“They hit some big shots, no question,” coach Tom Smith said. “It’s one of those years. I’m sure you get a little snakebite, and when you’re snakebite, people make those plays on you, and they are making the plays while we aren’t making the plays, and that’s the difference between winning and losing.”

The Griffons came out with a sense of urgency and held the Tigers to 8-for-32 shooting in the first half. Western went into the locker room with a 31-21 lead at the half-time break behind 11 first-half points from freshman guard Reed Mells. Western also held the advantage on the boards, out-rebounding Hays 22-14 in the first half.

“We just want to win. We are going to play high-energy defense, focus on finishing plays, and getting other people involved,” Lavonte Douglas said. “That’s our main focus and something we’ve got to do. We have to keep it up both halves.”

Hays guard Moses Dayee hit two 3-pointers in the first two minutes of the second-half to get it going for the Tigers.

With the Griffons up 43-36, the Tigers went on a 10-0 run over four minutes to grab their first lead of the game at the 10 minute mark in the second half. Hays extended its lead to 46-43 before Douglas tied the game up with a 3-point-play after making a lay-up and drawing the foul.

Dayee hit another 3-point shot with two minutes left to push the Tigers out to a 57-52 lead. Douglas hit a free-throw to make the score 57-53 before James Harris hit a 3-pointer to get the Griffons to within one point with 45 seconds left.

The next trip down the floor, Dayee hit a 3-point dagger from the left corner that sealed up the 62-58 victory for Hays. Missed free-throws hurt the Griffons down the stretch.

“I think it boils down to the free-throws,” Douglas said. “I shot bad from the line tonight, and that’s something I have to get back in my game. Lately I’ve been out there like Dwight Howard.”

Hays shot 25 percent in the first half and heated up in the second, shooting 56 percent. The Griffons have lost 10 of their last 11 games but are holding teams to under 70 points and showing improvement.

“We just got to find a way to get over the hump, and I think when we do that we will be fine,” Mells said. “We just got to keep playing together. The most frustrating part that it’s just one or two little mistakes that ends up losing it for us.”

Douglas, who led all scorers with 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting, pulled down six rebounds and stole the ball two times. Mells added 13 points, including 8-for-8 at the foul line and dished out three assists. Harris went for 13 points and five assists.

The Griffons go on a four-game road trip, starting on Feb. 4 at Southern Missouri. Western has two remaining home games, Feb. 22 and 25 against Central Missouri and Southwest Baptist.

Sport: Women’s Basketball

Year: Senior

Position: Forward

Stats this week: Points — 42; Rebounds — 18; Steals — 5

Koch scored 21 points in both games this past week. Behind Koch’s scoring, Western split both games and improved to a tie at the No. 8 spot in the conference standings. The leading scorer in the MIAA also recorded three blocks to help out on defense.

The senior forward didn’t abandon the Griffons, and when doubt may have surfaced to do so, she stuck it out.

Koch joined a team that lost its 2006-07 MIAA Championship trophy due to playing illegal players. She is the only that remains that was a part of the team that dealt with the controversy of a new head coach, and what had happened the previous season. The Kansas City native tore her ACL that year, thus granting her a fifth season. She has taken advantage of it.

Her quest to be the greatest Griffon scorer of all time could be the result of her decision to not leave Western. Koch, who has been on the team since the 2007-08 season, is just 131 points away from the all-time leader in points scored. With seven games remaining, the charismatic Koch has remained quiet about the record — either because it quietly happened, or because she cares more about the team.

Koch started the season with just less than 550 points to score in order to receive the record. With a record that averages out to about 19 points per game, it is definitely within reach.

Koch averages 23.2 points per game, which happens to be seven points higher than any other player in the MIAA. She is arguably the player of the year in the conference so far.

Some players that can help Koch achieve this mark include center Brittany Griswold (though she is currently out with a foot injury), guard Alicia Bell and fellow senior Ashleigh Curry. Curry has only played in four games this season, but the speedster currently is the second-scorer on the team since playing and makes shots behind the arc that take away some attention from Koch.

Koch is also helped by playing six 40-minute games this year, and against Southwest Baptist on Jan. 17 she played a 43-minute game.

Whether Koch achieves the feat or not, the final stretch of a glorious career is upon Western. With just two more home games to play at MWSU Fieldhouse, and both at the end of February, Koch may break the record where her career started. And if she happens to come up two points short, she can blame the game clock, as a 60-foot shot dropped in the basket right before halftime Monday night against Fort Hays State, but her hand was on the ball a half-second too long, negating an otherwise improbable 3-pointer.

In doing so, they shot 59 percent from the field as Western defeated Fort Hays State 90-78 Monday night at MWSU Fieldhouse.

Western had been on a five game losing streak after it pulled three straight wins to open the new year. However, with two players — Ashleigh Curry and CC Bozeman — coming off of a team suspension, the Griffons looked out of sync the past week. That all changed Monday.

After going into halftime down 33-32, the Griffons forced four straight Tiger turnovers, three of which turned into points for the home team. Senior Jessica Koch said that it was a team effort that she could only explain occurred because the team fought the whole game.

“The past two games, we played great against two great teams,” Koch said. “We knew that eventually we weren’t going to just get close, we were going to start winning, especially with Ashleigh and CC, that’s just going to take us over the top.”

Koch stressed that in the MIAA, her team knows that if they make a late run, they have a shot at winning more than just one game.

Coming into Monday, Western currently sat as the first team out of the MIAA tournament seeding, sitting at the No. 9 seed. In order to go to Kansas City in March, the Griffons need to place in the top eight. With four wins in the conference, their chances of making it have shot up dramatically.

“Subconsciously, the fact that we were competitive with the top teams should have given us some confidence,” coach Lynn Plett said. “Just because we did this tonight doesn’t mean we’re going to do this the next night. But hopefully we gained the confidence of the last three ball games and carry it on.”

Monday, the Griffons showed that and more.

Reserves players Brittany Casady and Emily Romdenne didn’t miss a shot (combined 4-for-4) and the Griffons shot 40 percent from the 3-point line. Along with a defense that bothered the Tigers all game, Western improved its place to a tie at No. 8 with Southwest Baptist.

“Our goal all along has been to get everything together and start clicking,” Plett said.

Plett pointed to Koch and Curry’s speed as a reason to transition buckets. He also said Kallie Schoonover and Alex Noble had more confidence which resulted in buckets.

Curry came back from the suspension and attacked the hoop, just as she had played before. The star senior, who suited up for just the fourth time this season, came off the bench with just over 15 minutes to play and immediately showed her quickness.

The skill guard totalled a team-high 24 points and went 8-for-13 from the field.

“The team came together and we dominated,” Curry said. “We can surprise a lot of teams with the tempo we had tonight.”

The Griffons do not play another home game until Feb. 22 when they take on Central Missouri. Until that date, Western plays five-straight road games.

With that in mind, the Griffons made a statement the fans will remember until they step back on the court for their next home meeting.

Center Brittany Griswold missed her second-straight game with a foot injury and could be out for a couple more weeks.

With 1:36 left on the clock and down 56-55, Western forced guard Will McNeill to shoot a long-distance 3-pointer with the shot clock expiring. McNeill buried the shot and closed the door on the Griffon’s chances for a win.

“When he hit the 3 was the biggest play of the game,” coach Tom Smith said. “We did a great job, we were sound defensively, forced him into taking the bad shot and he hits it. Good players make good plays, and that’s basically what we ran into.”

McNeill scored a game-high 26 points and hit 13-for-16 from the free-throw line. For the Griffons, it was freshman Reed Mells who led the way with a career-high 17 points and hit five 3-pointers. Mells was in the starting line-up for the second straight game with senior guard Deionta Mitchell sidelined with an injury.

“Deionta is a big part of our team, and he’s the heart and sole of the back-court,” Mells said. “When he went down, somebody had to step up and coach Smith called my number, so I didn’t want to disappoint him, my teammates or the Missouri Western family.”

Senior big man Lavonte Douglas scored 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting, pulled down nine rebounds and blocked a shot.

The Griffons two leading scorers on the season are T.J Johnson and James Harris, but Washburn was able to contain both players. Johnson scored nine points on 3-for-5 shooting before fouling out with five minutes to play, while Harris struggled to find his jump shot against the zone defense, going 1-for-10 from the field for four points.  The Griffons were unable to hit the shots in the second half, going 8-for-24, and connected on just 6-for-22 from 3-point distance for the game.

“If our guys were on, it wouldn’t have been a close game,” Douglas said. “They made up and played solid defense for them being off on offense, so I appreciate the effort with everyone staying together.”

