both of them showed similar value to Western after they finished their high school careers, as well as other schools. Partridge also makes note as to how much self confidence they have in themselves to understand that a similar player will be competing for the same spot that only one can get.

“They were actually trained by the same quarterback instructional guy that Drew Newhart was, so they knew about each other,” Partridge said. “That tells you what kind of character they have and what competitive zeal they have to both say ‘look I’m going to be the guy.”’

It was difficult for recruiters to compare and contrast their physical capabilities because of how similar they are. Their sizes are virtually identical, being within one inch of height and five pounds from each another. Their playing styles are very similar, from their long ball throwing strength to their athletic scrambling abilities.

Although both are very athletic, running speed was the only category stated that one had an advantage over the other. Not only is LaFaver faster than Windmiller and Travis Partridge, he was faster than any defensive back or wide receiver they had at a combine-like event during his visit, according to Partridge.

Windmiller may be slower, but he has the slight advantage when you compare their high school stats. He had 2231 passing yards and 28 passing touchdowns, with 586 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns on 92 carries his senior season, while LaFaver had 1829 passing yards and 18 touchdowns, with 466 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on 91 carries.

There is no quarterback controversy as long as Travis Partridge remains healthy this season, but the following season will have a lot of questions. Those questions will bring answers that will likely decide who will be Western’s future field leader.

Western forward Sharnice Lewis breaks down her defender off the dribble against the Icabods at the lee Arena in Washburn, Kansas.

The Griffons fell to 13-8 overall and 6-7 in MIAA conference play.

Heather Howard led the Griffons with 14 points, five steals and four rebounds. Alicia Bell and Brittany Griswold both added seven points and three rebounds. Western came out shooting well leading the Lady Blues 12-9 and played great defense. After that 12-9 lead Western would never lead again in the game.

“We just stopped making shots,” coach Rob Edmisson said.

In the first half Western made only 8 field goals, they shot 36 percent from the field.

“We have to finish shots,” Heather Howard said.

With only making eight field goals in the first half Western still only trailed 20-26 at halftime.

Missouri Western forced the Lady Blues to 29 turnovers in the game.

“It was kind of dishearting when you take the best team in the conference top 10 team in the country and force them into 29 turnovers and not being able to capitalize on that and not being able to win the game,” Edmisson said.

In the second half Washburn came out blazing, outscoring the Griffons 39-28 and holding the Griffons to a 26 percent field goal percentage on 9-for-34 shooting.

“We got a lot of offensive woes,” Edmisson said.

The Lady Blues shot 59 percent in the second half.

“It’s really disappointing to work that hard on defense and execute our gameplan and give up wide open shots,” Alicia Bell said.

The Lady Blues largest lead was 23 at the 2:37 mark. They had three players scoring in double-digits while Western only had one player scoring double-digits.

Missouri Western had 14 points off the Lady Blues 29 turnovers. The Lady Blues out-rebounded Western 39-20. Western shot 17-for-56 30.4 percent field goals and went 6-17 and shot 35.3 percent from the 3-point line. With this loss, Western has dropped its second consecutive game. The Griffons will have a week long rest to prepare for Washburn.

“It will freshen up our legs and will help them physically and mentally,” Edmisson said.

The Griffons are currently ranked No. 8 in the MIAA conference with a record of 6-7 with four games left to play.   Western will try to get back on track for the remainder of the regular season after losing five of its last six games after getting off to a fast start.

Howard has been the leader of the team all season long, averaging team-high in rebounds and points with 13.8 and 9.8 rebounds per game.

“For us to be serious, I think we need another win against one of the contenders and beat Kearney(Nebraska) and Southern Baptist,” coach Tom Smith said.

With four games left to play, the Griffons find themselves clinging to the last spot in the tournament with a one-game lead over Truman State University.

The Griffons will play in a hostile environment against rival Northwest Missouri State in Maryville on Feb. 20.  The Bearcats are currently locked in to a three way tie  for the No. 5 seed in the tournament and hold a three game lead over Western.  However, Western holds a 1-0 record against this season as they pulled off an 71-58 upset over the Bearcats at the MWSU Fieldhouse.

Western will return home on Feb. 23 to play Nebraska-Kearney who has only won three games in the conference this season and sit at second to last.  Western also beat Kearney the only time that the two schools met this season 74-66.

A tough road contest lies on Feb. 27 when the Griffons travel to Hays, Kan. to play Fort Hays State who is tied for first place in the conference.  The Griffons played them tough in the first contest against Hays, but fell 84-74 in overtime.

Seeding should be on the line for the last game of the season when Southwest Baptist comes to play at the MWSU Fieldhouse on March 2.  Baptist holds only a one game lead over Western in the MIAA standings and the two teams haven’t met up at all this season.

The MIAA only has one team ranked in the top-25 nationally and none of the teams appear to be unbeatable heading into the final stretch of the season.

“I can’t ever recall this league not having one or two teams in the top-25,” Smith said. “No one is just completely dominant and can go out there and overpower everybody. No matter what happens — no matter where you go — you have a chance and you may or may not play well but you have a chance.”

Smith has cut his rotation down to seven or eight players in preparation of the post season.  For the players part, they don’t want to be the team that didn’t give Smith the opportunity to coach in one last postseason tournament before he retires after the season.

“That’s not how he wants to go out and we don’t want the season to end like that,” guard Reed Mells said. “We missed it last year and we all felt pretty bad about that so we don’t want to miss it again. We just need to win as many gaems as we can. I think it’s doable to make the tournament and we are more talented than our record shows, but this point in the season you are who you are so we just need to get in and try to be dangerous.”

The Griffons have struggled with consistency, but have shown  improvement over the course of the season and are aiming to play their best basketball down the stretch.

“Consistency is our biggest issue,” Mells said.  ”I think we have games and practices where we take steps back or we don’t get better which you can’t afford, especially now, but overall I think weve been getting better.”

Sophomore guard Reed Mells coordinating teamates in the the contest against Washburn University | JQ Dever Staff Writer

Western men’s basketball put on its best shooting display of the season in a 79-74 upset win over No. 17-ranked Washburn University in Topeka, Kan.

The Griffons shot a season-high in 3-point and field goal percentage, hitting 50 percent from deep and 57.8 percent overall. Six players registered double-figure scoring for the first time this season.

“It’s unbelievable for us,” coach Tom Smith said. “Everything just kind of went right. We got a lot better shots than we’ve been getting too. We moved the ball better and had a lot better rhythm in what we did. We kept talking about giving ourselves a chance to win and we did.”

Point guard Reed Mells came up clutch by making six straight free throws down the stretch to seal up the victory. Mells had a breakout game scoring 18 points, dishing out seven assists, grabbing four rebounds and stole the ball three times on the defensive end.

“Reed sparked us and fueled us taking over the point guard role,” Smith said. “He’s had trouble with that responsibility and he did it.”

One of the biggest transitions for sophomore Mells at the college level has been learning to impact every aspect of the game, not just focus on scoring the basketball. He plans to continue to make the type of all-around contributions that he displayed against Washburn.

“To be a really good or great player you have to be able to affect the game in multiple areas and passing is an area where I think that I can help the team,” Mells said.

After a tightly contested first half, the Griffons fell down 58-49 midway through the second half but never lost their composure facing the deficit.

“We really did a good job of keeping the tempo the way we needed it,” Smith said. “We went down by nine and never hit the panic button.”

Dzenan Mrkaljevic scored 16 points in just 21 minutes by hitting 6-for-7 from the field including 3-for-4 from 3-point distance. Dylan Frantz and Alfreeman Flowers score 12 points each while Cedric Clinkscales scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds. Kalvin Balque added 10 points including 2-for-3 from 3-point distance.

“Late in the game, we just executed very well and played a more physical game than they probably thought we could play,” Balque said. “We started to execute and it was hard to stop us.”

Western withstood 32 points from Martin Mitchell and 16 from Will McNeil, a scoring output from two players that would usually result in a loss if not for the hot shooting. Western’s post players out-scored the Ichabod big men.

“I thought our ball movement was really good,” Smith said. “We moved the ball well and our 3′s had a lot of rhythm to them. It was just boom,boom, boom in rhythm.”

Western was more efficient from the 3-point line, connecting on 10-for-20 from 3-point distance while Washburn manage to hit only 8-for-24.

With the win, Western improved to 9-12 on the season and 5-8 in MIAA conference play.

Senior Brittney Griswold shoots a field goal in Looney Complex in Satuday’s contest.

“I feel like we came out a little weak it’s just one of those days,” guard Cassey Sobaski said. Missouri Western shot 22-for-66, 33.3 percent from the field and 29.2 percent from behind the 3-point line going 7-for-24.

“You got to make baskets,” Coach Rob Edmisson said. After the game was tied at 11-11 with a Brittany Griswold lay-up Northeastern went on a 8-0 run putting the score to 19-13 with 7:37 left.

Needing a spark, Edmisson put in Sobaski and she led the charge to put the Griffons on a 10-0 run and a lead. Sobaski had 10 points off the bench.

“I’ve always been a 3-point shooter and I work hard on that everyday,” Sobaski said. Western led the game 27-23 with 3:19 seconds left in the first half.

“I thought we came out in the first half right in it are guards did a tremendous job switching,” Griswold said.

Going into halftime, Western was down 30-29. In the first half the Griffons only attempted two free throws and made one of them. Northeastern went 9-for-17 from the free throw line.

In the second half, after a Griswold 3-pointer, Northeastern went on a 5-0 run to make the score 34-39 at the 15:10 mark. Griswold scored five straight points for Western to close the lead to 39-42 but Northeastern went on another run scoring five consecutive points to make the score 39-47 at 12:39. “They got easy lay-ups on us,” said Griswold.

Then Western started to run out of gas at the 11:06 mark when the score was 43-47 Northeastern leading. Northeastern went on a 9-0 run making the lead 43-56 with 8:08 left in the game, Western couldn’t come back from the deficit. “We just lost momentum,” said Griswold.

Griswold had 16 of the Griffons 27 points in the half. Griswold had a game high 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

“It’s unfortunate when you lose to look at individual performances when Sobaski came in and knocked down shots and Brittany came in and played good,” Edmisson said. Missouri Western out-rebounded Northeastern 40-37 but had more turnovers than the Riverhawks with 16 while Northeastern had 13.

“We just have to have everybody step up offensively we have the talent we just have to get tough,” Griswold said.

Dylan Frantz looks for the open man against Northeastern State. He led the Griffons with five assists.  Photo by Jason Brown

Western men (8-12, 4-8) started hot, but it didn’t last as Northeastern State University (15-5, 8-4) got warmed up and handed the Griffons their second consecutive loss at the MWSU Fieldhouse 73-61.

Alex Tuluka-Pfumupembe got things going early with back-to-back 3-pointers which gave the Griffons a 6-0 lead.  Reed Mells added a 3 and a Cedric Clinkscales layup put the Griffons up 11-3 early.

“You could tell the energy level wasn’t good for us after the first eight minutes,” coach Tom Smith said. “The thing that bothers me the most is it’s the first time I can say that we didn’t give much effort.”

It was all Northeastern State for the rest of the game.  More specifically, it was all point guard Bryton Hobbs.  Hobbs penetrated the Western zone defense when he had a man in his face and made open shots when the defense backed off.  He finished with 32 points on 10-for-17 from the field and added nine rebounds and three assists.

“Hobbs did everything,” Smith said. “All around he was just the best player on the floor and one of the smallest.  We knew he was good coming in.”

Western shot just 41 percent from the field and wasn’t getting the type of shots in the offense that they wanted.  When they got good looks, they couldn’t put enough of them down to keep the game close.

“We are just  settling for shots that we can always get,” Dylan Frantz said.  “We just got to get it figured out, we have to dig in as a team and be smart get the best shots that we can.”

“I just feel like we all just need to have confidence in ourselves and play together more,” Frantz said. “We have to want it; we have to come with more focus and intensity and maybe our shots will start falling.”

Part of the reason for the loss is that the Griffons were beat on the glass 39-24.

Cedric Clinkscales led the Griffons in scoring with 13 points while Dzenan Mrkaljevic added 12.  Frantz added seven points and five assists.

The Griffons will now try and refocus to avoid missing the MIAA post-season tournament where 12 out of the 15 teams in the conference get in. Western is currently sitting at No. 12.

“It’s all about practice,” Tuluka-Mfumupembe said. “We need to go harder and come with a lot of energy. We are playing like we are on the top of the league and we aren’t and I don’t understand that. Every game we need to come harder and be some dogs out here.”

The Griffons will get a boost in leadership and defense with the return of point guard Adarius Fulton who has missed the last two games with concussion-like symptoms.  Western return to action Wednesday, Feb. 6 at Washburn in Topeka, Kan.

Jallisa and Sharniece Lewis are twin sisters who are both playing basketball for Western. Sharniece was born just two minutes after Jallisa 21 years ago. They’ve been playing together almost every minute since.

Even though they grew up playing softball, track and had scholarships for soccer, they knew basketball was what they would continue with after high school.

“We have five older brothers who all played basketball,” Jallisa said. “So we just picked it up.”

Unlike most siblings, they were fine playing together when they were kids. In fact, they were always on the same team, going back to when they first started throwing the ball around in seventh grade.

After high school, they both played for State Fair Community College in Sedalia, Mo. The first and only time they ever played on separate teams was just last season, when Sharniece decided to attend Highland Community College.

“I just wanted to get a new feel of somewhere new,” Sharniece said.

They both learned a lot about their own game while being apart from each other. Most importantly, they realized that ultimately, being together made them better players.

“It was really different,” Jallisa said. “Because when we played together, I always had someone I knew who could relate to me or predict what I could do, or I could predict what she could do. It was different not having someone like that.”

They both realized how they were meant to play together when the current basketball coach at Western, Rob Edmisson, contacted them.

Coach Edmisson first called Jallisa to see if she was interested in a visit.

“I told him I was interested in a visit and then he asked if I knew a girl named Sharniece,” Jallisa said. “I told him, ‘Yes, that’s my twin sister.’ So he recruited us at the same time but we didn’t know it yet.”

Even though they were being recruited at the same time, they weren’t being recruited together, like most people would assume.

“We told them we were recruiting them separately,” Edmisson said. “It wasn’t a package deal. In fact, we’d call the house and talk to one of them, hang up and call back to talk to the other one. We wanted to make sure they both knew and felt they were being recruited individually.”

Sharniece was especially impressed with what the coach had to offer. It was enough for her to change her plans to go a different direction.

“He seemed different, but in a good way,” Sharniece said. “When we first came here we were very interested. At first I was going to sign to a different school in Minnesota and the more I talked to him and our new teammates I felt very comfortable, and I knew I wanted to be a part of this program.”

When combining the sisters, there is a wide range of skills that are covered between the both of them. Jallisa is a post player while Sharniece is a guard. Each of their individual skills makes up for where the other one lacks. They also have played so much together that they can tell when the other one is off their game, often before the coach or other players can tell.

Off the court their interests are still pretty similar. While Jallisa is majoring in psychology and Sharniece is majoring in Physical Education, they both have the same family priorities when they aren’t in school.

“We really enjoy being with our family,” Sharniece said. “Anytime we get a chance to do something with our family, we take it.”

When it comes down to it, that became their biggest comfort when playing for Western. The fact that Coach Edmisson is family oriented and cares greatly about building team chemistry really helped them to dig deep and bring out all their passion to put into their game.

“Our coach always says ‘this is a family’ and I feel like when I’m away from home, this really is my family,” Jallisa said.

The Griffons improved to 8-10 overall and 4-6 in MIAA conference play.

“It was a play coming out of the timeout. They set up a pick and roll for me,” Mrkaljevic said. “Coach told me not to pass the ball and take that shot. He was feeling confident in me and I appreciate that when my coach and teammates feel confidence in me to take a shot like that.”

Mrkaljevic also scored a career-high 17 points that included hitting 3-for-5 from 3-point distance. The game-winning shot was his first experience in that type of situation and has given him a boost in confidence going forward.

Coach Tom Smith felt the game against Lincoln was a must-win for keeping the Griffons MIAA tournament hopes alive.

“Had we not won at Lincoln it would have been a really uphill battle to get in the tournament at all,” Smith said. “It still is because of our remaining eight games, six of them are against dynamite teams.”

Lincoln’s record sits at 3-17 and 2-8 in MIAA, but Smith knew that could be deceiving. He saw how they beat Northwest Missouri State in Maryville and knew that they couldn’t accomplish that with no talent.

Point guard Adarius Fulton, who scored 17 points, didn’t expect Lincoln to be as tough as they were, but is glad to move forward with a win nonetheless.

“I think it was a good win, a hard fought win,” Fulton said. “Lincoln had some great shooters and they were a better team than we probably thought, but I think it was a good win for our team.”

Earlier in the week, the Griffons fell to Central Missouri University in Warrensburg 72-60.

Coach Smith was honored before the game as he started off his hall of fame coaching career with the Mules.

“I didn’t feel like we played all that poorly in a tough environment,” Smith said. “I thought we were a little intimidated in the beginning with the crowd and all the festivities around me.”