The Griffons gave up 18 offensive rebounds to their 11, and were called for 29 fouls compared to Washburn’s 15. The Western fans didn’t like the officiating and a chant of ‘awful’ broke out late in the game.

Western has fallen to 7-12 overall and 2-11 in MIAA conference play after losing nine of it’s last ten games. Smith said that you can be miserable during a losing season, but he’s not because of the collective attitude of the team.

“I’ve had successful teams over my years that I haven’t liked more than this group,” Smtih said. “I feel bad because as a coach I cannot complain ever about what they have given to me every day.”

Sport: Women’s Basketball

Year: Senior

Position: Forward

Stats this week: Points — 43; Rebounds — 13; Steals — 7

Koch played 4o minutes for the fourth time this season in Western’s one-point victory over Truman State. Koch, who leads the MIAA in points per game (21.5) also recovered five steals in the win. She followed up that performance with a 29-point night on the road against Central Missouri.

The Griffons will travel to Bolivar to play Southwest Baptist on Jan. 17. The Bearcats are 10-6 overall and 3-6 in MIAA conference play. After dropping five straight to start league play, Southwest Baptist got things turned around winning four out of it’s last five including quality wins against Fort Hays State and Washburn.

The Bearcats were beat by 23 points against Northwest Missouri State in Maryville the last time out. The Griffons will look to stop the four players that score in double-figures for Southwest Baptist. 5-11 senior guard Ryan Dogherty leads the team in scoring at 14.5 points per game and is shooting 44% from the field. Guard Preston Guiot is scoring 13.3 points per game while guard Kyle Sloan is scoring 13.2. 6-6 225 Robson Memnon is scoring 11.4 points per game and pulling down 7.4 rebounds while shooting 58% from the field on the season. The Griffons will look to stop Memnon inside with big men Lavonte Douglas and Justin Reid.

On Jan. 21 the Griffons will come back to St. Joseph to play Pittsburg State in the MWSU Fieldhouse. The Gorillas record is 10-6 and 6-4 in conference play.

Western and Pitt. State played in Pittsburg on Nov. 30 and the Gorillas came away for a 77-71 victory in a hard fought game. Pitt State was led by 17 points from JaVon McGee, Drake Green, and Eric Ray. Andra also added 10 points and 11 rebounds. The Griffons had four players in double-figures in the game and the Gorillas defense is giving up the most points in the MIAA at 72 per game. The Griffons will have to keep the Gorillas off of the boards as they were out-rebounded by 20 as a team in the last meeting.

Western scored a season-low 48 points in the last contest at Central Missouri and will need to find some offense. T.J. Johnson leads the team in scoring with 13.9 points per game, James Harris scores 11.9, and Lavonte Douglas adds 11.6 and seven rebounds.

The senior, who hasn’t played in four-and-a-half seasons, came off the bench and scored 25 points, but Missouri Western fell to Central Missouri 72-67.

The five-point loss isn’t too bad as of now for the Griffons. Coming up this week, if they can play the way they have to start the 2012 season, Western (5-9, 3-6) may start a new winning streak, and take down a No. 1 team in the process.

Tuesday, the Griffons hit the road for the second-straight game and take on Southwest Baptist.

The Bearcats (5-9, 1-8) are currently placed at No. 10 in the MIAA. They are the only team the Griffons have not played yet in the conference. It’s a winnable game, and the team knows this. In their games against Northwest Missouri State, Lincoln and Truman State, the exact same situation occurred. Western knew they were the favorites in each game and pulled a win in all three.

There are two differences in this game – this one is on the road. The Griffons are 2-6 on the road and haven’t won an MIAA road game yet. If Western, who started off slow against Central, can start out quick and knock down shots early, the Griffons should pull the win out.

The other difference — Curry is back. She could possibly be the best player in the conference. If she isn’t, perhaps her teammate Jessica Koch is. With both playing, the Griffons are excited about their chances of winning the rest of the season.

Saturday afternoon Western returns home and plays Pittsburg State, top team in the MIAA.

These two teams met Nov. 30, and it wasn’t close. The problem with the first game wasn’t a slow start, but a bad finish. Western was only down by 11 at the half. Leading MIAA scorer Jessica Koch ended the game with 24 points, and now with another scorer — Curry — either, possibly both, can put down 20-a-night.

Alicia Bell, who has been a hustler around the basket, especially on the offensive end as the guard has 47 offensive boards, and Center Brittany Griswold also provide quality help for Koch and Curry.

Pittsburg’s (15-1, 9-1) only loss was home against No. 2 Washburn. Pittsburg leads the MIAA in scoring, but also play tough defense as it is also the leader in blocked shots. Western, who have been better on offense since the calendar year starter, needs to score, hit 3s and not turn the ball over in order to keep the game tight so it can win the game.

“I thought defensively we weren’t too bad,” coach Tom Smith said. “You give up 64 points at home and you have a chance to win most games. Northwest did a good job and they are good defensively, but we didn’t shoot it very well.”

James Harris hit a jumper to put the Griffons up 2-0 but the next five minutes was all Bearcats as DeShaun Cooper and Kyle Haake couldn’t miss from deep and put Northwest up 14-2.

“We have to play better defense to start the game off,” guard Reed Mells said. “We just have to hold teams until we can pick it up on the offensive end.”

Mells and Alex Tuluka-Mfumupembe came off the bench and each hit a 3-pointer to get some offense going for the Griffons. Western cut into the lead with buckets from big men Lavonte Douglas and Justin Reid before Mells hit another 3-pointer on an assist from T.J. Johnson that cut the Bearcats lead to 23-22. Haake answered with a 3-pointer to give Northwest a 26-22 lead at the half.

Western fell down 32-41 in the second half before consecutive shots from 3-point range by Tuluka-Mfumupembe, Harris, and Johnson cut the Bearcats lead to 41-45. The two teams traded baskets and the score was 50-45 with seven minutes remaining.

Cooper hit five straight points off of consecutive Griffon misses and hit four free-throws in the final minutes to seal the game for Northwest.

“They are much more experienced than we are,” Smith said. “They have five or six kids that have been through the league three years now, and I think that showed tonight.”

The Griffons were unable to stop the scoring of Haake and Cooper who led the Bearcats with 21 and 22 points. The two shot a combined 12-for-19 from the field and 5-for-8 from 3-point distance.

Tuluka-Mfumupembe led the Griffons in scoring with 12 points, going 4-for-5 from beyond the 3-point line. Mells added 10 points including 2-for-3 from 3point range.

The Griffons shot 18-for-53 from the field and were beat on the boards, getting out-rebounded 35-23. The starting five shot a combined 10-for-38 including the three leading scorers Harris, Johnson and Douglas shot a combined 5-for-25 from the field.

“Our key kids have got to step up and play,” Smith said. “We’re not going to be able to survive when they don’t give us more offensive production.”

The Griffons were unable to find offense at the MWSU Fieldhouse over the break, dropping games against Lincoln and Truman State.

“Last year I would have said we are getting exactly what we deserve,” coach Tom Smith said after the loss against Truman State. “This team really isn’t. They work hard and they are good kids that do what I ask them to do. Unfortunately I think we are practicing better and harder than we are playing right now.”

Western fell to 2-10 Lincoln 66-63 on Jan. 7 in the Blue Tigers first ever victory at the MWSU Fieldhouse.

“It’s probably the most disappointing loss that I have had here in 24 years,” Smith said.

The Griffons held an 11 point lead at the halftime break, but saw the lead erased with a 15-5 run in the second half that gave Lincoln its first lead of the game at 51-50 with nine minutes to play.

The teams went back-and-forth for the rest of the game and T.J. Johnson forced a steal and tied the game at 58 with with 1:15 remaining.

James Harris drove into the lane and was called for a questionable call charge that set up the winning possession for Lincoln.

“He was inside the circle definitely, that’s why I pulled up,” Harris said. “It’s real frustrating. They played harder than us for the last ten minutes.”

Lincoln forward James Edmond nailed the game winning 3-point shot from the corner with 2 seconds remaining and then a final attempt from Johnson fell short.

“We got back on our heels and started reacting. When you start reacting, you are going to get beat,” Smith said.

Johnson scored a career-high 23 points and was the only player who scored in double figures against Lincoln.

“We didn’t execute at the end of the game,” Johnson said. “We had a chance to win, we were up 11, we just let up and threw the game away.”

The Griffons dropped another close with an 87-86 overtime loss against 5-11 Truman State on Jan. 14 at MWSU Fieldhouse.

“It’s tough as a team,” said Harris. “I know the coaching staff is frustrated and the players are frustrated. We just have to learn how to execute games at the end in the last five minutes and overtimes.”

Harris hit a 3-point shot that tied the game at the end of regulation after the Griffons overcame a seven-point Truman lead with six minutes to play.

Western got out to a four-point-lead to start overtime but Truman went on an 8-0 run to make it a 85-81 game with 20 seconds left.

Harris hit another basket from deep to cut the lead to one, but there wasn’t enough time remaining as Truman went to the line and missed the free throws and time expired.

Johnson led the Griffons in scoring with 22 and added 10 rebounds while Harris scored 21. Lavonte Douglas added 19 points and eight rebounds.

Western extended its losing streak to six games after being defeated by Central Missouri 64-48 on Jan. 14 in Warrensburg. The Griffons will try and get back to winning on Jan. 17 when it travels to Bolivar to play Southwest Baptist.

But it was Alex Noble’s layup and Alicia Bell’s free throws that gave Missouri Western its third straight win, as the Griffons defeated Truman State 65-64 Wednesday night at MWSU Fieldhouse.

The win itself shouldn’t come as a big surprise, as the Bulldogs and Griffons are tied for sixth in the conference with six more weeks to play. But the way the Griffons struggled in the first half compared to the second half definitely saw a change, and the role players proved to be the difference.

“It was so fun having the whole team together and complete something that we wanted to do,” Koch said. “We all wanted to beat that team. We all wanted to play well. We came together and we did it.”

The role players came through when Western needed them to most. Down 60-59 with less than one minute to play, Koch went up for a 3-pointer, only to see the ball dribble around the hoop and bounce out. That’s when Noble jumped up to take the offensive rebound, and scored a quick two-point bucket to give Western its first lead of the game.

Bell went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line in the final 25 seconds, and Kallie Schoonover wrestled away a defensive rebound to give the ball back to the Griffons and maintain the lead.

“We’ve fought back before but we haven’t successfully fought back,” Western coach Lynn Plett said. “I think Truman has really improved. I thought they played really well tonight and for us to beat them was huge for us.”

Western (5-8, 3-5) found itself in a hole early. With Griswold the only offense early, Truman (8-5, 3-5) took advantage. Its tight defense countered with an electrifying offense that scored 29 points in the first nine minutes. Western, down by its biggest margin of the night — 16,  found a little offense after that as Truman took a 41-32 lead into the half.

“We didn’t come out very strong,” said Griswold, who had a game-high 23 points. “We couldn’t let them get a huge lead that we couldn’t come back. I guess that was the drive for me to keep going, that I’m not going to give up on this.”

The Bulldogs never added to its lead, instead went back-and-fourth with a hungry Griffons team that wanted to make a statement at home.

Truman packed on a few buckets to take a 51-44 advantage, but Alex Saxen nailed a 3-pointer to cut the Bulldogs lead from seven to four. Becka McHenry, who led her team with 18 points, matched Saxen’s 3. But the Griffons didn’t let the deficit affect them.

Another reserve, Brittany Casady, put in a 3 to again cut Truman’s lead down to four. Both teams matched five points apiece as the game locked at 59-54 with 6 minutes and 45 seconds to play.

“There was a time where there was a stalemate,” Koch said. “They were playing just as tough of defense as we were.”

Koch was the answer. After a drought of more than three minutes in which neither team scored, Koch threw up a contested 3 that swished through the net, marking the score at 59-57. Less than two minutes later, Griswold joined her teammate as she put in a left-handed two-pointer that tied the game.

After Nicole Gloor made one-of-two free throws, Koch shot another 3 that bricked off the rim, when Noble — a senior — took the rebound and scored to give her team the lead.

“This whole year, even before the new year, we were such a hard working team,” Koch said. “I think finally we’re just starting to play together and it’s starting to show.”

Western’s defense didn’t allow a field goal from from the 6:45 mark until McHenry put in a two-pointer with 13 seconds to play to cut Western’s 63-60 lead down to one. But Bell knocked down both her free throws and McHenry fouled out, leaving Truman without its biggest offensive threat.

The Bullodogs missed on a 3 to tie, and Breanna Daniels made a layup at the buzzer to end the game 65-64 to give Western the win.

Griswold led the Griffons in scoring with 17 points and Koch was second with 12 as they secured their first MIAA win this season in their 62-51 victory against rival Northwest Missouri State at the MWSU Fieldhouse.

Koch, who up until Wednesday night had played three-straight 40-minute games, has been the only Western threat on the offensive side of the ball. Needing help, Griswold — a junior transfer — stepped in for the Griffons.

“We saw their heads falling and we took advantage of it,” Griswold said. “We took that high and that adrenaline rush that we had, and we just started pushing it up the court.”

Griffons coach Lynn Plett referred to himself as a “crazy coach” because he doesn’t limit his players from shooting the ball. Griswold was a prime example of that. The junior shot the ball 18 times, including nine 3s. Even when she went 1-for-7 from the 3-point line in the first half, Griswold kept shooting. She made both her 3s in the second half, one which was in the midst of a 19-3 run to start the half.

“Cory [O'Dell] and I talked about it before the game,” Plett said. “One of these teams is going to go out feeling a whole lot better and the other is going to have to wait for another day. Fortunately that wasn’t us.”

Western (3-8, 1-5) only trailed the game when Northwest led 2-0. Koch and Alicia Bell quickly turned the advantage in the Griffons favor when the duo went on an 11-2 run, all points scored by the team’s leaders.

Western came out in the second half leading 34-26, but the intense play favored the Griffons as they halted the Bearcats, who only scored one field goal in the first 13 minutes of the second half. Western jumped out to its biggest lead, 53-29 before Northwest could start much on offense.

“When you’re going up against your rival, the records really don’t matter,” said Koch, who had a game-high 12 rebounds. “It was a clean slate, 2012, and we’re ready to be a new team.”

The rivalry between the two teams continued on the court just as it had in years past. With both teams desperately in need of an MIAA win, the physical matchup was shown throughout the night. Plett said it wasn’t a must-win game, but they wanted it. Northwest coach Gene Steinmeyer, whose team made it to the Elite 8 last year in the NCAA Division II National Championship, told the Saint Joseph News-Press that Plett did a good job of preparing his team.

“I didn’t have the team ready to go,” Steinmeyer said. “Lynn did. I didn’t, bottom line. Put the credit where it belongs; put the blame where it belongs.”

Freshman Stacey Mgbike stepped off the bench and made her biggest contribution to the team so far this season. Mgbike tallied nine rebounds in 16 minutes, the most action she has seen all year. Plett said he went with Mgbike more because he wanted to counter some of the Bearcats strength.

“Stacey, I thought, did a good job,” said Plett, who also mentioned Alex Saxen and CC Bozeman as players off the bench who stepped up. “It’s always nice to get some support help.”

Saxen, who scored 14 points in the loss to Nebraska-Omaha, went 2-for-6 from the field with nine points. Bell scored 10 points and led her team in assists with 5.

The 2010 tennis season is well behind coach Ron Selkirk and his team. The season is over; done; finished. The 2011 season has started and there could not be better news surrounding the tennis team.

Last year, finishing with a record of 0-7 in the conference and 3-15 overall, Western did not look anywhere near a team ready for the MIAA tournament. They drew the number one seed, Northwest Missouri, and was ousted 5-0.

In just the first two weeks of competition for the 2011 season, Western has won two games, just one less than the total of last season, and already looks more competitive. This is definitely something coach Selkirk can build on.

“We’re doing pretty good,” Selkirk said. “I would have liked to have been (undefeated), but they’re things to build on.”

Western defeated Lincoln (Mo.) on Feb. 25, a team they lost to 8-1 a year ago. Not only did Western get payback against Lincoln, but they also took care of Morningside 7-2, a team that they defeated last year.

Senior Mindy Buschbom, who is planning on majoring in physical education, knows this is her last year and is ready for the rest of the season.

“I want to win more games,” Buschbom said. “For me personally I want to win more singles and doubles.”

Buschbom did not play on the team last year but will be looked at as a leader for her final season. She was not eligible to play last year becaue of credit hours. Being back on the team is great for Western because she will add to the team.

“I like everyone; we all get along,” Buschbom said. “We are all like the same person. As for the coach, he is a great coach. He’s always getting us feed back on what to do.”

Western has a favorable schedule early on. They already defeated two of the four teams they played. They lost 7-2 to Johnson County Community College, a team that finished 4-11 in the regular season last year before making a run for the Region 6 title, taking second. Now they play Emporia State, who finished 6th in the conference last season, and Baker University.