Cedric Clinkscales paced the Griffons with 21 points and six rebounds while Fulton added 17.

The Griffons were beat on the boards 37-33 and failed to execute when the opportunity to cut into the lead presented itself.

“We missed three huge shots that would have cut the deficit down to six,” Smith said. “We had three wide open 3’s to cut it from nine to six and two times it went from nine to 12.”

Central Missouri is one of the top teams in the conference with a record of 13-3 overall and 7-1 in conference play.

“I thought we played okay at Central,” Smith said. “We were never really in the game and we were never really out of it.”

Lanicia Lawrence gets out in front of everybody in the Griffons win over the Gorillas. Photo by Tevin Harris

The Griffons closed out Wednesday’s game with a 70-65 win against the Pittsburg State Gorillas, and may have given the team a turn back towards their winning ways.

After lagging just behind the Gorillas virtually all night, the Griffons high pressured defense and physical toughness showed to be too much in the end. Western’s coach Rob Edmisson felt like pulling out a win after those three conference losses is a huge boost for this team’s confidence at this point of the season.

“It’s a big win,” Edmisson said. “It didn’t matter who we were playing. We needed to win and to win against a very quality team is a big thing too.”

Shooting has not been a strength for the Griffons this season, and was especially rough during their three losses where they shot just 34 percent from the floor. It’s no secret that the team has gotten the job done so far this season from their vicious defense, the same defense that forced Pittsburg State into giving up almost twice as many turnovers as the Griffons. They proved within the last few minutes that their defense allows them to hang with the best, and their offense finishing strong on top of that can produce wins.

With about five and a half minutes left in the game, Western’s senior guard, Alicia Bell, pressured Pittsburg State’s point guard into a jump ball and a turnover, which was the first for a series of turnovers that helped the Griffon’s seal the deal.

“I think it kind of got the team going and helped set the tone for what the coach was asking for,” Bell said. “A lot of people think coach is always mad but it’s because of the things you don’t know. We’re supposed to be doing that every single time there is a made basket, and we tend to fall back when we’re tired. I think towards the end we realized it’s our bailout and we have to bring the pressure and do what we know we can do.”

Coach Edmisson has no problem turning towards Bell’s intensity when the team is in need of someone who can lead by example.

“She’s such a tough kid,” Edmisson said. “She makes what I call special plays. We expect college basketball players to make layups and free throws, but those extra special hustle plays that you have to sacrifice your body for when you know it’s going to hurt, that’s the type of player Alicia Bell is. She’s that extra effort player.”

Bell finished the night with 11 points, four assists, and eight rebounds.

One extra effort play in particular was another forced turnover that turned into an and-one for Brittany Griswold with the assist coming from Bell with just a second left on the shot clock and just over a minute left. It was a play that helped separate the Griffons lead right when they needed it most.

Griswold, who had 14 points against the Gorillas, really noticed how the win was going to go to the team who ultimately fought harder for it.

“It was a battle,” Griswold said. “They didn’t roll over and just let us have it. Down to it I think it was a question of who was going to work harder. I think knowing that was just a confidence builder for the team.

Reed Mells attempting one of his four assists in transition. Photo by Evan Roberts.

Western (8-11, 4-7) played  at the pace it wanted, but came up short in the final moments 57-56 against Pittsburg State (12-5, 5-4) in physical game  at the MWSU Fieldhouse.

“I’m not going to sit here and fault the players,” Coach Tom Smith said.  “We made the effort, lost by one and had complete control of the tempo best for us. I thought we did what we needed to do to keep the game slow and used our timeouts and sets.”

The Griffons had a chance to make the go-ahead basket, but a missed shot rolled nearly all the way to the other end of the court taking precious seconds off the clock.  Pittsburg State tracked the ball down and went to the free throw line where Kaleb Porter missed two free-throws.

Western had one last chance with 2.5 left on the clock and down by one point, but they had to go the entire distance which wasn’t possible. Dzenan Mrkaljevic was forced to throw up a 3-point shot that was far too deep to stand a chance to at going in and the game ended.

“A lot of people like to talk about what happened throughout the game, but this came down to the last minute and a half,” Smith said.  “At least three times we had a chances to come up with the rebound and give us possession back with a chance to score. Whether we would have or not, I don’t know. But it would have given us the opportunity.”

Great work on the defensive end allowed the Griffons to stay control the action for most of the night despite shooting just 32 percent from the field for the game while the Gorillas hit at 41.7 percent and getting out-rebounded 42-33.  Western was also without it’s leading backcourt scorer, point guard Adarius Fulton because of concussion symptoms.

“We just try not to give up baseline,” Kalvin Balque said. “On film, they were just getting baseline and the big guys were scoring all their points.  We tried to keep them off baseline and we did that.”

Cedric Clinkscales led the Griffons in scoring with 15 points and added eight rebounds while Balque added an efficient 11 points in 15 minutes of action on 3-for-4 from the field including hitting his only 3-point attempt and was perfect in four attempts from the foul line.

Balque’s seven point spurt in the first half was a big spark in taking a 27-23 lead into the halftime break.  He provided some excitement for the crowd when he was able to dunk in a lob in transition that appeared to be heading for the bleachers.

After scoring a career-high 17 points last game, Mrkaljevic had a rough outing from the field hitting on 2-for-14 from the field and 2-for-8 from 3-point distance. However, he led the Griffons in rebounds by pulling down nine.  Western made just 7-for-24 from 3-point distance.

The Griffons return to action against Northeastern University at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the MWSU Fieldhouse.  Western will need to come up with some wins in this brutal stretch of top MIAA competition to keep post-seasons hopes alive.

“There’s a little more pressure on us now,” Balque said. “We really need these wins. We are just going to come in tomorrow and get better.”

The Griffons defeated Lindenwood in a close match Wednesday evening.

Western struggled early in the game against Lindenwood University, who came in the game hoping to get their season back on track.

Both teams appeared to have trouble handling the ball early and late in the game, with both teams totaling over 20 turnovers. Coach Edmisson credited the Griffons turnovers to the speed that also happens to be one of their strengths.

“We threw the ball away 28 times to a team that does not press,” Edmisson said. “We are our own worst enemy. Sometimes our speed can be our worst enemy, and tonight it was.”

Western came out the gate scoring well, but the Lindenwood Lions would continue to answer the call to make it a close game.

Sarah Schnieders was the Lions leading scorer with 16 and added five rebounds. Schnieders also helped her team on the defensive side, by recording 5 steals.

The score was tied 23 all at Halftime with both teams desperately trying to pull away from each other.

The second half began with some solid rebounding by the Griffons, particularly by a player who was not regarded as the team’s main rebounder.

Guard KC Clouser finish the game with 11 rebounds and also added some energy to the Griffons lineup.

“I put in a lot effort,” Clouser said. “I try to pride myself on hustling and giving the team what we need on the court at that time. If we need rebounds, then I am going to try and get rebounds.”

Every time it looked like the Lions were making a run, Sharniece Lewis made it harder for them as she knocked down 13 points, while shooting 3-6 from behind the arc.

Lewis noted that the team being over anxious at time did cause some problems in the game but they came through at the end.

“We get wide open at times,” Lewis said. “And then we do little things that end up throwing us off. We could have had more leads in the game, but we just could not finish at times. We just have to execute and do things right.’

The game was tied at 53 with 1:30 left in the game. It was Western’s pressure defense and also a clutch shot from Heather Howard that sealed off the game.

Howard finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds, while JaQuitta Dever scored 10 and ended with a team high 5 steals.

Coach Edmisson felt that although they got the win, there are still some things that they need to work on moving forward in the season.

“I told players from day one that I am not about the win-loss record,” Edmisson said. “I am concerned more about quality of play. This is the time of year where you see teams trying to separate themselves, and we are not there yet.”

Gilbert Imbiri | Asst. Photo Editor" width="150" height="150" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-14783" /> Kalvin Balque (2) shooting free throw for the griffon. Griffon men lost the game against Lindenwood 78-69 Gilbert Imbiri | Asst. Photo Editor

“Players have to make shots,” coach Tom Smith said. “You can do all you want, but the players have to make the shots and we certainly didn’t make any key shots down the stretch today.”

The Griffons gave up 78 points, more than they are accustomed to allowing the opponent to score at home.  Smith said that one of his rules is to never give up the baseline and there were a couple of instances late in the game where Lindenwood was able to drive baseline and score.

“We’re just going to work on our defese when we get back to practice,” guard Kalvin Balque said. “The offensive execution was bad tonight, but it’s usually not bad. We have to work on defense.”

The Griffons try to run their offense through post man Cedric Clinkscales, but Lindenwood made it difficult to get the ball inside as they were double-teaming the Griffon big.  Clinkscales finished with a team-high 12 points, six rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal.

“That’s our game plan most of the time,” guard Reed Mells said. “We haven’t seen anyone who could stop Ced yet, so we have to get him the ball. Sometimes we don’t really do a great job getting him the ball where he is really effective and I think tonight was one of those nights.”

The high point of the night for Western came in the form of two highlight reel dunks from Alfreeman Flowers in traffic and one from Balque as he posterized a Lindenwood player on a fast break.  However, the Griffons were unable to sustain the momentum from these plays as Lindenwood kept focus and responded with baskets of their own.

“I thought Lindenwood did a great job of not reacting to our big plays,” Smith said. “They were really good about not letting that affect them.”

Guard Adarius Fulton didn’t have his best game scoring the ball (six points), but make some very good  plays coming away with four steals and five assists.  Fulton ranks near the very top of the MIAA in steals per game and has become a master a forcing the opposition to turn the ball over this season.

“He just has a great nose for the ball and that’s really helped us,” Smith said.

Western was dominated on the glass, getting out-rebounded 38-to-24.  Lindenwood committed 13 more turnovers than did Western, but it wasn’t enough to come away with the win.

“I know we can play better,” Mells said. “We played better against Northwest; this was kind of a bad loss for us. Lindenwood is a good team, but we shouldn’t have lost.”

The Griffons were without senior guard James Harris for the first time as he is no longer with the team due to disciplinary reasons.  Harris was averaging 8 points per game in 24 minutes.

Western returns to action on Saturday  against Emporia State University.  Tip off is set for 3:30 p.m in Emporia, Kan.

Western’s all-time leading rusher Michael Hill will play in the Raycom College Football All-Star Classic in Montgomery, Ala. on Saturday, January 19.  His team will be coached by ex-NFL head coach Dan Reeves.  The practices are open to the public.

Travis Partridge, Michael Hill, Macon Allen, and David Bass were selected to the first team Don Hanson All Super Region 3 team. Ben Pister and Shane Simpson were honored by being selected to the third-team all defense.

Griffons baseball held its first practice of the highly anticipated season.  The Griffons start the season with high expectations as Collegiate Baseball Lineup ranked them No. 25 in their preseason poll.

Men’s Basketball Head Coach Tom Smith leans in as he watches his team play. Jason Brown | Submitted Photo

It’s a game where even the legends are often forced out early. According to Smith, the reason for being able to survive at one place while most others can’t all boils down to his ability to get along with people.

“I haven’t had more than two or three meetings with an athletic director or a president,” Smith said. “So I’ve never been in their office asking for anything or fought with them. I think that has made it possible to survive six athletic directors and three presidents.”

“That’s the most difficult thing to do is can you get along with six different personalities that come in here and are the boss and three different presidents that all may have different ideas,” Smith said.

That’s a luxury that he didn’t have when coaching at his alma matter Division I Valparaiso, a place where he played basketball and was elected into the Hall of Fame last season.

The school was D-I in classification only as the team traveled by van and had very little money to spend on trips recruiting the type of talent that it takes to build a winner.

Smith’s passion was coaching basketball and he was tired of fighting for so many things that didn’t have to do with playing the game to get the program up to the standards that would allow it to be successful at the D-I level.

“When I came here one of the things I made my mind up about is I was not going to fight those things,” Smith said. “I wanted to coach my players. I wanted to have the relationship with my players that I think I’ve had over the last 25 years. I didn’t want to fight administration. I took what I had and didn’t get into the other things.”

Smith became the third ever head coach at Western in 1988 when the school was in its last season in the NAIA. The success started immediately as the Griffons made it all the way to the finals of the District 16 playoffs.

The very next season in the school’s first year as a member of Division II, Smith led the Griffons to the MIAA regular season and tournament championship and a birth in the NCAA tournament. He has coached the Griffons to 11 NCAA tournaments, five MIAA regular season titles and four MIAA postseason championships as well as being named MIAA Coach of the Year three times.  12 times he coached Western to a 20 plus win season.

Besides a few exceptions, Smith always went to the junior college ranks to find his players. He credits his three assistant coaches for recruiting the players over the years.

He built a reputation for being able to lose key players off of good teams while finding a way to keep winning with new talent who had no prior experience on the court together.

“I think most coaches and people would say the ability to change my team and bring in four or five new guys every year and still be successful,” Smith said. “I think that was probably my biggest attribute.”

He had athletic  players and gave them the freedom to do what they could do as opposed to always running a set offense. Something that he thinks most people have a bit of a misperception about.

“Its kind of funny because I’ve read so many things that we are a real uptempo team and we’re not,” Smith said. “Freedom is one thing and I’ve been successful here many years giving a lot of freedom.”

“We aren’t really a great fast break team even in the good years,” Smith said. “The thing that surprises most people is that we are a lot more disciplined than fans think we are. Some of that is stereotyped into the type of players we have.

This is something that Smith admits hasn’t brought the same type of success the last six or seven years as it once did even though his teams have still been competitive. Senior guard James Harris wants to do everything he can to send Smith off on a winning note in his season coaching the game that’s been a part of his life since day one.

“We are trying to get him a ring before he leaves and we want one just as bad as he does,” Harris said. “He’s a real cool guy. He gets on you, but all he’s doing is trying to challenge you as a man. I respect him as an individual and as a coach.”

When Smith came to Western, he never imagined that it would be the last job he would take in his career. He thought that he would bounce back up to D-I. He was offered head coaching jobs there quickly after winning right away at Western.

But each time he thought about leaving and making the jump, he started to see all the same red flags that he saw while running the Valparaiso program for eight years. That and he had a good thing going.

“I enjoy the quality of life that goes along with Division II,” Smith said. “Just the freedom to be able to do what I wanted to do – to coach — and I didn’t have to teach a lot or do a lot of fund raising. There were not a lot of other demands on me other than my coaching.”

Athletic Direct Kurt McGuffin believes that Smith has made the job an attractive one for whoever takes over and expects there to be plenty of candidates to choose from.

“You may see it at the very top levels, but you don’t see it this level much and to do that is pretty special,” McGuffin said. “He’s won a lot of games and has a lot of players that come back and he’s a neat guy. He’s done everything I’ve ever asked and that anybody before me has asked.”

As for his retirement, Smith doesn’t know exactly what he’s going to do yet. Basketball has always been his thing and he doesn’t hunt, fish, play much golf or have any hobbies. His love for the game won’t change and he will enjoy watching MIAA games more than the stress of coaching them.

“I would really like to be able to watch games without a dog in the hunt,” Smith said. “I think it will be more fun with some popcorn and a coke and just watch the game and enjoy it.”

“We did things that no other Western team has done and nobody can take that away from us,” senior safety Shane Simpson said.  “We had fun and created a lot of good memories.”

Travis Partridge running the ball into the end-zone to score against Washburn. The griffons demolished the Icabods in this contest

The Griffons went 9-1 in the extremely competitive MIAA, including a 21-20 comeback victory over rival Northwest Missouri State in the championship game in Maryville.  Western gained sole possession of the MIAA championship for the first time.

Western looked to expose defenses on the ground with a potent rushing attack.  Senior running back Michael Hill led the way, rushing for 2,168 yards and 16 touchdowns.  Hill ranked No. 2 in the nation in rushing yards per game with 154.  Quarterback Travis Partridge rushed for 451 yards and a school record 18 touchdowns on the ground.  Raphael Spencer spelled Hill and added 608 yards and five touchdowns.

“Western in my mind will always be home, this is the place and only place that showed interest in my abilities and has helped me grow as a player and a person,” Hill said. “Knowing that I have accomplished a lot while here is an awesome feeling. I’ve worked my tail off, although I couldn’t have gotten all of the awards or accomplishments with out my teammates, it shows hard work pays off.”

Partridge showed vast improvement as a passer in his second season as the starting quarterback.  He threw for 2,706 yards and connected with his receivers for 30 touchdowns, while throwing 12 interceptions.  He set a new career-high for passing in the playoff game against Minnesota-Duluth with 319 yards.

The Griffons featured a deep core of receivers.  Kyle Knox led the team in receiving with 602 yards and added 2 touchdowns while Tarrell Downing added 508 yards and 3 touchdowns.  Ty’ron Crockom used his speed and elusiveness to gain 465 yards and scored seven touchdowns, often the result of a screen pass or reverse.  Tight end Reggie Jordan proved to be a valuable red zone weapon, scoring 11 touchdowns on the season while gaining 233 yards.