The schedule gets tougher in the middle of the year, as Western has to travel to Iowa to play Graceland University, go to Maryville to play last years regular season conference champions Northwest and also go to Topeka to play the defending conference tournament champions Washburn University.

“Playing the conference as a whole, it’s tough; there are some good teams so good competition,” Selkirk said.

Western has four freshman who were not part of last years dismal season. This includes Erin Ward, Sophia Robertson, Katherine Guinn and Katie Field. Continuing down the roster, Western has the only sophomore on the team, Nicole Kerr and junior Alecia Jenkins. Western has two seniors, the aforementioned Buschbom and Sarah Hatten, a public relations major who transferred to the team after attending the University of Oregon.

Last season, Selkirk talked great about how well Hatten played during her single’s matches. If she can continue donig that this season, she will help Western get more wins.

According to the MIAA website, the women’s tennis division did not have one team finish in the regional rankings last year. However, Selkirk thinks there is great competition for his team this year.

“We beat Lincoln so we’re already 1-0,” Selkirk said. “That is a good thing; getting the monkey off our back because we finally won a conference game.”

Look for Western to rebound from a poor 2010 season and gain great experience from a young team in 2011. With leadership from both Buschbom and Hatten, as well as quailty play, Western is capable of upsetting some teams. If they can do that then the 2011 season will be much more enduring and easier to manage than the year before.

“It’s just such a hard sport that you can’t ever perfect it,” Feist said. “I mean, you can go undefeated in basketball for a season, but you’ll never win every single tournament you play. Tiger’s probably the best that’s ever lived, and he wins maybe 50 percent of the tournaments he plays in. it’s just something that you’ll never perfect. You’re always faced with really tough shots on the course. The reward to actually hitting the shot how you’re trying to hit it, and the result ending up good.”

Last summer, after being diagnosed with testicular cancer, Feist had to take a nine month break from golf. He’s now preparing for his first season back, after receiving a medical red shirt last season. The NCAA allows players with injuries and illnesses to sit out a season with the red shirt distinction.

“I took a lot of time off,” Feist said. “I stopped playing at the beginning of August for the first surgery and I didn’t really play until the following May. I’d never taken that much time off from golf. Ever.”

In June 2009, Feist began to suffer from unexplained back pain.

“I went to the chiropractor like five different times in two weeks, and it didn’t help at all,” Feist said. “It was really bad pain, the worst I’ve ever had before. Other than that, I completely felt fine.”

Feist knew that the back pain was linked to something more serious; a couple of weeks earlier, he had found a lump in one of his testicles.

“I had kind of looked up on the internet after I found the lump, and was like ‘uh-oh,’” Feist said. “But at the same time, I’m like ‘No, that can’t be it.’ Being 21, you don’t really think you’re going to have cancer.”

Feist knew, however, what his eventual diagnosis would be. All of his internet research pointed him to cancer.

“It was kind of a surprised to think that that’s what it could be,” he said.

After being diagnosed on July 22, 2009, Feist went through months of treatment. His first surgery, on Aug. 3, removed the effected testicle. This operation is called an orchiectomy. After the surgery, he went through 12 weeks of chemotherapy. Following the chemotherapy, effected lymph nodes were still found in his belly and aorta. His doctors were not sure how to handle his treatment.

“I was not a by-the-book case,” Feist said. “They originally sent us home, thinking I was going to start another two cycles of chemotherapy.”

Feist’s doctors contacted Lawrence Einhorn of the University of Indiana, a prominent specialist in the testicular cancer field.

“He is one of the doctors that treated Lance Armstrong,” Feist said. “He’s like the specialist in the United States about this cancer.”

Einhorn suggested that Feist’s doctors wait before performing any surgery. The wait might allow the lymph nodes to die off on their own. Feist’s doctors waited two weeks before operating. During eight hours of surgery, they removed 40 lymph nodes from Feist’s abdomen. They were all dead. The lymph node in the aorta was left.

“The lymph node in my aorta is in such a tricky place to get to, that they didn’t take it out,” Feist said.

At Feist’s most recent check-up his doctor labeled him as “cured.” This is obviously great news to the golfer, who is more than ready to start the new season. He has been playing as much as possible since treatment, and feels he is now in the same shape he was before the cancer. Feist has worked hard to redevelop his skills.

“I lost a lot of weight: a little bit through chemo and most of it through my second surgery,” he said. “Just the effects from that and rebuilding your muscles. It was weird to swing a golf club; you almost lost muscle memory. It took a while to get it back. But now there’s not any difference than what it used to be.”

While he is physically the same as he was before treatment, he does feel that some things have changed.

“Nothing like this had ever hit my family; never really had any disease or anything like that,” Feist said. “No heart attacks, nothing. I’d never dealt with it before. I guess I’m kind of more aware of things like that. I think I’m better prepared to handle it.”

Feist also has a different outlook on life off the golf course.

“You kind of realize you have to take your opportunities when you can get them,” he said. “If you have an opportunity to go on a trip that’s kind of once in a lifetime, you better figure out a way to do it. If I have the opportunity to do something that’s not ‘everyday,’ then I try to do it.”

Testicular cancer is most prevalent in males between the ages of 18 and 34. Feist wishes to spread the education that he does not feel he had on the topic.

“I was kind of mad because I wasn’t really educated,” he said. Even though you have physicals every two years for sports, like in high school, I was never really told. I didn’t know what they were looking for, you know?”

Feist especially wishes to get the word out to his fellow athletes.

“They’re so stubborn,” he said. “Recognize things that could be harmful. Pain that’s not caused by something is not normal. Obviously if you hit your knee on somebody else’s knee at basketball practice, you obviously know where that came from. My back pain came out of nowhere. It’s just not normal. Don’t be so stubborn.”

“You need to protect your home court,” coach Tom Smith said. “I think that’s the thing that hurts us the most about this game,”

With 22 seconds remaining, the Hornets took a 58-57 lead on a 3 pointer by Chris Sights that put them ahead for the first time since two minutes into the second half.

“Every game that we are going to be in is going to be close and tough,” Dylan Frantz said. “We have 18 games to go and we can only get better.”

Lavonte Douglas missed on a layup attempt in the final seconds of the game after coach Tom Smith took a timeout to draw up a final play and the Griffons were forced to foul.

The Hornets made 1-of-2 from the stripe to push the lead to two with two seconds left. The Griffons were forced to throw a full court pass that was tipped out of bounds off of Emporia leaving only .7 seconds left on the clock. Frantz in-bounded the ball to James Harris, who was forced to throw up prayer from three point land that bounced off the rim.

“We couldn’t have got a better possession,” Smith said. “We just didn’t convert and that’s the difference between winners and losers. This is a tough loss for us.”

Despite shooting only 9-for-28 from the field and 5-13 from three point range in the first half, the Griffons only found themselves down by a point at the break. The shooting for Western improved in the second half as they shot 11-for-25 and 3-for-4 from 3 point distance.

“This team is struggling offensively,” Smith said. “I think our defense held us in there.”

Harris was the Griffons leading scorer with 17 points on 6-for-15 shooting and 3-for-6 from down town and had three assists.

Justin Reid had a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds and also showed his defensive presence by blocked four shots.

Douglas went for 11 points and also grabbed six rebounds and had three assists.

Freshman Reed Mells contributed off the bench with three 3′s for nine points in 17 minutes of playing time.

The Hornets held an edge in the paint, outscoring the Griffons 30-14 down low.

“We have to get tougher about things,” Smith said. “We are missing too many shots inside. There were three times where we had point blank shots and came out with nothing and that hurts you when that happens.”

Western shot 9-17 at the free throw line including three misses in the last two minutes of the game.

“We just got to finish,” Harris said. “We have to make free throws. Free throws win games and that’s what it is.”

The Griffons were without senior T.J. Johnson who was out with a high ankle sprain. Johnson is averaging 13.4 points per game on the season.

“He’s a real big key,” Harris said. “We are missing him on floor but we can’t look for an excuse.”

The Griffons have one priority they must fix this month, and that is scoring. Coach Lynn Plett hasn’t figured it out yet, but if the Griffons can start shooting a higher percentage, they will likely win more games.

Jessica Koch leads the conference in points score per-game with just over 21. Outside of her though, the Griffons haven’t had much success, especially from the 3-point-line.