The defensive front proved to be a big strength for the Griffons.  Senior defensive ends David Bass and Ben Pister caused mayhem for opposing offenses all season.  Bass led the team in sacks with 11.5 and set the all-time career sack record with 36 while Pister sacked the quarterback eight times with a record 22.5 tackles for loss.  Austin Baska added 11.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks.

Freshman Michael Jordan starred at cornerback with four interceptions while Simpson, Bass, Ben Jackson and Stephen Juergens came away with two each.  Juergens led the team with 95 tackles including 44 solo.

The Griffons only allowed teams to gain 383 yards per game while the offense powered its way to 458 yards per game.

Kicker Taylor Anderson made a record 80-straight extra point attempts.

After a 6-0 start, Western lost to Missouri Southern 31-30 on homecoming and responded to the adversity in a major way.  Western traveled to Pittsburg, Kan., and handed the defending champions their worst home loss in history, a 63-14 blowout.  Western continued to dominate ranked opponents for the next two weeks to secure their spot in the playoffs, beating No. 15 Emporia State 57-28 and No. 25 Washburn 56-28.

Western has some big shoes to fill on both sides of the ball next season after graduating 22 seniors.

Western senior running back Michael Hill is one of eight finalists for the highest honor in Division II football, the Harlon Hill Trophy, and has earned a chance to impress the pros this upcoming semester.

The Harlon Hill Trophy is given to the best player in D-II. Many consider it to be the Heisman Trophy of this level. Hill’s historic season at Western has been enough to catch the attention of other schools and coaches of all levels around the country. He continued to produce game changing stats week after week all season, earning himself the honor of being mentioned as one of the top athletes.

“Being a finalist means a lot to me just because all of the work that I have put in is presenting itself,” Hill said. “Not only that, but I am representing the entire football team because they are a part of this as well.”

The Harlon Hill Trophy was first awarded in 1986 and has been an annual award ever since. Although there have only been three award recipients who have been drafted, there have been winners of the honor who has been signed as a free agent in the NFL — such as the two-time winner of the award Danny Woodhead out of Chadron State, who currently plays for the New England Patriots.

That will be one possibility for Hill as he moves forward. The NFL is always looking to find talent wherever it can get it. With a team as talented as Western, NFL scouts have been eying what players Western has who could possibly make an impact at the next level.

“Teams have been around practice to check David Bass out and that helps me having a high caliber guy like that around to help me get my foot in the door,” Hill said.

Hill will take part in a pro day sometime this March. He will be dedicating a lot of his time training this winter to make sure his impression this spring will be as good as he can make it.

“These next few months will be a piece of the process to determine if I will get a shot or not in my opinion,” Hill said.

Hill represents Super Region 3 for the Harlon Hill Trophy, alongside the sophomore quarterback Kevin Rodgers out of Henderson State, whom Western beat out of the playoffs. Super Region 1 is represented by junior running back Franklyn Quiteh of Bloomsburg University and junior quarterback Zach Zulli out of Shippensburg University. Representing Super Region 2 is the lone wide receiver of the group, Chris Bowden from Wingate University and senior running back Derrick Washington out of Tuskegee University. Super Region 4 is being represented by senior quarterback Taylor Housewright out of Ashland University and junior quarterback Dustin Vaughan from West Texas A&M. The list of the remaining candidates is according to the official listing of the Harlon Hill Trophy finalists on HarlonHillTrophy.com.

Hill racked up 2,168 rushing yards, 16 rushing touchdowns, 202 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns in 14 games this season. Hill has made his mark at Western with 4,969 total rushing yards, 35 rushing touchdowns, 882 receiving yards and nine total receiving touchdowns in 50 games here at Western.

Time will tell if Hill gets a chance to represent the St. Joseph community in the pros.

The first half belonged to the Griffons as they claimed a lead early on. Junior forward Sharniece Lewis lead the team, landing four 3-pointers. Senior forward Brittany Griswold pitched in with 11 points of her own.

Western capped off the first half with a 20-10 run, breaking their seven-point lead out to a 44-27 game at the half. Overall, they shot 51.9 percent from the field and 64.3 percent from beyond the arc.

“Our defense started out right,” senior guard Alicia Bell said. “I think that when our defense plays well, it really helps give our offense a lot of momentum.”

The Hawks came back in the second half ready to fight. They cut the Griffons 17-point lead to eight with just under 10 minutes to play. Senior guard Kallie Schoonover helped make it double digits again with two free throws, but Quincy responded with a 4-0 run making it a six-point game with 5:55 left to play. Western refused to give up, outscoring the Hawks 16-8 in the remaining minutes.

With a final score of 81-67, the Griffons claimed the victory and improved to 6-1 on the season.

“In the second half,” said Lewis. “We weren’t playing our game. We weren’t doing everything we normally would do. It was just not being in the right places and our communication.”

Western improved on their amount of turnovers, only committing 12 on the night. But they struggled from the line, only hitting 57.1 percent (20-35). However, they out-rebounded Quincy 37-35 and had 12 more steals in the game.

“We’re still struggling on our free throws and overall execution,” coach Rob Edmisson said, “but we really improved on our turnovers.”

Western is coming off Saturday’s fresh road victory over Henderson State. The game became the first road playoff victory for the Griffons and helped send them to Minnesota to play against the top-seeded Mavericks.

The Griffons are 8th in Division II in rushing offense, scoring 43 rushing touchdowns and collecting over 3,600 rushing yards. Michael Hill places second among fellow rushers averaging 172.08 yards per game to go with his 16 rushing touchdowns on the season. As a finalist for the 2012 Harlon Hill Award, Hill and Western are going to test Mankato’s defense.

In Division II, the Mavericks rank sixth in rushing defense. They’ve only allowed 12 rushing touchdowns on the season and give up just over 83 rushing yards per game. The surprising stat is that Mankato’s opponents only average 2.63 yards per carry.

Western doesn’t hold a high spot in rushing defense, but it has solid stats that will help it against Mankato. Overall, the Griffons only allow 154.77 rushing yards per game on 4.37 yards per carry.

The Mavericks are just a few spots behind Western, ranking 17th in rushing offense. With just under 2,800 rushing yards and 35 rushing touchdowns, Mankato’s offense will suffer slightly due to their lack of an outstanding rusher.

Overall, Western’s scoring offense ranks 14 spots ahead of Mankato’s. The Griffons have collected 572 points to the Mavericks’ 454. However, Mankato outranks Western in scoring defense by 30 spots. They allow just over 17 points per game, while the Griffon give up almost 23.

Whoever wins this game will be playing in the Semifinals against the winner of the Valdosta State and Carson-Newman’s game.

The Griffons quarterfinal game is set for this Saturday, Dec. 1. Kickoff will be at noon in Blakeslee Stadium.

Missouri Western guard James Harris drives the ball as the Griffons pull away from Illinios-Springfield. The Griffons defeated the Praire Stars with the final score of 61-50.
submited photo: Jason Brown

Missouri Western Men’s Basketball avoided a late comeback attempt to defeat Illinois-Springfield 61-50 on Saturday, Dec. 1, at MWSU Fieldhouse. The Griffons improved to 4-2 on the season.

“I think this was a good solid win, not a great win, but a good solid win going forward,” coach Tom Smith said.

The Griffons were up 54-38 with eight minutes to play when Illinois-Springfield went on a run to cut the lead down to 55-50 over the next four minutes. Western responded with physical defense and points in the paint to finish the game.

“That’s just what you are going to go through in basketball,” junior Cedric Clinkscales said. “We just had to stay composed and keep going.”

Western’s zone defense forced Illinois-Springfield to shoot and miss from outside for most of the night. The Prairie Stars shot just 3-for-18 from 3-point distance and were held to 38 percent from the field.

“We were closing out on them with every shot they took,” forward Alex Tuluka-Mfumupembe said. “The most important thing is that we keep the ball out of the middle because when it’s in the middle then it’s easy for them to find people on the wing.”

A key to Western’s success is winning the battle of turnovers. The Griffons turned the ball over eight times while the Prairie Stars committed 17 turnovers.

“Anytime you keep your turnovers in single digits, that’s good,” Smith said. “It’s hard to do; it means we are taking care of the ball.”

Smith was happy with the defensive effort, but concerned by the lack of execution on offense and feels that his team will need to score more than 61 points at home in the future.

“I thought when they made the run we forgot about Cedric down low,” Smith said. “You could feel the momentum change a little bit.”

Clinkscales paced the Griffons with 18 points on 9-for-15 shooting and pulled down six rebounds. Tuluka-Mfumupembe scored 12 points, including two from 3-point distance. Point guard Adarius Fulton added nine points, five rebounds, and three assists while forward Alfreeman Flowers dropped in eight points on 2-for-3 shooting.

Western converted on 10-for-15 free throw attempts and shot 41.1 percent from the field. The Griffons defense accounted for seven blocks and four steals.

The Griffons return to action on Dec. 5 against Truman State, which will be the start of MIAA conference play.

“We’ve had our ups and downs, but I think we are ready for conference play,” Tuluka-Mfumupembe said. “Everyone is excited about that.”

James Harris dropped 18 points and added 4 steals in the win over Rockhurst University. *Photo by Jason Brown

Missouri Western Men’s Basketball improved to 2-1 after defeating Rockhurst University 60-45 in the Hillyard Classic at MWSU Fieldhouse on Nov. 17.

The Griffons started slow on offense as Rockhurst took a 31-26 lead into halftime yet only allowed 14 points in the entire second half.

“I want performance and I want accountability,” coach Tom Smith said. “I thought the guys in the second half gave us that accountability.”

A 3-point shot by Adarius Fulton and then old fashioned 3-point play by Cedric Clinkscales tied the game at 42 and the Griffons didn’t look back. Rockhurst was stuck on 42 points for the next six minutes while Western continued to score, pushing the lead to 53-42.

“One thing coach keeps preaching is moving the ball and playing as a team,” guard James Harris said. “We just get easier buckets when we play together.”

Harris led the Griffons in scoring with 18 points on 6-for-10 shooting off the bench. He also provided a big spark on defense with his four momentum-changing steals.

“The best thing about James has been his attitude of coming off the bench,” Smith said. “I don’t think he’s sulked about it and he’s just relished it. Coming off the bench, he feels that he can give us some offense.”

Point guard Adarius Fulton added 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting and also impacted the game with eight rebounds and four assists. Smith trusts Fulton to make the right basketball play down the stretch.

“I’m different than a lot of coaches,” Smith said. “I’m old school and I play the people that I trust on the floor.”

Big man Cedric Clinkscales score 12 points on 4-for-4 shooting in 20 minutes. Foul trouble kept him out for a large stretch in the first half.

The Griffons kept their poise and bounced back from a disappointing loss on Nov. 16 against William Jewell.

“We wanted to do it for the home crowd,” Clinkscales said. “They came out and show support and we felt like we let them down last night. We wanted to set the tone and win tonight.”

Smith felt that Rockhurst could have been worn out from facing a physical Northwest Missouri State team on Nov. 16 and expects to see a different version of the team when the Griffons travel to Kansas City on Nov. 24.

“We were so close to sitting here crying and asking why and now we get to play again,” said Coach Jerry Partridge. “I’m just so proud of what we have done the last two weeks with the pressure when games could go either way against great teams.”

Quarterback Travis Partridge led the Griffons with seven total touchdowns. He threw for 319 yards and 3 touchdowns while running for 24 yards and 4 touchdowns and connected with Reggie Jordan for the game-winning 2-point conversion.

“We’ve been in close games and there’s no panic at all,” Partridge said. “It’s just ‘OK we have to do our jobs’. It’s been crunch time for about four weeks now.”

Mike Hill ran for 194 yards and a touchdown and Tarrell Downing had a break-out game catching the ball for the second straight week. Although he wasn’t one of the Griffons wideouts that got into the endzone, Downing hauled in six catches for 144 yards including some clutch catches in crunch time.

“The wide receivers just try to make plays when our numbers have been called and that’s what we’ve done,” Downing said. “With our depth at receiver it’s pick your poison.”

Duluth quarterback Chase Vogler threw an interception to Marc Harrison on the first play of the game. The Griffon offense capitalized on the turnover when quarterback Travis Partridge connected with Tyron Crockom for a 21-yard touchdown to make the score 7-0.

The Griffon defense allowed Duluth to move the ball down the field, but forced them to settle for a 27-yard field goal from Andrew Brees to make the score 7-3. The Griffons marched down field and Partridge found tight end Reggie Jordan for a spectacular catch in the corner of the endzone to make the score 14-3 Griffons. Duluth added another field goal to make it 14-6.

As it appeared that the Griffons would score again, Partridge threw an interception in the endzone. Duluth got their running game going and Vogler and Austin Sikorski both ran in touchdowns. The Griffons went into halftime trailing 20-14.

“They got momentum going but the next couple of drives, we came out,” Hill said. “After that interception, we came out and got the ball and from then out it was just a stalemate battle between both teams.”

Western came out and took a 21-20 lead after Partridge connected with Kyle Knox from 18-yards out for his third passing touchdown of the day. Duluth’s offense responded with a long drive and a 1-yard touchdown run by Vogler and a successful 2-point conversion to take a 28-21 lead.

Western’s offense did the same thing and Partridge ran in a 9-yard touchdown to tie the game. Duluth scored on a 1-yard run from Sikorski to take a 35-28 lead. The Griffon offense responded with a long drive and a 1-yard touchdown run from Partridge. The defense held tough and the game went to overtime.

Neither team would give an inch as Michael Hill started off the scoring in overtime with a 7-yard touchdown run. Duluth responded two straight Sikorski rushing touchdowns and the Griffons answered with a 1-yard touchdown plunge from Partridge to make the score 49-49 after two overtimes.

In the third overtime, it’s a rule that each team must attempt 2-point conversions after scoring a touchdown. The Griffons scored with another 1-yard dive from Partridge and connected with Reggie Jordan for a successful 2-point conversion to give the Griffons 57-49 lead.

Duluth responded with Sikorski’s fifth rushing touchdown of the afternoon, but could not convert the 2-point conversion after Vogler tripped on a designed bootleg play.

“I don’t think we even had a chance to get fatigued because the game was on the line,” defensive end David Bass said. “For the most part, I think we just wanted to have the best players on the field. Everyone was able to put aside their tiredness to get the job done.”

The Griffons defense gave up 408 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on the ground.

“So many times on pass plays, I don’t know if they had the intention of throwing, he just scrambled around,” coach Partridge said. “That kid was one of the very best quarterbacks I have ever coached against, that’s why he won a national title a couple years ago.”

Partridge will continue on the quest to try and win his first national championship, taking on No. 2 seed Henderson State in the second round in Arkadelphia, Ark. on Saturday, Nov. 24.

Cedric Clinkscales came away with a double-double in the loss to William-Jewell. *Photo by Jason Brown

Missouri Western Men’s Basketball couldn’t create enough offense to overcome William Jewell’s 3-point shooting.  William Jewell made 10 3-pointers, downing the Griffons 76-60 in the first game of the Hillyard Classic at MWSU Fieldhouse on Nov. 16.

Western dropped to 1-1 on the season after going 2-for-17 from 3-point distance.

“I just felt we got manhandled,” coach Tom Smith said. “It was offense tonight. You aren’t going to win games scoring 60 points at home.”

Cedric Clinkscales led the Griffons with 21 points and also grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds. Clinkscales provided the lone bright spot for Western’s offense.

The Griffons were down by 10 at halftime but couldn’t make a serious run in the second half as the long distance shot was not going in.

“As soon as they punched us a little bit in the first half, our answer was ‘let’s shoot another 3,’” Smith said. “We’ve got Ced in there dominating; we would have been very content to just stay inside and get the ball inside.”

Western cut the lead down to 56-50 with just over seven minutes to play but couldn’t cut into the lead further. William Jewell ran the score out to 66-51 over the next three minutes and the Griffons never got close again.

Western’s guards were not able to add much scoring and struggled from the field. James Harris went 1-for-6 while Reed Mells shot 0-for-5. Adarius Fulton and Dylan Frantz, who started the game, shot a combined 4-for-9.

William Jewell had four players register double figures in scoring; Dillon Deck had 15 points and 9 rebounds; Taylor John scored 13 points and added seven rebounds, Ricky Tisdale scored 11 points; and Devonte Bell dropped in 10 points.

“Lack of execution, that’s what it was for us tonight,” Clinkscales said. “We were rushing shots. I think we tried to match them 3-for-3 and it wasn’t working for us tonight. We have to do better.”

The Griffons were beat on the boards 34-30 and lost the turnover battle 16-to-13. Smith expects the physicality to continue as the season goes on.

“I don’t think that William Jewell is MIAA level,” Smith said. “We will see a lot of teams more physical than them.”

Western will have a chance to bounce back from the home loss Saturday, Nov. 17, at 7:30 p.m. as they take on Rockhurst University at the MWSU Fieldhouse in the second night of the Hillyard Classic.

“We will come back in the morning and reassess ourselves tomorrow and hopefully get it done,” Clinkscales said. “I tried to stay positive the whole time. It’s just one of those nights and we just got to regroup.”

After defeating Northwest and winning the MIAA Championship , the Griffons will take on No. 7 ranked Minnesota-Deluth this Saturday at noon in the Spratt Stadium.
*photo courtesy of gogriffons.com

No. 3 Western (10-1) is set to take on No. 6 Minnesota-Duluth (10-1) this Saturday in the second ever home playoff game.

Western hopes to claim their first home playoff victory in the program history this Saturday as they take on the Bulldogs. Last season, the Griffons were handed a heartbreaking loss in the first home playoff game to rival Northwest in the first round of the playoffs.  This year they are coming off of an emotional win at Northwest.

As a well-known rushing team, the Bulldogs are ranked No. 10 in Division II with just under 3,000 rushing yards this season and collect almost 270 yards rushed per game. Their quarterback just happens to be the core of their rushing game. This past weekend, Chase Vogler rushed for 224 yards on 22 carries, including a 64-yard scoring run, and five touchdowns. The senior quarterback has lost just three games on the road in his college career.

While the Griffons rushing defense isn’t highly ranked, they’re still a force to be reckoned with. Western only allows 140 total rushing yards per game on an average of 4 yards per carry, ranking them No. 4 in the MIAA at defending the run. They have great defensive stoppers in Austin Baska, David Bass, and Ben Pister who combine for 113 total tackles and 21 sacks for 129 yards lost. Bass also has two interceptions for 63 yards. Together, the three will give the Minnesota-Deluth runners plenty to worry about.

Western has major promise in First Team all-MIAA running back Michael Hill. In his first three seasons at Western, he’s rushed for over 2,800 yards and 19 rushing touchdowns. During just the fourth game of the season, Hill broke the record for most-career yards and most-career carries. This season he averages 7.4 yards per carry and 164.5 yards per game. With his contributions this season combined with Dominic Thomas, Raphael Spencer and Travis Partridge, he’s helped place Missouri Western at the no. 1 spot in rushing offense in the MIAA.  Hill was named Offensive Player the Year by the conference.

In Division II, the team is ranked No. 7 in rushing offense, three spots ahead of run heavy Minnesota-Deluth, averaging 287 rushing yards per game.

The Griffons offense has been bolstered by the improvement of quarterback Travis Partridge from a season ago.  Partridge was named first team all-MIAA after passing for 2023 yards and and 25 touchdowns with just eight interceptions.

Minnesota-Duluth is ranked No. 13 in rushing defense, allowing just under 100 yards per game and 3.5 yards per carry. In their one loss on the season, they gave up 176 rushing yards to St. Cloud State. That was the highest amount they allowed in opponent’s rushing yards this season.

The Griffons will play the Bulldogs this Saturday, Nov. 17 in Spratt Stadium. Kickoff is set for noon.

Griffon Forward Dzenan Mrkaljevic goes up for a shot. The 6’8 big man led the team to victory with 17 rebounds and 10 points.

Missouri Western Men’s Basketball won its regular season opener with a 75-44 blowout of Sterling College at MWSU Fieldhouse on Nov. 13.

The Griffons played lock-down defense, holding Sterling to 4-for-21 from 3-point distance and 36 percent from the field while creating 13 steals.

“Defensively there are still things we need to work on, but a lot of effort was given tonight,” guard Dylan Frantz said. “We can crash the boards better, but we are still working on it and we’ll get better.”

The Griffons out-rebounded the smaller Sterling team 45-to-29 with Dzenan Mrkaljevic grabbing 17 rebounds, one shy of the school record. Mrkaljevic showed his versatility by stepping out and hitting two 3-pointers.

“I think he did a great job today,” coach Tom Smith said. “We need him to rebound. They weren’t very big and size had a lot to do with it. The question is will he rebound like that way against bigger people.”

James Harris led all scorers with 13 points off the bench while forward Cedric Clinkscales added 12. Mrkaljevic and Frantz scored 10 points each while Reed Mells poured in nine off of three 3-point shots.

Smith hopes to rely on Harris and Mells to continue to give the Griffons instant offense off the bench.

“I really like the feeling that I can bring them off the bench and get a little firepower in there,” Smith said. “They are more offensive minded by far than our others guards.”

On defense it was Adarius Fulton and Freddie Manyawu disrupting the passing lanes and creating four steals each while Tevin Harris was credited with two. Manyawu is a sophomore that didn’t see much time last season, but could make an impact this year.

“He gives us length for the defense in the zone,” Smith said. “He really has a high basketball IQ.”

The Western bench outscored Sterling’s second unit 35-to-12 and the Griffons were up 34-to-19 at the halftime break.  The large lead allowed Smith to play 12 players which is more than usual.

“You earn your time out here,” Smith said. “I think we can go nine or 10 deep and get some minutes out of people.”

Clinkscales was bigger and stronger than anybody Sterling had to go up against him in the post.  He dominated the smaller NAIA big men today, but feels like that will continue into MIAA conference play.

“Being physical, I’m built for that,” Clinkscales said. “MIAA, I’m coming. We’re going to make some noise this year.”

No. 11 Missouri Western overcame a 20-7 lead in the fourth quarter to defeat rival No. 4 Northwest Missouri State 21-20 in Maryville to win sole possession of the MIAA championship for the first time in school history.

“This is why we signed here, for this exact game, this scenario” said defensive end Ben Pister, who came away with four tackles and a sack on a crucial down in the fourth quarter. “This outcome is amazing. I feel invincible. After what we did today, this is our year.”

The Griffons offense struggled to get anything going in the first half with two punts, an interception thrown by quarterback Travis Partridge and a missed field goal attempt into harsh wind.

Northwest capitalized on the turnover as quarterback Trevor Adams connected with Tyler Shaw to put the Bearcats on the board up 7-0 in the second quarter. Jordan Simmons ran the ball into the endzone from two yards out for a touchdown after a long drive and Todd Adolf hit a 22-yard field goal to give Northwest a 17-0 lead at halftime.

“We just regrouped in the locker room,” Pister said. “We had a lot of pregame jitters and emotion. We had to get rid of it. We had a lot of anger toward this team and we just had to relax and play our game.”

The Griffons came out and gained momentum in the second half as Partridge connected with Tyron Crockom for a 19-yard touchdown to put the Griffons on the scoreboard 17-7.

“There was never a doubt that we were going to make a run,” Partridge said. “In that locker room there was no panic. Everybody was looking in each others’ eyes knowing that we can do this. We had to calm down and play our brand of football and we did that.”

Northwest was able to drive the ball down the field again, but the Griffons defense stood tall forcing them to a field goal, which made the score 20-7 with just over seven minutes to play.

Partridge connected with Tarrell Downing over the middle for a 38-yard touchdown that put the Griffons back in the game. After Taylor Anderson made the extra point, the score was 20-14.

“I was thinking after I caught the ball that it has to be a touchdown. I have to get into the endzone,” Downing said. “This win has been four years in the making really and it feels great.”

The Griffon defense forced a punt on the Bearcats next possession, which gave them a chance to win the game.

Partridge got the ball back with just over three minutes to play and moved it right up the field with a series of short plays until running back Michael Hill busted off a 13-yard run to get it down to the Bearcats two yard line. Partridge then ran it in the endzone for the two yard score. Anderson knocked in the extra point which put the Griffons on top 21-20.

“I couldn’t have done it alone,” Partridge said. “The offensive line was battling and it was a total team effort. If there’s ever a total team effort, today was it.”

Northwest had one final chance with around a minute left, but turned the ball over on downs.  Partridge took a knee and the Griffons fans stormed onto Bearcat Field.

Partridge finished 19-for-26 passing with two touchdowns and gained 31 yards and a touchdown on the ground.  Hill gained 121 yards on 19 carries and caught one pass for six yards.

The Griffons improved to 10-1 on the season, a new school record for wins.

This victory sealed up a home playoff game for Western. The Griffons will find out who they play tomorrow at 4 p.m. at the watch party in the Fulkerson Center.

“It’s a special thing to host a playoff game and everyone in this program deserves one,” Partridge said. “These fans deserve one. It’s big for the program and big for the city.”

After two dominant road performances, the No. 11 Griffons return to Spratt Stadium at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 3, to take on No. 25 Washburn in a pivotal MIAA contest on senior day.

Washburn is 7-2, but Northwest Missouri State beat them 56-6 last week on their home field.

“Washburn is a good football team,” coach Jerry Partridge said.  ”They have had a very good year. They had a tough week last week, but I don’t think they were themselves that week. They are always physical, well-coached and do the fundamental things right.  They play well in all phases. Offensively they can run the ball and make plays throwing the football, and defensively their linebackers are very athletic and they have size in the front.”

The Griffons are on a roll lately, defeating two of the top-ranked teams in the MIAA — and the country — on the road when they played Pittsburg State and Emporia State.  This week the Griffons are back playing at Spratt Stadium, where they took a one-point loss to Southern the last time they played.

“We’ve been playing pretty well at home, too,” Partridge said. “I think we’ve been playing well all year long, but to me the last two weeks we’ve played are best.”

The Griffons have gained 982 yards on offense in the last two games with seven different players scoring touchdowns while the defense has only allowed 42 points, most of which came with Western’s starters sitting on the bench.

Washburrn is led by quarterback Mitch Buhler, who has thrown for 1,692 yards on the season with 16 touchdowns and six interceptions. He has several main targets to throw to with Matt Kobbeman gaining 435 yards and four touchdowns, Tore’ Hurst has 324 yards and three touchdowns, Jordan Hart has 307 yards and four touchdowns, and Ryan Mertz catches passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns.

“I think they are a good ball club,” defensive end David Bass said.  ”Ever since I’ve been here, they have done what they had to do to win.  They are a 7-2 program so I’m no sleeping on them.”

Hayden Groves leads the Washburn rushing attack with 593 yards and six touchdowns on the season for an average of 4.3 yards per carry.

The Griffons aren’t going to overlook Washburn despite its big loss last week because they know how it feels to bounce back from a loss.

“They are still a tough team,” running back Michael Hill said. “They got beat pretty bad against Northwest, but look at us, when we got beat and came back and were ready to go and did some damage on Pitt.  We just have to prepare for this like any other tough MIAA game.”

Both Hill and Bass have been four-year players at Western, and they want to come away with a victory on their senior night.

“I have 22 other brothers out here with me, and I want to go out with a win, not for myself, just for them,” Bass said.  ”It’s our last time at Spratt in the regular season, so we want to make it perfect.”

“It’s definitely going to mean a lot,” Hill said. “‘For all these guys in the class and the coaches and everyone a part of Mo West,  It makes you think back – and it goes fast – and just cherish it. “

Heather Howard, former Oklahoma State University player, has one last year of eligibility left. Rob Edmisson, the new women’s basketball coach, has convinced her to play out that year as a Griffon instead of a Cowgirl.

“I came up here and I loved it,” Howard said. “I loved coach Edmisson’s attitude about coaching and life and everything in general. I loved the girls I met here and the girls that were on a visit at the same time I was. It was just the right fit.”

Edmisson saw Howard as a perfect fit for the style of play he wants to bring to Western and believes her abilities are hard to come by at this level.

“She’s 6-3 and runs as well as most guards in this conference,” Edmisson said. “She can step out and shoot, she’s really agile and really athletic. She’s going to be a hard matchup in this conference because of her mobility. She fits into our style of play and we like to be fast and really get up and down the floor.”

Howard was an outstanding student at Oklahoma State. She loaded herself up with enough credits to graduate a year early. Aware of her academics being ahead of schedule, she was ready to be done as an athlete as well. That was until Edmisson contacted her through her coach and convinced her to go on a visit.

“At first I had no interest because I thought I was burned out on basketball and kind of ready to be done,” Howard said. “The more I talked to him, the more I thought about it and prayed about it and I said to myself, ‘I have one year left; if I don’t take this opportunity now, I’ll regret it the rest of my life.’”

Teammate KC Clouser is excited for what Howard brings to the team.

“She creates tons of mismatches on the court due to her height and abilities beyond the arch,” Clouser said, “and putting the ball on the floor and running the floor as a big girl.”

Although there are a lot of changes going on in the women’s basketball program, there is no room for excuses when it comes to a team this competitive.

“We sat down at the beginning of the season and said one of our main goals was to be in the top three teams of the conference,” Howard said.

Howard not only has team goals to seek and accomplish, she also has personal goals as well.

“In the past I’ve always put a lot of pressure on myself,” Howard said, “and when I haven’t met my expectations, I’m really hard on myself and that drags me down even more. I’ll still put pressure on myself, but in a way I can let loose and have fun and love the game that I play.”

There will definitely be less pressure on her as a Griffon than there was as a Cowgirl from the crowds’ perspective. Just last season, Howard had played in games that equal the average attendance of Western’s football games. In one game in particular against Iowa State, she played in front of a crowd of over 10,000. Last season the OSU team played in front of crowds that totaled up to be over 116,000 fans.

It’s probably safe to say that she will be fine under pressured situations in front of MIAA crowds.

She definitely will bring much needed experience to a very fresh team. She has done things that not a lot of Division II athletes ever get to experience, such as play in the Big 12 Championship and find playing time during March Madness in the NCAA tournament.

The Missouri Western State University girls Volleyball team have said goodbye to their senior players for the last time.

Missouri Western Volleyball said goodbye to their two seniors on Nov. 6 as they made it a night they won’t forget for some time.

Western hosted Quincy University Tuesday night for its final home match of the season and to honor their seniors. Prior to the game, the senior outside hitters, Torey Lyman and Lindsey Williams, were presented with framed jerseys before they played their last match in MWSU Fieldhouse.

However, Williams had torn three of the four ligaments in her knee and has been out for about half of the season while Lyman had been out with a stress facture in her leg. Later in the season, Lyman returned to the court but was sidelined again due to a sprained ankle.  So unfortunately on the night that meant to honor them and their accomplishments, neither of them actually suited up to play.

But that didn’t keep them from cheering on their team to victory.

Western started out sluggish and fell quickly to Quincy. With only eight kills to the Hawks 13, the Griffons lost the first set 21-25.

Switching sides seemed to do a lot for the Griffons. With their backs against the wall, the Griffons kicked it into high gear in the second set, having four blocks and 17 digs to Quincy’s 14. They made it an even match with a 25-21 win in the second set.

With the match even, Western was ready to keep their momentum going. They had 11 kills on the Hawks seven and 15 digs. The Griffons claimed the third set 25-16.

The Griffons quickly made it clear that they wanted the victory. A quick 25-19 sweep helped Western claim the win and improve them to a 15-15 record.

Outstanding players on the night were freshman Jessie Thorup with 14 kills, Stephanie Hattey with 15 digs and Jordan Chohon with 28 assists. One of the highlights included claiming the match point off of an opponent’s head.

Lyman, a business marketing major and management minor, recorded two years at Johnson County Community College before becoming a Griffon. There, she was named First Team All-Region VI selection and Second Team All-East Jayhawk Conference. In her career at Western, she played in 45 matches. She also collected 12 assists, 96 kills, 29 service aces and 378 digs. Lyman plans on working at a golf course and being the sports marketing person there.

“[Being a Griffon] has been awesome,” Lyman said. “It’s been a good transition, coming from a junior college. It’s hard to go from playing with one team for two years and then transferring to come play for a completely different team. But it’s been great.”

Williams, a biology major, was also a two-year transfer student from JUCO. She played for Butler Community College her first two seasons where she was named Second Team All-Jayhawk Conference in 2010 and broke Butler’s record for aces in a career. During her last serve (that happened to be an ace), she suffered a seasoning-ending knee injury on Sept. 14 against Missouri Southern.

Williams wants to become a physical therapist.

“Our teammates have made it really good transition-wise,” said Williams. “The people around campus and the other Griffon athletes are really just nice people. They remind us of the people back home in Kansas.”

With both of the seniors being JUCO transfers, they haven’t had much time to prove themselves as players. Coach Cory Frederick noted the unfortunate circumstance of both of the seniors playing on their senior night.

“Both Torey and Lindsey have been busting their butts and they were doing a great job for us,” Frederick said.

The Griffons will finish off their season on the road against Pittsburg State and Southwest Baptist.

Travis Partridge running the ball into the end-zone to score against Washburn. The griffons demolished the Icabods in this contest

Stopping Missouri Western’s running game looked unattainable against Washburn after beating the Ichabods 56-28 on Saturday, Nov. 3, at Spratt Stadium.

It was senior day for the 22 seniors, and the team made it a game to remember.

“I thought we played well,” coach Jerry Partridge said. “We did not execute in the passing game as well as the running game, but we didn’t feel like they could hold up against our zone running game, and they didn’t.”

The fireworks started when quarterback Travis Partridge ran for a 5-yard touchdown run with eight minutes left in the first quarter. The touchdown was the first of Partridge’s three rushing scores.

Partridge connected with Tyron Crockom on a 45-yard touchdown that resulted in the only passing score and gave the Griffons a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.

After the defense continued to pound on the Ichabods offense, running back Mike Hill started to pick away at the defense as he broke off a 36-yard touchdown run, giving the Griffons a 21-0 lead ending the first quarter.

“He can do it all,” coach Partridge said. “He is running well, and he is running away from people. We need Michael Hill on offense.”