Western has shot 34 percent and are averaging 58 points-per-game. The biggest reason to Western’s slow start isn’t coaching, and it isn’t the players on the court. Arguably the best MIAA player — Asheligh Curry — has yet to suit up for the Griffons. Curry, who played for Livin’ the Dream while she did not attend Western, has not been able to play as the NCAA has not made a decision on when she will be able to use her eligibility. It’s highly likely the guard won’t play until next semester, so the Griffons might not see her for a while.

Curry will up the scoring by plenty if she plays the way she did when she last played for Western, back in the 2006-07 season. Until then, Western has to find scoring outside its senior Forward, Koch.

First game up for the Griffons — Fort Hays State. Hays is undefeated as of Tuesday night and may in fact stay undefeated when the two teams play Dec. 10.

A week later Western plays Washburn on the road. Western has a two-week break before it plays on New Years Eve against former MIAA team Nebraska-Omaha.

Flipping the calender to the next year, Western has three straight home games — Northwest Missouri State, Lincoln and Truman State. Northwest is always a fun game, while Truman sits at 6-1 as of now. Lincoln has one of the better defenses in the MIAA, behind guards Arriana Walker and Cierra Emerson. Western’s defense looks good enough to keep the Griffons in each game, but just like any other collegiate team, they must score baskets in order to win.

The Griffons will play host to No. 1 Missouri Southern on Dec. 7 at the MWSU field house. Southern is 9-0 on the season and 2-0 in MIAA play. The Griffons will have to find a way to match up with the size of the Lions who are led by Keane Thomann, a 6’11”, 270 pound senior who is averaging 22.7 points and 7.2 rebounds per-game and shooting 73 percent from the field. Keane is coming off a career high of 32 points. Athletic swing-man Jason Adams is averaging 21.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game. 6’5” sophomore Jordan Talbert is averaging 16 points and seven rebounds for the Lions. Southern is ranked No. 1 for the first time since the school turned Division II in 1989.

On Dec. 10 the Griffons will travel to Hays, Kan., to take on No. 10 ranked Fort Hays State University. The Tigers have a 7-0 record, are 1-0 in conference play and are led by a trio of guards. 6’3” Karron McKenzie leads the team in scoring at 16.3 points-per-game and also is pulling down 6.3 rebounds per game. 6’1” Tyrone Phillip is getting 14.4 points-per-game, and speedy 5’8” Kendrick Morse is getting 11.3 points per game. Big man 6’7” Matt Simmons leads the Tigers in rebounds with 11.3 per game on the season. Hays defeated Lincoln 78-65 in it’s first MIAA game.

On Dec. 17 Western will travel to Topeka, Kan., to take on the Washburn Ichabods. Washburn has a 5-3 record on the season and 0-1 in conference play, dropping its last game to Northwest Missouri State University 65-59. The Ichabods are led in scoring by Will McNeil at 16.5 points-per-game. 6’1” McNeil also grabs six rebounds per game from the guard position. Guard Martin Mitchell is second on the team in scoring at 12.3 points-per-game.

The Griffons are led in scoring by T.J. Johnson and Lavonte Douglas, both at 13.4 points per game. Douglas also pulls down 6.8 rebounds per game while Justin Reid leads the team in boards at 7.5 per game. James Harris is getting 12.9 points per game for Western in his first season after transferring from South Suburban JUCO. Western is averaging 67.9 points-per-game on the season.

“We knew what we had to do tonight, and they came out and did it, so it was enjoyable,” coach Tom Smith said. “Tonight we showed we can win.”

The Griffons improve to 6-3 on the season and 1-2 in MIAA play while Southern falls to 9-1 and 2-1 in conference play.

Western connected on 11-14 from 3 point territory and took control from the very beginning. The only lead Southern held was 2-0 and it was quickly erased as the Griffons got out to a 7-2 lead after James Harris hit a 3. The Griffons have struggled at the beginning of games at times this season, but there was no lack of intensity right from the start tonight.

“You got the number one team in the country coming in, so you got to be fired up about that game,” Deionta Mitchell said. “All day the team has been fired up.”

Harris lead all scorers with 26 points and added seven assists and four rebounds. Harris hit 5-for-6 from down town.

“It was just my night really,” Harris said. “They kept coming to me, and I was knocking the shots down.”

Deionta Mitchell matched his career high of 14 points by shooting 4-for-6 from the field and 3-for-4 from long range, including two 3s in a row when it appeared Southern was ready to make a run, down 41-31. Mitchell pushed the Griffon lead up to 47-31.

“Tonight was probably the biggest win I have ever been a part of,” Mitchell said. “Coach let us know tonight if we played as hard as we could for 40 minutes we were going to win.”

Freshman Reed Mells shot 3-for-4, including 2-for-3 from 3 point distance. Mells went for a career high 10 points after scoring nine against Emporia State University last game.

Lavonte Douglas added nine points and six rebounds while Justin Reid showed off his hook shot, scoring six points. Those two, combined with Shawn Tarver, provided tough interior defense.

Southern leading scorer, 6-11 270 pound Keane Thomann, finished with 22 points but didn’t get his first points until he hit two free throws with the Griffon lead already at 21-6.

“He got himself going late,” Smith said. “He just wears at you is the problem you have with him because he is so strong and so big.”

Western utilized team defense in holding Southern to 28-for-67 shooting.

“It’s a family piece,” Harris said. “We are pushing to be one of the best defensive teams in the conference.”

The Griffons will look to knock off another ranked team on Saturday when they travel to Hays, Kan., to face No. 10 Fort Hays State.

With a little more than eight minutes to play in the game and with Missouri Western up by two, the defenseive lineman gave his team the final score.

The Bearcats defeated the Griffons 35-29 Saturday at Spratt Stadium and now take on Midwestern State this Saturday in Wichita Falls, Texas.

“I’ve never scored a touchdown before in my life playing football,” Longacre said. “And I saw that football, and we were down, and I picked it up and ran as fast as I could and made sure that ball was not going to come out so we could get that score. It was big.”

Just after Todd Adolf missed a 26-yard field goal attempt, and the Griffons crowd erupted into a roar, the Bearcats snatched back momentum on the very next play.

Travis Partridge took the low snap, which was supposed to be a design run, and tried to make a play out of it. That’s when the Bearcats D-Line took their second opportunity at a turnover and jumped on him. Just as the ball squirted out, Longacre picked it up and saw nothing in front of him but the end zone.

With 8:01 to play in the game, Northwest took its first lead of the game.

“The effort that we gave today — to have a first quarter like we had and not quit — we were resilient for three hours,” said Bearcats coach Adam Dorrel, who is in his first year at the helm. “I thought our defense was just phenomenal today.”

Western jumped out to a quick 16-0 lead before anybody could blink. The first play of the game saw quarterback Trevor Adams throw a side pass to James Franklin, but the ball was sent backwards, immediately picked up by Griffons Ben Jackson, who returned it to the one-yard-line. Partridge ran a quarterback sneak on the next play to take a 7-0 lead.

The next two possessions for the Bearcats both ended in turnovers, as Shane Simpson took an interception back for a score on the third turnover, which ended the scoring route.

“We certainly had some things that we left out there,” Griffons coach Jerry Partridge said. “We just missed tackles on some of those bigger plays.”

Up 16-0 after kicker Greg Zuerlein missed the point-after-try, Northwest finally settled down and scored on a 51-yard touchdown to David Mosley. Zuerlein connected on two more field goals after he nailed a school record 58-yarder in the first quarter. He made a 57-yard field goal followed by a 52-yard field goal to mark the score at 22-7 before halftime.

Perhaps the biggest play for Northwest in the first half occurred by its defensive line, just as the final touchdown did.

At the one-yard-line, Western’s running back Michael Hill took a delayed handoff from the quarterback, only to be met by a pack of Bearcats and fumbled. Northwest came up with the ball, which could have essentially put the Griffons up 26-7 and make a comeback that much harder for Northwest (10-2).

“We probably should have burned a timeout and ran a quarterback sneak,” Jerry Partridge said. “Honestly that might have been the game right there. We were going to punch it away at that point, we just didn’t do it. It has nothing to do with (Michael Hill); I wouldn’t trade No. 22 for anybody in America.”

The second half was a complete 180 for the Bearcats, as they scored 21 unanswered points to win the game and move on to Wichita Falls to play undefeated Midwestern.

Jerry Partridge pointed to his fake punt decision in the second half as the momentum changer. Up 22-7, the Griffons decided to fake a punt at midfield, but came up four-yards shy and turned the ball over.

From there, Northwest scored on a 35-yard run by Franklin. Follwing that touchdown, Western score on a 38-yard run by Derek Libby. Northwest answered with a 66-yard touchdown, a 20-yard touchdown and Longacre’s score to give the Bearcats the victory.