The second quarter started with more dominance from Hill and the running game. The offense continued to makes plays down the field by utilizing the run game as well as the passing, ending another drive with a 3-yard touchdown run from Hill.

The defense held the Ichabods scoreless, 28-0, until halfway through the second quarter.

Running back Hayden Groves outran the Griffons on a 71-yard scamper. The Ichabods defense stopped the Griffons and were able to push out another score before halftime, making the score 28-14.

“We did have a bad stretch late in the first half,” coach Patridge said. “They popped that big run on us after they saw our safeties were in the box. It made us gameplan at halftime, and we came out and answered the call and got after them in the second half.

Western’s defense, led by senior David Bass, raised the intensity by staying strong after the two touchdowns from Washburn (7-3, 7-3 MIAA). Bass came up with a big sack for a loss that gave the momentum back to the Griffons (9-1, 8-1).

“We had a couple of busted plays that allowed them to get two scores on us,” Bass said. “But our mindset never changed. We just trusted in our offense. We had to fix some minor problems and bounce back.”

Bass finished the game with seven tackles, two resulted in a loss and one sack. From there on, the defense bullied the Ichabods offense and left the rest for Hill.

The running game was just too much for the Washburn defense, and Hill ended up having a career day.

He finished the game with 259 yards and three rushing scores off of 26 carries. Hill was only 25 yards shy from breaking the single game rushing record, but he was able to break the school’s single season rushing record with 1,688 yards.

“I honestly think that we have the best back in the nation right now,” Bass said. “I would take [Hill] over anybody, in any level. It doesn’t surprise me when he puts up the numbers he does. We don’t need to pass the ball.”

After three quick running scores put the Griffons up 56-14, it was time to give Hill and other starters a rest. Backup running backs Dominic Thomas and Raphael Spencer racked up some yards while running the clock with Spencer also rushing for a 20-yard touchdown.

The final touchdown marked it 56-28, and the Griffons were satisfied with the win. However, they know next week brings a new challenge as they face their rival Northwest Missouri State (9-1, 8-1) next week, with the outright MIAA championship on the line.

“We are a well-coached group,” offensive lineman Nick Clark said. “Our team chemistry is good, and I feel that if we continue to do our jobs, you will continue to see displays like today for the rest of the season.”

The Griffons came out looking strong and confident from the very beginning. The first set was all but easy for the Bulldogs, as they didn’t even gain the lead until the score was 20-19. It was defense that held it together, forcing the Bulldogs to get their points from kills; 20 of the 25 points were from kills.

The second set looked about as good as it could get for the Griffons. For the first time in a long time, there were smiles on the court. They looked more comfortable and relaxed than they have all year. Stephanie Hattey could easily notice the good vibes.

“We need to just play relaxed; we get too uptight and then we don’t play very well,” Hattey said. “We played relaxed tonight and our passing was awesome. I have to give them props for that. Our passing was amazing.”

Hattey finished the night with eight kills, 26 assists and 15 digs. She wasn’t the only one who felt the passing helped. Freshman Jessie Thorup felt that the good passing led to other good things for the Griffons.

“We were playing really well together as a team,” Thorup said, “and passing really well helped us with our offense, and that took them out of system, which helped out our blocking.”

Thorup led the Griffons with 10 kills on the night.

Early on, the Griffons seemed to have passed some of their season-long issues onto the Bulldogs side. There were communication issues for the Bulldogs — communication issues that led to holes in the defense. The Griffons had no problem finding those holes. The Griffons were able to take the second set, showing the No. 15 team in the nation that they weren’t going to walk out with an easy win.

The Griffons looked much more like the team to beat tonight. If someone knew nothing about these two teams, except one was a .500 win team and the other was ranked No. 15 in the nation, they wouldn’t have been able to tell which team was which.

One thing the Bulldogs clearly had on the Griffons was taking advantage of mistakes at the net. There were multiple times that bumps from the Griffons would be just a little long and float over the net. Those felt like give away points to the Bulldogs, as they made a kill out of most of them.

The third set was a similar story for the most part, coming right down to the end. All three of the first sets could have easily been swung either way, as it all depended on who was on a hot streak at the end. Both teams had an equal share of mistakes, and both teams would capitalize well anytime the other team made one.

The forth set was unfortunately a remembrance of old problems for the Griffons. It was the little things that ate away at the scoreboard. Communication problems, inaccurate hits, positioning problems and errors were adding up and frustrating the team. Coach Cory Frederick didn’t know what was happening in the last set.

“For whatever reason I think we looked uptight mentally,” Frederick said. “Truman didn’t do anything different to us when we were getting digs in the fourth game, we were having trouble putting up a good hittable ball if it wasn’t our setter. That’s where we really seemed to struggle.”

Even though the fourth set wasn’t what the Griffons wanted to end on, there were plenty positive things to take away from this game.

“I think the team, for whatever reason, came out and played relaxed,” Frederick said. “Practices have been helping this week so hopefully it will continue on this weekend.”

Coach Jerry Partridge gives a couple Griffon football players a pep talk during their game against the Emporia State Hornets. The Griffons triumphed 57-28.

Griffon Football looked ferocious on Thursday, Oct. 25, serving No. 20 Emporia State its first loss of the season with a 57-28 blowout at Welch Stadium in Emporia, Kan. The Griffons improved to 8-1 while the Hornets dropped to 8-1.

The Hornets came into the game with the top ranked offense in the MIAA, but the physical Griffon defense allowed only one first down in the entire first half and no points.

“We played Emporia well and obviously we are starting to reach our expectations,” defensive end David Bass said.  ”It’s ideal and I know it’s not going to happen every week, but we are going to go out and try to make it happen.”

Kicker Taylor Anderson made a field goal to put the Griffons on top 3-0; then running back Michael Hill went to work. Hill ran for two touchdowns in the first quarter, both from three yards out as the Griffons took at 17-0 lead.

“We pretty much came out and wanted to carry over what we had the week before at Pitt,” Hill said. “We didn’t run too many different plays, a lot of inside zone and kept shoving it down their throat. I don’t know how many times we passed, but we smashed them in the trenches.”

Anderson hit another field goal to make the score 20-0 at the start of the second quarter. Quarterback Travis Partridge connected with the elusive Tyron Crockom on a screen pass for a 19-yard touchdown and then ran the ball in from eight yards out to give the Griffons a commanding 26-0 lead at the halftime break.

“Tyron is just a good football player,” Coach Jerry Partridge said.  ”He catches the ball and has ran reverses. The wealth has been spread around pretty evenly  on offense for us.”

The second half started with another highlight play from the Griffons, this time it was on defense.  Cornerback Michael Jordan intercepted a pass thrown by quarterback Tyler Eckenrode and returned it for a 91-yard touchdown that put the Griffons on top 33-0.

“Michael Jordan is going to be one of the very best corners we have ever had here,” Partridge said. “He’s solid as it gets with good speed, good agility, good hands, and he’ll tackle you.”

Hill had 185 yards and two touchdowns after the first half and was able to rest for the second half with the large lead. Reserve backs Dominic Thomas and Raphael Spencer took over rushing the ball and found success, showing the depth that the Griffons are working with at the position.

“We’ve done that a lot this year, and the running backs behind me can come in and do the things that I did,” Hill said. “It feels good, but also I want to be out there at the same time.  Whenever you are out of the game, you know that your team did their part to get you there.”

The Griffons rushing attack was responsible for 382 net yards and five touchdowns. Thomas gained 53 yards and scored on an 11-yard touchdown run while Spencer gained 96 yards and scored on a seven yard touchdown run that put the Griffons on top 47-0.

Emporia scored 14 points in both the third and fourth quarters as the Griffons reserves got into the game, but it was too late as the Griffons already had an insurmountable lead.  The Griffons forced the Hornets to punt eight times on the day and held Eckenrode to 24-for-48 passing and forced two interceptions.

“We’ve got a lot of kids playing time in two games where they shouldn’t have gotten the playing time,” Partridge said. “It was good to play a lot of kids and hopefully we are going to be healthy enough now for this pivotal stretch run.”

Missouri Western hosted their last game against Missouri Southern Friday, Oct. 26.

The Griffons said goodbye to their five seniors Friday night and made it a game the whole team will remember for a very long time.

Missouri Western hosted Missouri Southern Friday, Oct. 26, to close out the regular season and to hold their senior night. Prior to the game, the senior midfielders Ashlyn Castillo and Ashley Grunder, goalkeeper Kelly Voigts, forward Abby Widrig and defender Erin Widrig were honored as they played their last game of their career.

The teams would stay scoreless throughout regulation, sending it into overtime. Close to an hour and a half into the game, Abby knocked in the winning goal and ended the special night on a high note.

With a final record of 6-9-1 overall, it became a night — and season — for the Missouri Western record books.

“There’s a couple things that have never happened,” coach Chad Edwards said. “We’ve never lost less than 10 games, and we’ve never won our last game of the season, or scored in it. Tonight was a gift to them, they earned it.”

Just a couple weeks ago, Abby broke the most-career goals record (previously 11 set by Audrey Henderson). Her main goal before hanging up her cleats was to extend the record a little bit, “so the next person has something to reach for.” Her game-winning goal on senior night set it at 13, certainly something not easily reached.

Abby’s sister Erin, also a sports management major, started 59 of the 60 games she played in over her four years as a Griffon. She has over 5,000 minutes of play and collected two assists.

“Hard work does pay off,” Erin said. “ We hope we’ve given them the desire to keep working hard.”

Voigts, a transfer physical education major from Johnson County Community College, became the goalkeeper with the most wins in the history of the program with 10 wins, including five shutouts. In just two seasons, she racked up 218 saves and over 2,500 minutes of play.

“It’s unbelievable to go out like this,” Voigts said. “But at the same time, it’s really hard to be done with my career. Overall, it was an awesome night.”

Castillo, a biology major, has played all four years at Western. She’s started 67 of the 68 games she’s played in. Castillo made her first goal as a Griffon this year against William Jewell. She’s tied for second for most-career assists with five.

As a transfer from MIAA rival Washburn, Grunder had a lot to offer to the growing Griffon team. In her three seasons as a Griffon, Grunder played in 36 games and scored one goal out of three shots. Grunder is a nursing major.

“It feels awesome,” Grunder said. “Not many teams get to go out on a win and we did.”

Despite not securing a spot in the MIAA Tournament, the Griffons’ storybook-finish to the season ended the five seniors careers with a night full of hugs, tears and happiness.

Ashlyn Castillo and Ashley Grunder hug after the win over Missouri Southern in the last game of the season.

The Griffons said goodbye to their five seniors Friday night and made it a game the whole team will remember for a very long time.

Western hosted Missouri Southern Friday, Oct. 26 to close out the regular season and to hold their senior night. Prior to the game, the seniors midfielders Ashlyn Castillo and Ashley Grunder, goalkeeper Kelly Voigts, forward Abby Widrig and defender Erin Widrig were honored as they played their last game of their careers.

The teams would stay scoreless throughout regulation, sending it into overtime. In the 98^th minute, Abby Widrig knocked in the winning goal and ended the special night on high note.

With a final record of 6-9-1 overall, it became a night and season for the Western record books.

“There’s a couple things that have never happened,” said Coach Chad Edwards. “We’ve never lost less than 10 games, and we’ve never won our last game of the season, or scored in it. Tonight was a gift to them, they earned it.”

Just a couple weeks ago, Abby Widrig broke the most-career goals record (previously 11 set by Audrey Henderson). Her main goal before hanging up her cleats was to extend the record a little bit, “so the next person has something to reach for.” Her game-winning goal on senior night set it at 13, certainly something not easily reached.

Abby’s sister Erin, also a sports management major, also plays for Western. She started 59 of the 60 games she played in over her four years as a Griffon. She has over 5000 minutes of play and collected two assists.

“Hard work does pay off,” said Widrig. “ We hope we’ve given them the desire to keep working hard.”

Kelly Voigts, a transfer physical education major from JCCC, became the winningest goalie in the history of the program with 10 wins, including five shutouts. In just two seasons she racked up an astounding 218 saves and over 2500 minutes of play.

“It’s unbelievable to go out like this,” said Voigts. “But at the same time, it’s really hard to be done with my career. Overall, it was an awesome night.”

Ashlyn Castillo, a biology major, has played all four years at Western. She’s started 67 of the 68 games she’s played in. Castillo made her first goal as a Griffon this year against William Jewell. She’s tied for 2^nd place for most-career assists with five.

As a transfer from MIAA rival Washburn, Ashley Grunder had a lot to offer to the growing Griffon team. In her three seasons as a Griffon, Grunder played in 36 games and scored one goal out of three shots. Grunder is a nursing major.

“It feels awesome,” said Grunder. “Not many teams get to go out on a win and we did.”

Despite not securing a spot in the MIAA Tournament, the Griffons storybook finish to the season ended the five seniors careers with a night full of hugs, tears, and happiness.

“Great, great win,” Coach Jerry Partridge said. “I  think we played very well and it was fun to watch it all come together like that and play at that level.”

The Gorillas struck first with a pass from Anthony Abenoja to John Brown that gave them a 7-0 lead.  However, those would be the only points that the Griffon defense would allow all afternoon.

Defensive coordinator Regi Trotter wasn’t happy with the Gorillas success on their first possession, but was proud of the way the defense responded.

“We really buckled down and stuck to our plan,” Trotter said “We played very well.”

The Griffon offense scored 56 unanswered points, leaving the crowd of nearly 12,000 stunned and heading for the exits as Pittsburg State took only its 13th loss in history at Carnie Smith Stadium.

“We were surprised because we always go in expecting a war,” Safety Shane Simpson said. “It’s just a blessing and you love those days.  Everybody just played good, we did all the little things.”

Quarterback Travis Partridge threw for four touchdown passes and 213 yards on only 14 passing attempts.  Partridge connected for touchdowns with Derek Libby for 64 yards, Brandon Wright for 35 yards, Reggie Jordan from seven yards out, and found Michael Hill in the flat on a fake reverse play for a 48-yard score.

Partridge was happy with the way the offense played and felt like it was a very complete performance by everybody.

Hill scored three more touchdowns on the ground as he ran the ball into the end-zone from two, five, and 10 yards out.  Hill finished with 116 yards on the ground on 17 carries for an average of 6.8 yards per carry.  Hill got to rest early after totaling 180 all-purpose yards with the big lead as reserve backs Dominic Thomas and Raphael Spencer showed off their talents.  Thomas finished with 59 yards while Spencer ran for 64.

Defensive end David Bass had a huge game, coming away with 2.5 sacks and an interception that he took back 55 yards for a touchdown.  Ben Pister was also wreaking havoc from the other end position with eight tackles, 1.5 sacks.  Pister recorded 2.5 tackles for a loss, a category in which he leads the MIAA.  Bass and Pister are seniors playing in their final season at Western.

“It’s been fun watching those guys grow up,” Trotter said.  ”When you have two seniors that care so much about this program and have been dominant forces for four years now, it’s good to watch those guys do some damage.”

Defensive back Michael Jordan led the Griffons with nine tackles while safety Shane Simpson intercepted a pass in his first game back from a high ankle sprain that sidelined him for two weeks.

“Shane Simpson is that senior leader back there and we really needed him,” Trotter said. “He really stepped up for us when he came back in.”

Before the game, Western was ranked No. 16 in Division II football while Pittsburg was ranked No. 7.  After the game the Griffons moved up four spots to No. 12 while the Gorillas fell to No. 20 in the AFCA coaches poll.

Defender AJ Powers attempts to head the ball to a teammate as the Griffons played Southwest Baptist on Sunday.

Missouri Western was handed a harsh loss by Central Missouri. They rebounded a couple days later and handed Southwest Baptist a shutout loss of their own.

Central Missouri — 2               Missouri Western — 0

On Friday, Oct. 19, Western hosted the No. 3 Central Missouri Jennies.  The Jennies are undefeated on the season, improving to 8-0-2 after shutting out Western at Spratt Stadium.

A night that was used to honor new all-time leading scorer Abby Widrig turned into a scoreless night for the Griffons. The Jennies got it started early, scoring within 14 minutes and then again just 13 minutes later. Two early goals gave Central a 2-0 lead for the remainder of the game.

Kelly Voigts had five saves on the night. The Griffons had only three shots on goal to contest with the Jennies’ seven. Western’s loss to Central put the Griffons at 4-9-1 and 2-7-1 in MIAA play.

“We just weren’t intense enough in the box to get the ball out,” coach Chad Edwards said. “The frustrating part is we were hanging there with them and we let down for a few seconds and gave up a goal.”

Missouri Western — 1               Southwest Baptist — 0

Edwards described the game against Southwest Baptist on Sunday, Oct. 21, as a “must-win.” Western came out on fire when sophomore Teddi Serna scored three minutes in off of a kick from AJ Powers, putting the Griffons up 1-0 early. Each team landed seven shots on goal, but neither goalie would let anything in.

The Griffons sealed their victory over the Bearcats early on. They now sit at 5-9-1 and 3-7-1 in MIAA conference play.

With the win, Voigts broke the record for the most wins at Western by a goalkeeper with nine despite only being a Griffon for two years after transferring from Johnson County Community College.

Abby Widrig and Rochelle Gillilan each attempted three shots while K.C. Ramsell attempted two shots.  Serna scored on her only shot attempt.

“[I told the girls] we had to bring the intensity and the passion on Sunday,” said Edwards. “If we did that, it would be a very winnable game.”

Western will honor its five seniors (Voigts, Abby and Erin Widrig, Ashlyn Castillo and Ashley Grunder) at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 26, at Spratt Stadium on senior night as the Griffons take on the Missouri Southern Lions.  Southern’s record stands at 4-4-2 on the season.

The Griffons saw their chances at making the MIAA tournament disappear when Kearney-Nebraska won and Southern tied in their last contest so Friday’s game will be the last of the season.

The game will be televised on the MIAA network, channel 19 on Suddenlink Cable in St. Joseph.

The Hornets are a perfect 8-0, but have only faced one team with a winning record — Lindenwood. Their closest game came in a 19-15 win over 1-7 Southwest Baptist three weeks ago, and in the last two games, Emporia defeated Lindenwood 13-0 and 4-4 Truman State 52-26.

“Emporia is very, very dangerous and very confident right now,” coach Jerry Partridge said. “They really believe in themselves and there will be a lot of emotion on Thursday night.  We’re going to get their best shot.”

Emporia ranks first in the MIAA in total offense with 484 yards per game, while Western ranks second with 467 yards per game.

“We approach this just like any other week,” quarterback Travis Partridge said.  ”We are going to do what we do offensively and distribute the ball. Our experience level is going to carry us.”

The Hornets rely heavily on the passing game to move the ball down the field.  Quarterback Tyler Eckenrode has thrown for 2,518 yards this season with 18 touchdowns and just five interceptions.

“Their offense is very good,” defensive coordinator Regi Trotter said. “They have a stable of good running backs, but they really throw the ball well.  Those guys really do a good job.”

Wide receiver Shjuan Richardson has proven to be the main weapon for the Hornets’ offense, catching 59 passes for 973 yards and nine touchdowns on the season.  He’s averaging 121 receiving yards per game. Ray Ray Davis has also heavily contributed to Emporia’s success through the air with 634 yards and five touchdowns.

“We just need to carry this momentum from the Pitt State-win into Thursday,” safety Shane Simpson said. “It’s not going to be easy.”

The Hornets use a balanced rushing attack to supplement the passing game.  Derwin Hall has rushed for 393 yards and five touchdowns while gaining 4.6 yards per carry, Dozie Iwuagwa has gained 331 yards and six touchdowns with a 4.5 yards per carry average, and Jordan Tice has rushed for 287 yards and two touchdowns while averaging 4.4 yards per carry.

Playing a top-20 team on the road with a short week is a challenge, but the Griffons feel like they are well-prepared.

“The front end is very difficult,” coach Partridge said. “I’ll enjoy the back end of it if we win the game and get the weekend off, but its very difficult right now.”

Emporia’s defense ranks fourth in the MIAA in total yards per game, allowing 335 yards per game, while Western ranks fifth, giving up 348 yards per game.

The Griffons have won the last three games at Emporia.

Rochelle Gillian kicking the ball to advance against UCM.

Widrig is a Senior this year and a player on the Missouri Western girls soccer team.

On Oct. 7, Missouri Western was taking on Emporia State. The game opened up almost immediately with a goal from senior forward Abby Widrig, who is now the Griffons’ all-time career leader in goals with 12.

The Hornets made it an even game just before halftime, and the score would remain tied until the end of regulation. Barely 30 seconds into overtime, Widrig blasted a beautiful shot from 40 yards out, ending the game 2-1 in the Griffons’ favor. That dramatic goal was Widrig’s 11 career goal at Missouri Western, which tied her with former Griffon forward Audrey Henderson for most career goals.

“Abby dribbled about 10 yards forward and just kicked the ball,” said coach Chad Edwards. “I wouldn’t call it a pass and I wouldn’t call it a shot.”

But Widrig wasn’t going to be satisfied with just tying the record. Just a few days later in their game at Fort Hays State, Widrig scored another goal off of an assist from AJ Powers. Her goal would give the Griffons the momentum they needed to get the 2-2 tie with the Tigers. Just like that, the record was broken.

Widrig, who wears No. 4 for Western, has been playing soccer since she was 4 years old. Once this season ends, she will have been playing for 18 years. She decided on being a Griffon because it’s location had that nice, “far from home, but not too far” distance from her hometown of Wichita, Kan. Plus, she knew a few of her teammates already.

“I knew former player Mary Ohm,” Widrig said. “I knew Ashlyn Castillo; we have been playing with or against each other since second grade. Sydney Andrews and I played one year of high school with each other and I played two years against Katie Kempf.”

Four years ago, Widrig didn’t see herself breaking any records, but the most career goals record isn’t her only one. She’s tied with Ashley Juravich for most game-winning goals at four a piece and has the most points with 28 due to her 12 goals (at two points a piece) and 4 assists (one point).

“Honestly, [breaking the record] wasn’t on my to-do list,” Widrig said. “Just scoring is enough. Breaking a record is just icing on the cake.”

Widrig was immediately more excited over the fact that the team was able to tie the game so quickly with her goal than with the record she broke. But she’s remaining considerably humble for now — no celebrating just yet. Widrig wants to concentrate on setting the record just a little higher in their remaining games and improving the team’s overall record, which currently sits at 4-8-1 and 2-6-1 in the MIAA after Saturday’s double overtime loss to Nebraska-Kearney. Her twin sister Erin, a senior defender for the Griffons, agrees with her. They both want the record to be set just a little higher so the next person has something to reach for.

The Griffons return to action at 7 p.m. on Oct. 19, Friday’s “Pink Week” game against Central Missouri in Spratt Stadium.

Meredith McCormick and Stephanie Hattey prepare for the next play against Nebraska-Kearney on Oct. 16.

It was hard to find anything positive to take from Missouri Western’s loss against Nebraska-Kearney (25-8, 25-16, 25-18) on Tuesday, Oct. 13.; The Lopers walked into MWSU Fieldhouse ranked fifth in the nation.

Kearney was in complete control for the majority of the night. The Lopers didn’t show any weaknesses in the first set, where they jumped to a quick 9-point run in the beginning and maintained that intensity throughout the set. Defensively, the Lopers held the Griffons to just three total kills and eight points. Coach Cory Frederick saw a lot of things that the Griffons don’t have at this point in the season to compete against teams like Kearney.

“Right now, we’re not ready to play at that level and there’s no question about it,” Frederick said. “I think when we just let go and play, we can hang with teams like that, but we just have to get more experience before we can be ready for that caliber of a team.”

The second set may have looked a little more promising, but unfortunately still wasn’t the ideal game that the Griffons were hoping for. They racked up 10 team kills and doubled their score, but were still nowhere close enough to steal a win. The Lopers’ explosive offense was showing to be too much to handle. Sophomore Meredith McCormick believed that the Griffons didn’t show what the team was really capable of early on.

“We didn’t come out as strong as we can or should of,” McCormick said. “With a team like that, and them being ranked so high and so good, we didn’t have anything to lose, and we definitely did not come out that way.”

The first two sets may have seemed disheartening for the Griffons, but the third set showed a lot more of what the Griffons are capable of. They came out strong, aggressive and really made the Lopers earn the last set. Although it was too little to late, the Griffons were playing better as the game went on; the team added up 10 kills, 19 digs and three blocks in the final set. Jessie Thorup, who had a team high seven kills, saw the spark at the end as a positive for the Griffons, and believes it will help in another tough game they have this week.

“In that third set, we really challenged them and did the things we needed to do,” Thorup said. “I think after seeing how we played against them in that third set, we know how we can play against Washburn. So if we continue to play like that, we’ll do a lot better.”

It will be no easy task for the 6-1 Griffons as reining national champion 5-1 Pittsburg is also looking for redemption from its first loss of the season, a 31-21 defeat by Northwest Missouri.

“Pitt is good and they are going to be hungry,” Coach Jerry Partridge said.  “We’re planning on going to Pittsburg and getting a win and I think we are very capable of doing it.”

Gorillas quarterback Anthony Abenoja has thrown for 1663 yards, 12 touchdowns, and six interceptions.

Abenoja’s main target this season has been John Brown, who has caught 39 passes for 627 yards and six touchdowns.   The Griffons should be well-aware of Brown as he gained 70 yards receiving and ran a punt back 84 yards for a touchdown last season when Pittsburg came to Spratt Stadium and won 34-7 last season.  Brown has also returned one punt for a touchdown this season and is averaging 219 all-purpose yards per game.

Pittsburg’s leading rusher is Briceton Wilson has ran for 327 yards and six touchdowns, averaging 6.1 yards per carry.  Jason Spradling  also had success running the ball, he’s averaging 5.1 yards per carry and has ran for 251 yards and a touchdown this season.

Linebacker Nate Dreiling anchors the Gorilla defense with a team-leading 36 tackles and five pass breakups while defensive end Gus Toca has sacked opposing quarterbacks five times on the season.  The Gorillas lead the MIAA in defense, allowing 307 total yards per game.

The Griffons defense is banged up, dealing with injuries to several star players. Linebacker Yomi Alli is out with a knee injury suffered on Sept. 15.  Defensive tackle, Austin Baska hurt both ankles against Southern and defensive end Ben Pister is dealing with a shoulder injury.  Safety Shane Simpson missed the last two games with a hurt ankle, but should provide a boost when he makes his return this week.

“I can’t wait to get back on the field,” Simpson said. “Pitt State is a good team.  We need to play our best and limit mistakes.  If we do that, I’m sure we will be happy with the outcome.”

Griffons running back Michael Hill will be looking to bounce back from his lowest rushing total of the season, 54 yards.  Hill is averaging 161 yards per game, which leads the MIAA by a wide margin with the second leading rusher averaging 94 yards per game.

“We can still do everything we wanted to do,” Hill said “One loss doesn’t even put a dent in our goals.”

The Griffons and the Gorillas both have high-powered offenses.  The Gorillas average 39.5 points per game while the Griffons get 39 points each contest.  The Griffons lead the MIAA in total offense per game with 469 yards per game while the Gorillas come in second with 466 yards per game.

Coach Partridge wants his team to keep their confidence despite having the deal with defeat for the first time this season.

“We have to keep the outside influences from affecting us and understand that we are still good enough and go get it done,” Partridge said. “We’re still a very good football team.”

Sarah Faubel goes for a spike in Saturday’s game against UCO on Oct. 13.

Central Oklahoma — 3

Missouri Western — 2

(25-20, 26-24, 17-25, 18-25, 15-8)

In an effort to avoid being swept by the Central Oklahoma Bronchos, the Griffons had a comeback run, pushing the game to five sets to ultimately take a loss in the end on Oct. 13.

The Griffons hoped to show a spark of life during a disappointing Homecoming week; after a loss earlier in the day for soccer and the football team taking its first loss of the season, the last thing the Griffons wanted was to be swept around the board on Homecoming.

The Bronchos seemed to beat the Griffons mentally more than physically, especially in the first two sets. Although the Griffons looked more athletic, the Bronchos were always in the right place at the right time. There were obvious communication problems on the Griffons side as too many balls hit the floor.

The Griffons have been very inconsistent defensively this season. At times they are defending all over the court; getting blocks, digs and anything to keep the ball in the air. Other times, they seem to be out of place, standing too long and not adapting to what the other team is doing offensively. Unfortunately the first two sets were the worse of the two. The Bronchos had two girls who continued to find openings in the Griffons’ defense and made them pay for it with 38 kills between them.

The team has been changing the lineup around all season, but recently there have been bigger changes more often. Sarah Faubel, who in the past played libero, has been up at the net getting more kills as an outside. She has seen a lot of different positions and seems to handle them all with confidence.

“It just kind of depends on what our team needs every week,” Faubel said. “Sometimes someone will be hurt and I’ll go outside, and sometimes things just aren’t connecting so I’ll go to other spots, but I’m totally OK with going anywhere.”

Faubel had a great night with 11 kills and nine digs.

Freshman power hitter Melissa Cairns has been dynamic at the net all season. Although she is still recovering from a torn labrum in her hip, it hasn’t seemed to affect her game. Lately she has been transitioning more to the outside as well as playing back row — a big change for her that she still is trying to get used to.

“For me, personally, I think it does affect [my focus] because I’m not the most comfortable passer,” Cairns said. “So that carries around with me the whole way but it’s one of those things you just have to get past it.”

Cairns finished with eight kills and seven digs.

With a combination of lineup changes and unexpected injuries, the Griffons are still working to find what works best for the team.

The Griffons have a tough schedule ahead of them as they play the 19-2 Nebraska-Kearney Lopers at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at MWSU Fieldhouse followed by the 21-1 Washburn Lady Blues at 2 p.m. on Oct. 20 in Topeka, Kan.

Dom Thomas makes a run against Missouri Southern in the Homecoming Game on Saturday Oct. 13

Missouri Western football suffered its first loss of the season in heartbreaking fashion as Missouri Southern upset the Griffons 31-30 on Homecoming at Spratt Stadium.  The Griffons are 6-1 on the season.

“We outplayed them really and probably should have had them put away in the first half,” coach Jerry Partridge said.  ”We didn’t make enough plays obviously to win.”

The game was delayed for nearly and hour by lightning with 3 minutes and 56 seconds left in the fourth quarter with the Griffons leading 30-24 and Southern in possession of the ball at its own 37-yard line.

When play resumed, the Lions put together a scoring drive which ended in a 1-yard run by JJ Jones.  The extra point put Southern ahead by one point.

“We needed to step up and make a stop,” said linebacker Stephen Juergens, who led the Griffons with 11 tackles. “I can blame myself; I missed a tackle on that last drive.”

Western got the ball back with two minutes left on the clock, but turned the ball over on a fumbled exchange.  The Griffons stopped the Lions on the next three plays and forced a punt, then used all of their timeouts to stop the clock, which gave the offense 40 seconds to try and put together one last game-winning drive.

It wasn’t meant to be as quarterback Travis Partridge threw his only interception of the day, and Southern ran out the clock for the one-point win.

“We do it all the time, and we felt like we could get it done,” receiver Kyle Knox said about failing to score on the final two possessions.  The Griffons six-point lead in the fourth quarter came from two Taylor Anderson field goals.  Knox felt Southern gained momentum when the Griffons were unable to score a touchdown on those two drives.

Coach Partridge felt there were several instances where there was error on the part of the officials and was arguing with them in the first half.

“It was difficult to deal with,” Partridge said. “Anybody that has been a part of sports; this happens.  You just have to deal with it and pick up the pieces and play.”

The Griffons offense outgained Southern 493 yards to 374 and was only forced to punt once. Partridge threw for 233 yards, connecting on 20 of 27 attempted passes, including a 5-yard touchdown pass to tight end Reggie Jordan in the first quarter.  Partridge also ran for 67 yards and a touchdown as part of the Griffon ground game that netted 260 yards.

Michael Hill was held to 53 yards rushing on 14 attempts and kept out of the end zone.  Despite the loss, Hill is staying optimistic about this season.

“I’ve lost games like this before,” Hill said.  ”Things happen and it’s better off that we know that we aren’t going to roll over people.  Now we can move on with more focus and work our butts off.”

Jordan scored his second touchdown of the day as he ran a fake punt 86 yards for the score in the second quarter.

Knox led the Griffons in receiving with 103 yards on five catches. Derek Libby hauled in three catches for 41 yards while Tyron Crockom caught five for 33 yards.

Anderson made all three of his field goal attempts, including a 53-yard kick that sailed through the uprights.

The Griffons will try and bounce back against No. 7 Pittsburg State at 2 p.m. next Saturday, Oc. 20, in Pittsburg, Kan.

“Homecoming is a special time and it’s a great event for any universities campus life, but I don’t think we treat it any differently,” coach Jerry Partridge said.  “Our crowd is always pretty good anyways.”

The Griffon defense will take on the task of stopping quarterback Kellen Cox and the triple option offense.  The 5-foot-10-inch 160-pound former wide receiver ranks third in the MIAA in rushing at 94.3 yards per-game with eight touchdowns.

“He’s the key guy, the cog,” coach Partridge said. “They will try to run the ball with him. We have to stop him and obviously we have to stop all phases of the triple option.”

Cox numbers through the air are much less flattering than on the ground.  He’s completed only 20-for-44 passes with eight interceptions and two touchdowns.  Defensive end David Bass expects to deal with a heavy dose of Southern’s running game.

“The triple option is usually a difficult offense to play,” Bass said, “but with the seniors and experience that we’ve got, I think we’ll be able to handle it.”

Western has been very good defensively all season ranking No. 2 in the MIAA and No. 14 in the country allowing 16.7 points per-game, but Bass believes there’s room for improvement.

“We aren’t where we want to be,” Bass said.  “The entire defense messed up on some assignments and responsibilities last week.  As long as we stick together and trust one another then we are going to be good.”

One of Southern’s strengths is their ability to stop the run, however, Griffons running back Michael Hill is no ordinary runner as he leads the nation in rushing.  Quarterback Travis Partridge also has the ability to gain big yards on the ground.