The win gives the Bearcats a playoff win over Western for the second straight year. Last season, Northwest defeated Western in the playoffs despite being down 17-0 at the half. Two years in a row Western was up double-digits at halftime; two years in a row, the same outcome for the Griffons – a loss.

Western ends the year tying the school record with nine wins. The Griffons, once 2-2, fought an uphill battle just to make it to the playoffs, as they won seven straight, including a victory two weeks to the day over their rival — Northwest. Still, the Griffons see only better opportunities awaiting them, as they bring back a core of juniors that take three years of post-season experience with them. Hill, Jackson, David Bass, Ben Pister and Tarrell Downing, as well as their starting O-Line and and much of their defense all return for the Griffons to try at winning a playoff game and perhaps move on further.

“Missouri Western will certainly be back next year with our huge senior class,” Partridge said. “I got a really good football team coming back next year. I just hate it for the seniors.”

Zuerlein, who has a D-II record for most consecutive field goals made, as well as a college record at all levels for 50-plus field goals made (9) agrees with his coach. Zuerlein, a senior, looks to be kicking on Sundays now.

“(Western) is a great place to be,” Zuerlein said. “I wished I had more eligibility to play here, cause I really like it and they’re going to do great things in the future.”

Photos by: Jason Brown

“I’m really happy with tonight,” coach Tom Smith said. “I thought this team was way more physical than William Jewell, and I was concerned about that toughness with us, and I think we weathered their toughness and pulled away late.”

The Griffons fell behind 12-4 after Rockhurst was hot to start the game. After Smith called a timeout, James Harris hit a deep 3-point shot to put the score at 12-7 and help give Western the momentum to get back in the game.

“They were physical in the beginning,” Harris said. “We kind of came out shaky, so we had to come together as a family and just ‘d’ up as a team.”

The Griffons were down 20-15 with 11 minutes to play in the first half when T.J. Johnson made the layup and got fouled on two consecutive trips down the court. Johnson converted both free throws, and Western took their first lead of the game at 21-20.

“We play physical everyday,” Johnson said. “Coach doesn’t call fouls because he knows we will come out here and get roughed up, so we just play through it.”

Rockhurst held a 33-31 lead at the halftime break after its bench outscored the Western bench 16-5 in the first frame.

The two teams went back-and-forth in the second half until a pair of Johnson free throws and a 3 point play by Lavonte Douglas put the Griffons on top 57-52. James Harris hit six free throws in the final minute of the game to seal the ten point victory for Western.

“We protected our home court, played hard on defense and we found our offense tonight,” Johnson said.

Johnson scored 22 points on 6-for-12 from the field and 9-for-11 from the free throw line. He also added five rebounds and four assists.

Harris scored 22 points on 6-for-13 from the field and 4-for-7 from the free throw line. Harris added six rebounds and dished out four assists. Harris had been unable to get hot from deep in the first three games but broke that trend against the Hawks.

“They were in a zone, so we just had to spot up move the ball quickly and penetrate the gaps and that got us open shots,” said Harris. “Good shooters never stop shooting; Coach just tells me to keep shooting and flick my wrist. I couldn’t get down on myself, just had to keep shooting.”

Shawn Tarver was cleaning the glass all night long, leading the Griffons with 12 rebounds.

The Griffons play their next game in San Antonio, Texas at the Red River Shootout. Western will take on Southeastern Oklahoma State Friday and St. Mary’s Saturday.

T.J. Johnson stepped up in crunch time, scoring the Griffons’ final nine points in the last three minutes of the game.

“I just knew at the end of the game we needed somebody to step up,” Johnson said. “I felt like I’m the leader of the team, captain of the team. I had to step up and make plays.”

Johnson tied the game at 59 with a three point shot and then hit a jumper to put the Griffons up by two with two minutes remaining. Johnson then hit a pair of free throws to give Western a 63-59 lead.

William Jewell guard Chris Uz hit a three to make it 63-62 with a minute remaining. With 20 seconds to play, Johnson threw down a dunk on the rebound off a missed jumper from Lavonte Douglas to put the Griffons up 65-62.

Mark Mason scored with 15 seconds to play and got fouled. He missed the free throw, and William Jewell got the rebound and called a timeout with 14 seconds to play, down by one point. The Griffon defense forced Mason to miss two jumpers as time expired.

“One of the things we talked about is you have to learn how to win,” coach Tom Smith said. “You have to learn to do the right things down the stretch, and one of things I thought we did do was really ratcheted up our defense and really played tough defense on them the last three or four possessions.”

The Griffons started off slow, falling behind 7-0, then Douglas got going. Douglas scored the Griffons’ first seven points of the game to get them back in it early.

“I had to show up and be the leader,” Douglas said.

The Griffons went into the halftime break down 31-30 and didn’t hold a lead until the 14:43 mark in the second half when James Harris hit a three to take a 40-39 lead.

Johnson led the Griffons in scoring with 18 points and also grabbed seven rebounds. Douglas added 16 points and seven rebounds. Harris added 12 points and three assists and big man Shawn Tarver scored eight.

“We all feel good about everybody contributing and getting everybody in as a team,” Douglas said. “Nobody gets left out so that’s always good.”

Nick Larson was the biggest threat for William Jewell and was the main reason for the Cardinals outscoring the Griffons 34-20 in the paint. Larson finished with 24 points and 14 rebounds.

“He’s a really good player,” Smith said. “Hes smart, great hands and obviously good touch around the basket.”

The Griffons take on Rockhurst at 8 p.m. Sunday at the MWSU Fieldhouse in their final game of the Hillyard Classic.

Coach Lynn Plett knew that Quincy, who went 26-4 last season, would be a tough early test for the Griffons.

“Some people say ‘Don’t play such a good team early,’ but it tells us where we are,” Plett said. “We’ve learned one thing: That we’ve got to got to get a lot better defensively.”

The Griffons were playing close early with a score of 25-23 when Kassidy Shuman hit three straight three point baskets to open up a nine point lead for Quincy.

Shuman shot a blistering 6-for-7 from three point land in the first half, and scored 19 of her 21 points in the first frame.

“It was more deflating for the players and maddening for me,” Plett said. “I wish it would have been more upsetting for the players on defense. They don’t have to keep scoring the same way — make them score a different way.”

With the Griffons already down 10, Quincy went on an 8-0 run to push the lead up to 54-36 at halftime. Western played closer in the second half, but could never make it a game, as it was outscored 37-32.

Quincy connected 15 of its 31 three point attempts on the night, including 11 in the first half.

“They couldn’t miss tonight,” Brittany Griswold said. “We were helping on their drive, and they kept popping out and shooting it, and we just weren’t getting out there in time.”

6’4” Linsay Henke gave Quincy a size advantage over the Griffons, as she scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds. Quincy beat the Griffons for 19 offensive rebounds.

“I would associate that with our defense,” Plett said. “We would turn around and look, but we wouldn’t go to the boards, we wouldn’t box out, and they got second opportunities.”

Jessica Koch led the Griffons in scoring and rebounding with 19 and 8 respectively. She also added three assists. Griswold finished with 11 points.

After not playing in the first half, 6-foot freshman Stacey Mgbike scored eight points on 4-6 shooting in the second half, and showed flashes of athleticism.

“The biggest plus factor was Stacey,” Plett said. “She gave us good minutes. She’s the strongest player we have in the post. Once she figures out the offense a little bit better, she will be a good aspect for us.”

A scary moment came with one minute left on the game clock when Griffon guard Alex Noble hit her head on the court and lay motionless for a period of fifteen minutes. She was taken off the court by paramedics on a stretcher.

“Initial signs were good,” Plett said. “It was really precautionary to make sure everything was okay first and not move her too much to begin with. She had feeling in her fingers and everything. She could remember where she was and what she had for breakfast.”

The Griffons will try and bounce back in Golden, Colo., on Nov. 18 when they play the Colorado School of Mines. They will take on Colorado Christian University on Nov. 19 in the same location.

Missouri Western defeated Northwest Missouri State 31-28 less than two weeks ago. The game is still fresh in both teams’ memories, but for two different reasons.

The loss moved Northwest from a potential No. 2 seed down to bottom No. 6. A win last Saturday jumped it above Abilene Christian, but the Bearcats still have to travel on the road for two straight weeks, possibly all three if they continue to win.

Western, on the other hand, have been playing every game since week four like it’s a playoff game, and they had to.

After starting the season 2-2, Western has won seven straight games. Perhaps an underrated statistic in the wins is the fact that the Griffons pulled out several wins on the road, and they did well in the second half. Unlike Northwest, Western has been in a fight for four quarters in almost every game, and although it is great to defeat every team by 50 points, it may not help a team in the end. The Griffons know if the game is close in the fourth quarter, they can pull out the win, because they have done so several times this season.

The Griffons defeated the Bearcats on Nov. 5 by a slim three-point margin. With the win, they put themselves in the playoffs and a home game. Had they lost, they would have probably played in the Mineral Water Bowl. Saturday another win sends them to Wichita Falls, Texas to play Midwestern State. A loss sends Northwest to Wichita Falls. What will it be?

Yes, the Griffons are the underdog, and yes they did beat the Bearcats. But does it really matter at this point? The winner out of this game will probably be the favorite to play in the Super Region 4 final. Opposite is Pittsburg State, Washburn and Abilene. If everything plays out like it’s supposed to, perhaps the Griffons can rematch the Gorillas. Anybody remember week one?

Well, forget it. That was a long time ago.

Missouri Western showed that in its final two games of the year, as it fell on the road to Pittsburg State and Southwest Baptist.

Both losses came after the Griffons defeated Truman State in five sets and beat Missouri Southern in four. Frederick said he didn’t have an answer as to why his team played the way it did, and that it will take months for him to come up with one.

“[We] got a big win against Truman State and then just fizzled at the end,” Frederick said. “If I stood up here and gave you the typical coaching spiel of ‘yeah, we’re happy with the season,’ it would be a lie overall. We were really disappointed with how things ended because I think we should have ended a lot higher than we did; we should have finished  a lot stronger.”

Western finishes Frederick’s third season as coach with a 14-17 record, his most wins since taking over. In conference, Western finished 7-11 (sixth in the conference), but there was not an MIAA tournament this season.

The Griffons graduate only three seniors — Tahler Johnston, Alex Behnke and Hannah Zimmerman — and return most of its nucleus next fall. Three freshman proved to Frederick that they could play in the MIAA and received plenty of playing time over the course of the season.

Libero Sarah Faubel and outside hitter Shelby Corkill both were slated into starters at the beginning of the year. Corkill finished the season with 293 kills, including two games in the middle of the season — Central Missouri and Pittsburg — where she not only led the team in kills, but against the Mules she posted the most kills in a game in over eight seasons for the Griffons.

Another freshman came on late to provide solid hitting. Amanda Boender ended the season with 116 kills and will be counted on more next season. Stephanie Hattey improved from a year ago, where she was named MIAA Freshman of the Year, and will more than likely keep playing as the top setter for the next two seasons.

Western has already began its recruiting as it has signed three players to come on and replace those leaving. Holly Polluck, Jessie Thorup and Jordan Chohon have all verbally agreed to come to St. Joseph and play for the Griffons.

“When we look back at the season here in a couple weeks and go over eveything, I think we’ll be pretty pleased with where some of our young players are at and what we have to look forward to in the future,” Frederick said. “We’ve got some good recruits that have submitted here this week, and I think we’ll be in good shape as we move forward.”

Friday the Griffons (2-0) play William Jewell College (1-0). William Jewell features NAIA All-American Nick Larson, who is a 6’6”, 265 pound center. The Griffons will rely on the size of Justin Reid and Levonte Douglas to keep Larson contained in the post. The Cardinals also feature all-conference guards Chris Uz and Mark Mason. William Jewel defeated Central Methodist 75-65 in its first game. The game starts at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday the Griffons play Rockhurst, which starts its season off against Northwest Missouri State on Friday at the MWSU Field House. They feature 5’11”, 175 pound point guard Najja Nicholson. He averaged 12 points-per-game on an 8-19 squad last season. 6-2 guard Brandon McCann is the other returner who averaged double figures with 10 points-per-game. The contest will take place at 8 p.m.

Western went 1-1 at last season’s Hillyard Classic. The Griffons beat Avila 95-85 in the first game and then lost to Michigan Tech 68-61. It was the fifth loss in 38 games, bringing the Griffons overall record to 33-5 in the classic.

“We played better than we did the other night, actually,” coach Tom Smith said. “I thought they played better in terms of being sounder defensively.”

The Griffons failed to get off to a hot start early and found themselves trailing their Division III opponent 23-17 with 8:30 left in the first half.

James Harris tied the game at 25 with a transition layup, and the Griffons went on a 22-6 run in the last six minutes of the first half. The score was 47-31 at the break.

The Griffons blocked shots, forced turnovers and turned their good defense into transition offense in the second half. Manhattan Christian didn’t score its first two points of the second half until five minutes in, and the Griffons were already in control of the game, leading 56-35.

“That’s something we had in our mind coming into the season,” Levonte Douglas said. “That’s something we really want everyone to focus on, is defense this year.”

T.J. Johnson led all scorers with 22 points and he grabbed 7 rebounds. Johnson shot 8-for-11 from the field and 5-for-6 from the free throw line. After missing three shots early in the game, he found his jumper and showed his outside game and his ability to get to the basket.

“I think I came in tonight, and I settled down,” said Johnson. “I kept shooting. Like coach always says, good shooters keep shooting, so I just was trying to find a way to put it in the bucket.”

Coming off a double-double, Levonte Douglas was effective in the paint for a second straight game, converting 6-8 from the field. Douglas scored 16 points and pulled down 7 rebounds.

“Lavonte plays hard,” Smith said. “Most post guys can’t play at that level and be as tough as he can be.”

Douglas knows that his regular D-II competition will be tougher than what he has seen in his first two games of the season, but is confident he can continue his strong play.

“That’s for everybody,” Douglas said. “Any team that steps on this floor is getting that.”

Harris added 12 points, three assists and two steals. All 13 Griffons saw playing time in the blowout win, and all but one player scored.

Freshman Freddie Manwayu showed potential to be a defensive asset with his athleticism going forward. Manwayu blocked four shots in his ten minutes of playing time.

An area where the Griffons struggled was shooting from behind the three point line. They went 5-21 from distance against the Crusaders.

“I think we are all trying to find ourselves a little bit. Our outside shooting is awful right now,” Smith said. “We scored 87 points because of the transition off our defense.”

The Griffons out-rebounded Manhattan Christian 48-35 and won the turnover battle 25-12. Western outscored Manhattan Christian 50-16 in the paint and shot 47.9% from the field, and the Griffons’ bench provided 37 points.

“In basketball you always got room for improvement,” Johnson said. “We played these two teams, we got two wins under our belt. Now we got two well coached teams ahead, so we got to come out and play with intensity from the get-go. If we come out like that against D-II teams, it will be a long way to get back up, so we just got to keep playing, come out hard and get ready for Friday and Saturday.”

The Griffons will play in the 20th annual Hillyard Tip-off Classic at the MWSU Field House on Friday against William Jewel College, and Saturday they will take on Rockhurst University. Both games start at 7:30 p.m.

On Saturday, November 12 the Griffon Football team beat Fort Hays making their final record 8-2. The Griffons are now secured in the playoffs.

The Griffons were down early, but shut out Fort Hays State in the second half on their way to a 55-17 victory Saturday in Hays, Kan.

Western, sitting at 8-2 for the third time in the past five season, looked to assure itself a playoff spot. Unlike in the years prior, the Griffons did just that.

In 2007, Western went to Kirksville and lost 37-28 to Truman State. Two years later, it hosted Nebraska-Omaha, but couldn’t submit a bid there either, as it lost 30-21.

Knowing this, the Griffons dominated the Tigers, though the first quarter was a little slower than they would have liked.

Tigers running back Andre Smith took the first play from scrimmage up the middle for 77 yards, down to the three-yard-line. The next play, Smith ran it in for a score. 18 seconds into the game, the Griffons were down 7-0.

“Our defense was a little lethargic at the beginning,” cornerback Ben Jackson said. “We got things corrected after Washburn, and we’re starting to fire on all cylinders when we have to.”

Travis Partridge drove his team 50 yards on its first drive, before running in a four-yard touchdown tie the game at seven. The Tigers capped off a seven-play drive with another touchdown by Smith to mark the score 14-7.

“We knew they were going to have a burst of energy,” Partridge said. “We knew they weren’t going to be able to stop us and we knew our defense was going to get it done eventually.”

Michael Hill continued to make plays when his team needed him to. Hill, who finished with 182 yards on the ground, scored three of Western’s four first half touchdowns. The junior averaged over seven yards per-carry and led the team in receptions with three.

“Michael Hill had a great game,” coached Jerry Partridge said. “The drive before the half was the huge drive. We just shoved is down their throat and it set the tone at the end of the half.”