“I’m sure running the ball is going to be very difficult,” coach Partridge said. “They have given up some passing yards, and we are going to have to take advantage of that.”

Opposing receivers have been torching the Lions’ pass defense all season as they are giving up 244 yards per-game while only gaining an average of 77 yards themselves.

Travis Partridge is going to stick to the game plan, but is more than willing to make the necessary adjustments and burn the Lions through the air.

“Every week we go in with a game plan and we try to establish the run first,” Partridge said. “We just kind of take what the defensive is giving us, so if they’re giving us yards through the air then that’s what we’re going to do.”

Every game is huge in football, but it’s hard not to look forward to next week when the Griffons travel to Pittsburg, Kan., to face the No. 1 ranked and reigning national champion Pittsburg State.

Bass isn’t looking forward as he knows that Southern will prove to be a formidable opponent.

“No, never,” Bass said.  “This is my senior year. Every week is crucial to me, so I can leave on a good note and have fun while I’m doing it.”

Washburn – 2

Missouri Western – 0

Women’s soccer came out slow in the first half compared to Washburn. Nine minutes into the game, the Lady Blues put themselves on the board 1-0 over the Griffons. The ladies would mainly stay on defense for the remainder of the first half.

The second half wasn’t much of an improvement. Both teams’ offenses gained a little momentum, but little was produced until late in the game. In the 85^th minute, Washburn added to their lead, making it 2-0 to finish out regulation.

Goalkeeper Kelly Voigts had seven saves on the night. Western had three of its four shots on goal, while Washburn put nine of its 18 on goal.

“[Friday night] was a little bit of a struggle, to say the least,” coach Chad Edwards said. “We didn’t come out very fast. We were a little sluggish to start off with. I think it was a combination of not being ready to go, but also having to find ourselves with new players playing at new positions, as well.”

Missouri Western – 2

Emporia State – 1

The Griffons were ready to go against the Emporia State Hornets on Sunday. Abby Widrig put in a goal early off of a pass from fellow senior Ashlyn Castillo, helping Western gain an early 1-0 lead over the Hornets. Just prior to halftime, Emporia tied it up in the 37^th minute with a goal of their own.

The second half was a defensive battle, with neither team gaining an edge over the other. As regulation ended, the score remained 1-1, sending the game into overtime. Only 30 seconds into overtime, Widrig slammed a stunner from 40 yards out, ending the game at 2-1 in favor of Western. That goal was No. 11 of Widrig’s career at Western, tying her with Audrey Henderson for most career goals.

“Abby dribbled about 10 yards forward and just kicked the ball,” Edwards said. “I wouldn’t call it a pass and I wouldn’t call it a shot. It was literally in the air for about 10 seconds. It took a couple seconds until the referee signaled it, but we’ll take them any way we can get them.”

Western had five of their nine shots on goal. Voigts would rack up six saves for the day. The overtime win over Emporia boosted the Griffons to 2-5 in MIAA play and 4-7 on the season.

The Griffons head to Fort Hays State on Thursday, Oct. 11, to take on the Tigers at 6 p.m.

The Griffons looked on top of their game despite the absence of two key freshmen players, Melissa Cairns and Holly Pollock. Cairns recently tore her labrum in her left hip, and is currently day-to-day. Pollock has been suffering from strep throat, a double ear infection and a sinus infection all at the same time, according to coach Cory Frederick. Freshman Jessie Thorup continued to play well, even with her fellow freshmen sitting out.

“I think it helps to know we have a lot of options,” Thorup said. “If someone is not playing well or if someone is hurt, we’ll always have someone to fill those spots.”

Junior Stephanie Hattey continued to be outstanding all around. Hattey finished the week with 26 kills, 73 assists and 45 digs in three matches. She believes after a rough time so far in MIAA play, the team could be turned around and headed in the right direction.

“[Against Truman] we had a pep talk and decided to play the way we’ve been playing in practice,” Hattey said. “Even though we lost, we played like a team and we hustled every ball, we didn’t let any drop. Today we let up a little more, but hopefully we can keep it up and keep it going. I think the more games we play the more we grow, so we’ll get better as the season goes on.”

Frederick sees the change the team has made and sees them learning and gaining more confidence in themselves.

“Rockhurst is 12-2, they’re a good team and there is no doubt about it,” Frederick said. “So far the Rockhurst loss has been a good one for us because it helped us focus on some things that we really need to work on. We made some adjustments and played pretty good against [Truman], but unfortunately couldn’t put that one away in the end, which I think is some of that is still the youth and developing.”

Fortunately for both Frederick and the players, the lineup has changed so many times this season already that when key players are forced out of the game, there is no added pressure on the remaining players, according to Frederick.

The Griffons are currently sitting at 9-7 on the season. They will be getting back into tournament play Oct. 5 in the Washburn Crossover Tournament. So far, the Griffons have a record of 6-2 when it comes to tournament play.

Midfielder AJ Powers advances the ball toward Northeastern University’s goal.

The Griffons welcomed MIAA newcomers Central Oklahoma Friday, Sept. 28 and Northeastern State on Sunday, Sept. 30 to Spratt Stadium. Coming off of a hard second overtime loss to rival Northwest Missouri State, the Griffons were anxious to step up their game against No. 18 Bronchos.

Central Oklahoma — 1     Missouri Western — 0

Goalkeeper Kelly Voigts saved all six shots on goal from reaching the back of the net, helping Missouri Western hold its opponents scoreless in the first half. Midfielder AJ Powers had the Griffons’ only shot on goal of the half.

The Bronchos kept on coming in the second half, getting off 14 more shots. The game-winning goal came in the 67^th minute from Central Oklahoma’s Brittni Walker. Voigts would save four of the five shots on goal in the second half, giving her 10 saves for the game.

Western would fall just shy of the upset over Central Oklahoma, losing 1-0.

“We lacked stability and got ourselves into too big of a hurry,” coach Chad Edwards said. “We just didn’t maintain possession enough. We were allowing them to have a lot more opportunities than they should have. Maintaining possession of the ball is the key from here on out.”

Northeastern State — 3     Missouri Western — 1

The Griffons tried to get back into rhythm Sunday afternoon against Northeast State. With Voigts on the sideline due to a recent head injury, junior Rayelin Garcia would start for the first time for the Griffons.

The first half was highly physical with neither team really gaining an edge on the other. Sophomores Emily Hoffman and Katie Kempf were both sidelined due to injuries during the game, Hoffman with a bleeding head and Kempf with a knee problem. In the 38^th minute, Northeastern put the RiverHawks on the board off a penalty kick. They added another goal just as the whistle blew to end the half, making it a 2-0 game in favor of Northeastern.

Western recovered quickly in the second half when freshman Sydney Andrews scored off a penalty kick in the 47^th minute. But the RiverHawks would respond just minutes later with another goal. The score would remain the same until the end of regulation.

Northeastern got nine of its 26 shots on goal, while Western managed to get two of its four on goal. Garcia collected six saves. The Griffons would lose to Northeastern 3-1, falling to 1-3 in MIAA play and 3-6 overall.

“We could always improve,” Andrews said. “But I’m proud of us for sticking it out and keeping it together. It sucks that we lost, but we’ll get back up there.”

The Griffons will open their first of four straight road games at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 5 at Washburn.

Sarah Faubel spikes the the ball in the contest against the Southwest Baptist Bearcats.

Reggie Jordan receives a touchdown pass against the UCO Bronchos.

Missouri Western football avoided a second-half comeback attempt to defeat Central Oklahoma 45-23 at Spratt Stadium to improve its record to 5-0 for the first time under coach Jerry Partridge.

“We just have better football players,” Partridge said. “Their program is just trying to get off the ground right now.”

The Griffons build up a 28-0 lead before Central Oklahoma was finally able to get on the board in the third quarter.

“We dominated the first half,” Partridge said. “We didn’t play very good defense in the second half, that’s for sure.”

Central Oklahoma attempted a comeback in the second half after scoring three straight touchdowns and narrowing the lead to 31-23 with 1:35 left in the game.

“We had several chances to throw a knockout punch and we’ve been pretty good with that,but we didn’t do it today,” Partridge said.

After a failed onside kick attempt, the nation’s leading rusher Michael Hill busted off a 30-yard touchdown run with around a minute left in the game.  Michael Jordan then intercepted Adrian Nelson and ran it back 42-yards for a touchdown with two seconds left in the game.

Quarterback Travis Partridge threw for 224 yards and a touchdown and found success running the ball, gaining 87 yards on 10 carries. He had two touchdown runs including outrunning the defense for a 45-yard scramble.

Hill led the Griffons in rushing with 143 yards on 22 carries, including his clutch fourth quarter touchdown run and caught two passes for 27 yards.

Kyle Knox had a breakout performance, leading the Griffon receivers with 108 yards on seven catches.

“It’s a great feeling, I love helping the team out to win,” Knox said. “Travis throws a perfect ball that hits me in the chest every time.”

Coach Partridge has nothing but positive things to say about Knox.

“Kyle is a gritty veteran and a tough kid,” Partridge said. “He’s done his time and he’s come in and made some plays. Anybody that knows Kyle Knox likes him a lot.”

Tarrell Downing caught five passes for 42 yards. Reggie Jordan caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Partridge to give him four touchdown catches on the season.

“It’s a weapon having a 6-4, 250 (pound) receiver,” quarterback Partridge said of Jordan. “He’s definitely a red-zone weapon, but he can block and do other things, too.”

The Griffon offense utilized nine different receivers in the passing game.

“We are never going to have a go to player unless it’s in the red zone,” coach Partridge said. “It’s just not what we do.”

The most electric highlight of the day might have been the first score of the game when Tyron Crockum took a reverse hand off and turned the corner out-running everybody for a 22-yard touchdown.

Stephen Juergens led the Griffons with nine tackles including five solo while Ben Pister had seven tackles including five solo plus a sack and a forced fumbled.

“They didn’t quit fighting and we knew that they wouldn’t because they have outscored their opponents in the second half all year,” Pister said.

Austin Baska brought the quarterback down for two sacks while Davis Bass recorded one as the Griffon defense allowed nothing in the first half and gave up all their points late. As the quarterback, Partridge knows how strong the defense is.

“We play against them every day, so we know what they can do,”Partridge said. “They are a great defense. As an offense, it kind of relaxes you a little bit.”

The Griffons return to action on Saturday in Tahlequah, Okla., against MIAA opponent Northeastern State.

Forward Rochelle Gillian Kicks the ball towards the opposite goal to advance the ball against UCO

“Fort Hays played their best football all year,” coach Jerry Partridge said. “I don’t think we played our best football, but I wouldn’t say we played poorly. If you’ve been to Fort Hays, you know it’s not the funnest trip to take. It’s a long bus ride.”

Quarterback Travis Partridge put on a good performance on his 22^nd birthday as he threw for 163 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 37 yards and a touchdown.

Partridge connected with Kyle Knox on a 19-yard pass to put the Griffons on the board in the first quarter after the defense forced a punt.

Hays scored their only points of the day on a field goal in the second quarter that made it a 7-3 game. On the next Griffon possession, Partridge connected with Tarrell Downing for a 17-yard score to push the lead out to 14-3.

Despite the Griffons turning the ball over twice on an interception and fumble and dealing with some penalties, Hays was unable to capitalize, and the score remained 14-3 at the half.

“We got a win, that’s all that really matters,” Michael Hill said.  “They came out there and fought and battled. They have seniors and players that want a ‘W,’ too.

We killed ourselves a little with penalties and minor mistakes, but we got the win.”

Michael Hill became Western’s all-time career rushing leader in the second quarter and added to the total with 198 yards on the game.  Hill leads the entire country in rushing with 184 yards per game.

The offensive line has been dominant this season as the Western ball carriers are averaging an outstanding 6.6 yards per-carry.

The Griffon defense was relentless all afternoon, sacking quarterback Tarean Austin three times and forcing three fumbles which were recovered by Western.

David Bass sacked and took the ball from Austin in spectacular fashion and ran it back 47 yards before fumbling himself and giving it back to Hays. Bass finished with three tackles and a sack.

Ben Pister provided pressure from the other end of the defensive line as he made three solo tackles for a loss of yards, had one sack, and one fumble recovery. Sean Tray Bryson also got to the quarterback for a sack.

Defensive back Michael Jordan led the Griffons on tackles with six solo and Dan Ritter recorded five solo tackles.

Despite making 16 first downs, Hays never made it in to the red zone for a chance to score a touchdown.

The Griffons return to action on Saturday, Sept. 29, against Central Oklahoma at Spartt Stadium.

Missouri Western seen here during a game at Northwest

Missouri Western suffer a heartbreaking loss in double overtime to rival Northwest Missouri State, 1-0.

The Griffons hosted their conference rival, the Bearcats, for their first MIAA home game of the season on Friday, Sept. 21. Coming off of a win in overtime versus Lindenwood, the team was ready to to face its archrivals and duke it out for bragging rights.

In the entirety of their program history, Western has only beaten Northwest once. Prior to the game, senior goalkeeper Kelly Voigts said this game was more than normal.

“It is our time to change things and we are willing to do, whatever it takes,” Voigts said. “I mean, you want to win every game, but this game has a little something extra.”

Both teams fought relentlessly throughout the game to put themselves on the scoreboard, but neither of them could get the ball to the back of the net. At halftime and the end of regulation, neither team had managed to score.

The teams would play over 100 minutes of scoreless soccer before Northwest’s Elizabeth Walde shot from 12 yards out to end the game in double overtime.

“This is a game we look forward to every year,” coach Chad Edwards said. “It’s heartbreaking, for our seniors especially.”

Western had 5 shots with 4 on goal, while the Northwest had 12 shots with 6 being on goal. Sophomore Katie Kempf managed to get off 2 shots of her own before an injury sidelined her for the remainder of the game. Voigts had 5 saves on the night.

The Griffons come up short in the second overtime to Northwest, losing 1-0. They fall to 3-4 on the season and 1-2 in MIAA conference play.

“This is our archrival. It’s a tough loss; two even teams battling it out,” Edwards said. “We just made a major mistake in the back and it hurts. I think throughout the game, we were just struggling to find ourselves. At times we did, and when we did we were very successful but we have to play for 90 minutes and we just didn’t do that. It’s tough for all of us, we deserve this game just as much as they did. This one is going to sting for a while. But we’ll learn from it and get better and come back next Friday ready to go.”

The girls will face MIAA newcomer Central Oklahoma at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 28 at Spratt Stadium.

Central Missouri–3       Missouri Western–0
(25-19, 25-23, 25-12)

The Jennies came into MWSU Fieldhouse ranked No. 8 in the nation, and played like they were. The offensive game plan was too much for the Griffons to counter. Throughout the night they utilized the height of their main setter, Julia Bates, to keep the Griffons guessing on if she was going to assist or just slam it down. Bates ended the game with 35 assists and eight kills. Coach Cory Frederick knew what needed to be done to stop it, but the girls just didn’t seem to respond well.

“We just didn’t play very smart,” Frederick said. “To be straight forward honest, we just weren’t prepared for whatever reason to move on those balls. We knew what they were going to do, and we just didn’t look like we were ready to play.”

The Griffons put up a good fight for the first two sets, but looked slow and out of place in the third and final set.

Missouri Western–3     Lindenwood–1
(19-25, 26-24, 25-17, 25-14)

The Griffons really gave us a scare early against the Lindenwood Lions. This was a game that was probably considered a must-win for the Griffons, who had lost five of their last seven games coming into this one. The Griffons looked a little rattled still from the night before, but got much better throughout the game.

Junior Stephanie Hattey had another great weekend, racking up a total of 14 kills, 34 assists and 36 digs between the two games.

“We beat Lindenwood by forgetting about the last game against UCM,” Hattey said. “We decided to not pay attention to the score and just play to the best of our abilities, and it worked.”

Sophomore Amanda Boender did not play the night before due to sickness, but provided some explosiveness for the Griffons and finished with nine kills.

“It’s always a different perspective when you don’t play,” Boender said. “You forget how it feels to not get to be out on the court, and you really appreciate being able to play.”

(Left) Michael Hill stiff arms an opponent and breaks a tackle versus Nebraska-Kearney earlier this season.

Michael Hill ran into the Griffon history books on Saturday at Fort Hays when he broke Western’s 15-year-old all-time leading career rushing record.

“I’m just lucky to be in the position that I am,” the running back from St. Joseph said.  “I’m honored to have the record and I’ve just been around great players and coaches the entire time I’ve been here. Every player here made me get it, it’s not just mine.”

Hill ran for 198 yards at Hays and needed just 56 yards to become Western’s career-rushing king.  Hill has rushed for 3,538 in his career and his 709 attempts also sets the all-time mark for carries.

Hill has ran for 743 yards so far in his senior season for an average of 184.2 yards-per-game which leads the entire nation in rushing. Hill was third on the list before his near 200-yard outburst at Hays.

“It’s pretty big, but we’re only in game four,” Hill said. “We’ve got a long road ahead of us and that’s awesome that we got to this point, but you have to strive for more.”

Although Hill has proven to be the Griffons’ and the country’s most dangerous weapon, he isn’t worried about teams stacking the box and focusing solely on stopping him.

“If they do, then we are going to throw the ball down the field, and they will have to cover that, too,” Hill said. “Travis is a good thrower, and we have good receivers, too, that will catch the ball.”

Hill wasn’t recruited highly coming out of Central High School by other teams besides Western.  That’s a fact that coach Jerry Partridge still doesn’t understand to this day.

“I was amazed every time I talked to him that somebody else wasn’t talking to him,” Partridge said. “I thought the 1-AA teams were going to get on him.  I never understood why the MIAA wasn’t recruiting him.”

Despite not being at the top of everyone’s list coming out of high school, Hill doesn’t walk around with a chip on shoulder or use it for motivation. He just takes care of business.

“I really don’t care,” Hill said. “I’m happy that I’m here, and I wouldn’t change it for anything. “

Hill is an all-around back that shows no weaknesses in his game.  He is big, strong, fast, and can do damage on the ground or as a receiver.  Offensive coordinator Tyler Fenwick has noticed the improvement in Hill, even from last season when he led the MIAA in rushing.

“You’ve seen him run away from people this year. I think he’s gotten faster than last year, he’s breaking a lot more longer runs,” Fenwick said.

Fenwick credits Hill’s understanding of the game and work ethic in the film room for a lot of his improvement over his time at Western.

“I think he really understands all the little things about being a running back,” Fenwick said. “Over the years, the more carries he gets, he learns and studies himself on film to make himself better.  He’s just so strong and explosive and just a good kid. He works hard.”

According to Hill, the people around him deserve a lot of credit for getting him into the record books, including being mentored by starter Thomas Hodges during his redshirt freshman season.

“It goes way back to when I was splitting carries with Hodges and him being a great role model for me,” Hill said.  “He did a great job teaching me and helping me out with the plays and stuff.”

One would think that Hill’s success as a Griffon would have him thinking about the next level, but that’s not something that has his focus right now.

“I would love to play after this year, and that’s every player’s dream, but I can’t look ahead at all,” Hill said.  “You can’t afford to let up or be satisfied, especially in week four with seven other games to play.”

Katie Kempf scored two goals, including the game-winner, in the Griffons 2-1 overtime victory against Lindenwood.

Meredith McCormick (4) and Erin Backhuus (5) attempt a block against UCM middle hitter.

K.C. Ramsell tries to score against Northwest Missouri State on Friday, Sept. 21.

Missouri Western suffered a heartbreaking loss in double overtime to rival Northwest Missouri State, 1-0.

The Griffons hosted their conference rival, the Bearcats, for their first MIAA home game of the season on Friday, Sept. 21. Coming off of a win in overtime versus Lindenwood, the team was ready to to face its archrivals and duke it out for bragging rights.

In the entirety of their program history, Western has only beaten Northwest once. Prior to the game, senior goalkeeper Kelly Voigts said this game was more than normal.

“It is our time to change things and we are willing to do, whatever it takes,” Voigts said. “I mean, you want to win every game, but this game has a little something extra.”

Both teams fought relentlessly throughout the game to put themselves on the scoreboard, but neither of them could get the ball to the back of the net. At halftime and the end of regulation, neither team had managed to score.

The teams would play over 100 minutes of scoreless soccer before Northwest’s Elizabeth Walde shot from 12 yards out to end the game in double overtime.

“This is a game we look forward to every year,” coach Chad Edwards said. “It’s heartbreaking, for our seniors especially.”

Western had 5 shots with 4 on goal, while the Northwest had 12 shots with 6 being on goal. Sophomore Katie Kempf managed to get off 2 shots of her own before an injury sidelined her for the remainder of the game. Voigts had 5 saves on the night.

The Griffons come up short in the second overtime to Northwest, losing 1-0. They fall to 3-4 on the season and 1-2 in MIAA conference play.

“This is our archrival. It’s a tough loss; two even teams battling it out,” Edwards said. “We just made a major mistake in the back and it hurts. I think throughout the game, we were just struggling to find ourselves. At times we did, and when we did we were very successful but we have to play for 90 minutes and we just didn’t do that. It’s tough for all of us, we deserve this game just as much as they did. This one is going to sting for a while. But we’ll learn from it and get better and come back next Friday ready to go.”

The girls will face MIAA newcomer Central Oklahoma at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 28 at Spratt Stadium.

Take football for example. They’ve basically been stepping over opponents. At this point last year they were already at a record of 2-2. This year, although no one wants to say it and jinx it, they have a legitimate shot at staying undefeated for quite some time. Yes, our toughest games will be near the end of the regular season, but it’s not crazy to think we could be going into the toughest game of the year at Pittsburg State being 7-0 on the season. Even though we’ve lost some key players to injury, (one that may or may not have been a cheap ass shot) our depth is as solid as any teams. This is the best Western football has looked in a while. This is no doubt the best time to shine if Western wants to prove something. Two players have already been shining bright. Senior defensive end David Bass will be adding onto Western’s all-time sack record for the rest of the season. After this weekend, senior running back Michael Hill will be doing the same with all-time rushing yards. Don’t forget that the Griffons are ranked No. 7 in the nation at the moment. Pittsburg State has the top spot, Washburn is currently sitting in at No. 9 and Northwest Missouri State is in No. 12. Those three teams happen to be three of our last four games. The MIAA being nicknamed the SEC of Division II is no joke.

Although volleyball has hit a rough patch as of lately, there are plenty of things to be happy about looking towards the future. First off, this team is already better at this point in the season than they were last year. They are currently 7-4, when last year they were 5-6. We lost some important players in the off season, but that didn’t seem to push us backwards any. This team is young, explosive, and when playing confident and smart they look like they could beat anybody. The problem is this team is young. Depending how you look at it, it may not be a problem at all. These young bloods, especially the freshman class, have ridiculous offensive potential. It doesn’t matter who is killing it, because they all can do it. No one wants to play a team that has multiple dynamic kill hitters to choose from. There is no one better to lead this young team of hard hitters than Stephanie Hattey, who is quietly climbing up a record board herself. Still early in her junior season, Hattie is already sitting in fourth place as the all time assist leader at Western and will likely move up before the season is over.

So much for Western soccer being picked in the preseason to finish dead last in the conference. This soccer team is doing nothing but proving people wrong. The girls are only one win away from tying their number of wins for all of last season. Currently sitting at 3-3, they look like they are going to keep on getting better. Like volleyball, there is some talented youth on this team. Combine that youth with the veteran players who are hungry for a winning season and this team could ruin some other teams season hopes. Sophomore Katie Kempf, who has four goals on the season already, has been providing the offensive fire power that has lacked in recent years. Senior goalie Kelly Voigts has been the boss she usually is, with 39 saves on the season and assisting in the Griffons two shutout wins. This team cannot be taken lightly and will continue to play with a huge chip on their shoulder.

Missouri Western opening game against Truman State.

Missouri Western fumbled their MIAA opener against Truman State on Friday, Sept. 14 in Kirksville, Mo., but came back just a couple days later with a big win in overtime against Lindenwood on Sunday, Sept. 16 in St. Charles, Mo.

Truman State — 2     Missouri Western — 0

The Griffons opened up MIAA conference play Friday Sept. 14 at Truman State. However, the Bulldogs came out ready to play, with Kelsey Twellman scoring in the fourth minute putting them up 1-0. While the girls played much better in the second half, they never caught back up. Twellman added one more goal off of a free kick making the score 2 to 0. Western would fall to 2-3 this season and 0-1 in MIAA.

Senior goalkeeper Kelly Voigts recorded another nine saves, but the girls were outshot 21-2, with sophomores Katie Kempf and Teddi Serna (off of K.C. Ramsell’s corner kick) recording shots.

“We came out flat and we struggled,” coach Chad Edwards said. “But coming out of halftime, we settled down and played better. I was really proud of our effort in the second half.”

Missouri Western — 2     Lindenwood — 1

With only 13 shots combined between the two teams, the first 25 minutes of Western’s game at Lindenwood wasn’t much of an offensive display. Lindenwood finally got the game going with a forward Bailey Cody-goal at the 27-minunte mark, putting them up 1-0 going into halftime. Senior forward Abby Widrig put the Griffons on the board with a goal of her own at the 53-minute mark. The score would remain tied 1-1 until the end of regulation, sending it into overtime.

“We knew that we were the better team, and if we could score one more goal, then we could walk away as winners,” Forward AJ Powers said. “Coach Edwards always says, ‘Be mentally tough,’ and that’s exactly what we did.”

Just three minutes into overtime, Kempf would put in her fourth goal of the season, ending the game. The Griffons sealed their first MIAA victory over Lindenwood with a final score of 2-1. The team now stands at a record of 3-3 on the season and 1-1 in conference play.

The Griffons outshot the Lions 18-7.

Western comes back on Friday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. at Spratt Stadium to host rival school Northwest Missouri State, which is 3-2-1.

Missouri Western volleyball beats Missouri Southern in last weekends match 5-19, 25-15, 25-20

The weekend was split for Griffons as they beat Missouri Southern State (25-19, 25-15, 25-20) on Sept. 14, and fall to Emporia State (28-26, 25-23, 25-20) they day after.

For playing the Lions, who came in to MWSU Fieldhouse with a record of 0-8, they sure didn’t look win less. It was a tight shootout in the beginning, but once the Griffons made adjustments, the game was more controlled.

The 5-4 Emporia Hornets were a much tougher contest, being a little more athletic than the Lions, and much more experienced. The Hornets game play seemed to mirror much of the Griffons’ style. All three sets easily could have gone either way, but the Hornets unfortunately closed out the Griffons late in the sets.

Coach Cory Frederick still sees youth as a major factor in these match-ups.

“I still thinking they are putting way to much pressure on themselves,” Frederick said. “It’s kind of one of those humps to get over with youth and we’ve got to get past that. We’re still working on it, but it’s getting better.”

Adjustments were needed after the loss to Northwest Missouri State on Sept. 11. There was more emphasis put on the player placement in practices leading up to the weekend, according to freshman Melissa Cairns, who finished the two games with a total of 18 kills.

“We worked on our positional play, like where we’re standing,” Cairns said. “Rather than just working on where we should be, we need to be reading the game more to understand where we have to be.”

Aside from the win against the Lions, the biggest thing to be happy about over the weekend was the outstanding athleticism that came from the freshman class. Between Cairns, Holly Pollock and Jessie Thorup, the three young players combined for 44 of the teams 77 kills over the weekend (22 kills both games). Fans can easily look forward to seeing this class get more comfortable and continue to grow in the future.

“We’re a solid freshman class,” Pollock said. “We all work really hard and it shows on the court, and over the next few years we’ll keep improving.”

A great student crowd, whose yells and cheers may or may not have assisted in the Lions surprisingly high of 14 serving errors, backed the team Friday. The crowd was much more thinned out, with 56 less fans the next night against the Hornets. It was obvious to everyone in attendance that there was pressure put on every Lions player as they served.

“We should get them to come back as often as they can,” Frederick said. “They definitely helped us, that’s for sure.”

On the negative side of the weekend, there was a scary moment when senior Lindsey Williams fell to the floor after an explosive jumpserve that resulted in an ace. She did not return after an apparent knee injury during her serve in the second set against Missouri Southern. There are still tests needing to be done before the team can verify if and when a possible return could be.

It’s always hard to tell with those,” Frederick said. “It could be nothing and we could get her back in a week with some rehab. If it’s a minor tear to some cartilage it could be 10 days, but if you get into some ligament damage it could probably end her career.”

The Griffons return to MWSU Fieldhouse to play Central Missouri at 7 p.m. on Sept 21, then Lindenwood at 1 p.m. on Sept. 22.

Wide Receiver Tyron Crockom runs the football for a touchdown. The Griffons won with a score of 38-14.

Patriotism was in the air as the Missouri Western football team improved its record to 3-0 by defeating Nebraska-Kearney 38-14 on Military Appreciation Night at Spratt Stadium.

“It was a gritty win,” coach Jerry Partridge said. “I think we did some things early to keep them in the ball game, had some penalties and a turnover.”

Travis Partridge made up for an early interception by throwing for a career-high four touchdown passes to four different targets.

“As an offense we have so many weapons,” the quarterback said. “That’s what we expect. Our receiving core is so deep. It’s fun to be me and distribute and watch them work.”

Partridge connected with Reggie Jordan, Michael Hill, Tyron Crockom, and Derek Libby for scores through the air and showed his own versatility by running in a 27-yard touchdown run. He finished the day with 198 passing yards and 78 rushing yards.

Crockom scored his touchdown in spectacular fashion as he caught a short pass on the left side of the field and took the ball all the way across to the right side, turned the corner and out-ran the defense.

“I just let my feet do the work,” Crockum said. “I saw three dudes coming, and I didn’t want to get smacked by them.”

Jordan scored his third touchdown of the season in as many games and has become one of the Griffons go-to guys in the red zone.

“He’s a threat,” coach Partridge said. “He’s a tough match-up for people and catches the ball really well.”

Hill ran for 165 yards on 24 carries for an average of 6.7 yards per carry and caught a short pass that he turned into a 19-yard touchdown.  Hill has rushed for 539 yards in the Griffons three games this season which ranks first in the MIAA and third in the nation.

“I thought he ran the ball really well,” coach Partridge said. “He is the very best back in the MIAA, I believe that. I wouldn’t trade him for anybody.”

The Griffon defense was burned for a 58-yard touchdown run from Tommy Flanagan after calling a blitz on fourth down, which led to the game being close at the half with Western up 14-7.

“We sent the blitz to the weak side and it was an excellent play call by them,” defensive end David Bass said.

The Lopers only other score of the day came on a trick play that ended in a 43-yard touchdown pass after the Griffons already had a commanding lead.

Western’s defense was solid all day, but suffered a huge loss as standout Yomi Alli suffered a serious knee injury that will keep him out of action for the foreseeable future.

Alli is the Griffons season leading tackler with 13 assisted and 10 solo and also grabbed an interception before the knee injury. Coach Partridge is disappointed Alli’s season is going to ge cut short, and the players aren’t too happy, either.

“That’s terrible,” Bass said. “The player that he is with his attitude and the energy he brings to this team, I’m hurt that he’s out.”

Bass recorded his third sack of the season while Ben Pister and Austin Baska were both credited with a half sack. Defensive back Michael Jordan intercepted a deep pass thrown by Eric Kaiser in the second quarter.

The Griffons are off to a 3-0 start for the fourth time under coach Partridge.

“Going 3-0 is definitely a great confidence booster for our program,” Bass said. “It will just allow us to stay hungry and keep getting better week by week.”

The Griffons go on the road for the first time this season on Saturday, Sept. 22, when they travel to Hays, Kan. to face Fort Hays State.

Torey Lyman serving the ball to Northwest in the home opener on Tuesday Sept. 11.

The Griffons lose their first MIAA contest at home to rival Northwest Missouri State (25-16, 19-25, 21-25, 18-25) Sept. 11.

The Griffons came back to St. Joseph hoping to start off conference play with a win, with a hot record of 6-2, the best start they’ve had since the beginning of the 2006 season where they started off 8-2. That great start took a painful turn in the heated rivalry game.

Coach Cory Frederick saw many things that need to be changed and believes the team learned a lot in this loss.

“The biggest thing was the momentum we had in game one was generated by Northwest missing some serves,” Frederick said. “That was a big thing we were talking about in the locker room, finding some ways to generate that on our side without waiting for the other team to make mistakes. It’s just growing pains with having a young team. We’ll get it figured out.”

The Griffons got off to a great start, and owned the first set without any problems.

The second set was a different story, with the two young gun teams fighting hard and staying just a couple points within each other. The momentum changed when a questionable call mid-set eventually overturned in the Bearcats’ favor, putting them up 12-10. This led to a 4-point run that ultimately was too much ground for the Griffons to make up, losing the second and third set in similar fashion. Northwest quickly jumped out to a huge lead on a crushing 13-3 run in the fourth and final set. The Griffons showed signs of life later on bringing themselves back within five, but showed to be too much for the young squad.

The first set charge was led by team leader Stephanie Hattey who had 4 kills, 10 on the night, and found help from the freshman Jessie Thorup, who also had 4 kills in the first set, with 8 on the night. The freshman showed no fear in her first MIAA battle against a rival at MWSU Fieldhouse.

“I was nervous because it was my first home game, and we had a huge crowd,” Thorup said. “I respond well to nerves most of the time. When I’m nervous I usually put that energy into the game instead of my head.”

Hattey noticed some things that occur often with young teams.

“We’re so close to each other that it’s almost a disadvantage,” Hattey said. “We’re so afraid that we are going to make each other mad from saying the wrong thing, and we need get that mentality out. If that goes away then we’ll be fine.”

Brooke Bartosh helped lead the way for Northwest with a great performance. Bartosh had 21 kills on the night, bringing her total to 107 so far in the Bearcats first 9 games.

Hopefully the team can change their MIAA luck this weekend when they play the winless Missouri Southern on Friday, and Emporia State on Saturday.