On that drive, Western covered 61 yards on nine plays. Hill had seven carries for 50 yards and scored his final touchdown, which put the Griffons up 28-17 before halftime. All season the Griffons have relied on their run game. This game was no different, as Western had 434 yards on the ground.

None of the players were on the 2007 team, but the 2009 season remains in their memories. Senior Adam Clausen said the big difference between those two teams and this year’s is the bounce back Western experienced from the first game of the season, a 34-7 loss to Pittsburg State.

“When we get our backs on the ropes, even during games, we’re just resilient; we know we’re going to fight back and play for 60 minutes every Saturday,” Clausen said. “[Travis] has come so far since that game. It’s night and day from what kind of quarterback he was in that game until now.”

One of the key contributors this season compared to years past has been kicker Greg Zuerlein, a senior transfer from Nebraska-Omaha. He tallied two field goals to give him 18 consecutive field goals made, which breaks the Division II record. The Griffon Indoor Sports Complex may have played a role in recruiting him.

“[The facilities] helped us out with Greg Zuerlein, no doubt it helped,” Jerry Partridge said.

The Griffons now wait their destiny. Though nothing is guaranteed just yet, Western had a No. 4 seed heading into Saturday’s game. Western looks to host its first playoff game ever, which seemed like a far stretch for a team that was once 2-2.

Western bounced back against Hays, once tied 14-14, the same way it did in the season. The Griffons have been on a roll, winning seven straight, just as it ended the game against Hays — 34 unanswered points.

Jackson ended any hope Hays had when he took a 35-yard interception back for a score, giving Western a 42-17 lead early in the second half.

“I got my hands on the ball, and I was just thinking end zone,” Jackson said. “Our defense is starting roll right when its supposed to.”

The No. 2 seed heading into Saturday, Washburn, lost its season finale to Central Missouri to end the regular season, tying the Ichabods with Northwest Missouri State and Western, all at 9-2.

Western finds its fate out at 3:30 today at the Fulkerson Center located on campus.

“I think we’ll be a four; it’s tough to guess,” Partridge said. “It will be Abeliene Christian or Northwest [at home]. It feels great. It’s unbelievable.”

Griffon Basketball Coach Tom Smith goes down in history as one of the 61 coaches in the U.S. to achieve 600 wins in college basketball history.

Smith is one of only 61 coaches in the history of college basketball to record 600 wins. There are only 20 other active coaches who have recorded as many wins.

“It means more than any other milestone because it puts you in a unique group,” Smith said, “a unique group of people that can survive long enough to get that many wins. To have 600 wins is an accomplishment and a milestone that I think is pretty nice.”

The Griffons started off slow, and Fontbonne had a 34-29 lead at half-time.

“You could see almost from the beginning that they were nervous,” Smith said. “I think they were just so jacked to do this.”

The lone bright spot in the first half for Western was the play of guard Dylan Frantz, who shot 5-of-6 in the first half, including 3-of-3 from behind the three point line. The rest of the team combined to shoot 6-26 from the field in the first half.

“We just wanted to get the win so bad, and it kind of hurt us in the beginning,” Frantz said. “My shots were falling, so I just needed to do whatever I could to help the team stay in this game.”

The Griffons battled back and took a 41-40 lead on a Levonte Douglas layup and never looked back. Douglas sparked the momentum for the Griffons when he blocked a shot out of bounds the possession before.

“The team was slacking, so me being a senior and a leader, I had to set the tone,” Douglas said “My adrenaline is still rushing right now.”

Douglas finished with a double-double – 13 points and 10 rebounds — he scored 11 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in the second half.

“I thought he got us going and gave us something inside,” Smith said. “He really played hard.”

The Griffons outscored Fontbonne 41-20 while shooting 50percent from the field in the second half.

James Harris didn’t have one of his better shooting days, but still led the Griffons in scoring with 17 points Harris shot 5-for-14 from the field and made 7-for-10 from the free throw line. He came away with four steals on defense.

Frantz finished with 15 points and T.J. Johnson added eight points, including a big dunk at the very end that set the MWSU Fieldhouse into the celebration for coach Smith.

Many of Smith’s ex-players were in attendance and came out onto the floor to congratulate him when the game was over.

“I was just shocked. I didn’t realize they were here,” Smith said. “They just kept coming and coming. Each guy reminded me of another game. It was wonderful.”

Even though Smith nearly got the win last year against Fort Hays in the MIAA tournament, he is happy that he reached the milestone with this group of players.

“The group last year didn’t deserve to celebrate this like the group this year did,” Smith said. “I know we didn’t play great tonight, but the effort they have given me up until now has been good.”

Frantz, who transferred from Hutchinson Community College, described helping Smith reach the milestone in his first game at Western as an amazing experience.

“I’ve never been a part of something like this,” Frantz said. “It’s really awesome, and I’m just proud we could do it for coach Smith. I’m honored.”

Sport: Football

Year: Sophomore

Position: Quarterback

Stats this week: Completions — 12; Total Yards — 217; Touchdowns — 2

Partridge led a come-from-behind victory and put Missouri Western in position to not only make the playoffs, but host a playoff game after it defeated Northwest Missouri State. Partridge, who had zero turnovers, dusted off a 51-yard run in the third quarter to start a comeback that would eventually end up in the win column. Down 14-3 at one time, Partridge took part in two of the three scores by the Griffons, who won 31-28.

“I thought our defense was pretty decent,” coach Tom Smith said. “I thought they played together, our passing at times was very sharp; for the most part I was pleased.”

The Griffons have focused their efforts on becoming a solid defensive team, and it showed Thursday as they forced 25 turnovers and held Livin’ The Dream to 63 points on 19-for-45 shooting from the field.

“We are way better defensively right now than we ever were last year,” Smith said. “If that continues to get better, we have a chance at being a decent defensive team.”

TJ Johnson led all scorers with 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting and 4-for-5 from the free throw line. He made two three-pointers and showed his leaping ability with some big dunks.

“That’s what I like to do,” Johnson said. “I like getting the crowd involved. If my teammate throws it up, I’m going to go get it.”

Deionta Mitchell scored 15 points on 5-for-8 shooting in 20 minutes. He also contributed three assists and a steal. His long range game was on display as he went 2-for-3 from three point distance.

“Last year I really didn’t shoot the ball that well,” Mitchell said. “That was a goal of mine this summer, so I just stayed in the gym a lot getting shots up. Tonight my teammates found me and got me open shots.”

James Harris scored 16 points on 7-for-13 shooting and dished out four assists. He had his hand wrapped up, and Smith said that he had only practiced two times before the game due to the injury of his left hand.

“Harris getting healthy has made a difference,” Smith said. “He’s probably our actual starting point guard.”

Dylan Frantz scored 14 points and handed out four assists.

“You have to love Dylan Frantz because he is a kid that just gives you a 100 percent every time,” Smith said.

Shawn Tarver scored 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting. The 6’8” big man had his mid-range jumpshot on display.

“This team will have to depend on playing together,” Smith said. “I think that they shared the ball well, and I think they had fun doing it. That’s the biggest thing.”

Western women win 96-52

The Griffon women had their talents on display also, as they defeated Livin’ The Dream 96-52.

Jessica Koch led all scorers with 30 points. Koch, a second team all-MIAA selection and the Griffons’ leading scorer from last season at 16.6 points per game, also pulled down 11 rebounds and had seven assists.

Brittany Griswold scored 12 points, Brittany Casady had 11 and Caitlin Linihan scored 10. The women finished with a team total of 27 assists, 52 rebounds and shot 46.6 percent from the field.

Ashleigh Curry, who used to play for Livin’ the Dream, did not participate in the scrimmage. Coach Lynn Plett does not know when she will return to the team, but hopes for a return for Saturday’s opener against Quincy.

He put his head down and let his emotions clear. The sophomore quarterback had just pulled off one of the greatest upsets in Missouri Western football history.

Down at the half, Partridge led a turnover-free game, and pulled his team together when it needed him to; for the first time in his short career, he looked like a leader.

“This means everything,” Partridge said. “There’s a lot of emotion involved, and that’s a team victory if there’s ever one. It’s gigantic.”

Partridge had help from a great defensive game plan, as well as players Jack Long and Ben Jackson, who played one of the better games they’ve played all year. The defense not only prevented Northwest Missouri State from scoring its 56 points-per-game average, but Western cut it in half — 28.

Still, the game changed when the quarterback had the ball down by eight. Partridge stepped back to throw, but slid through the pocket and ran the ball 51-yards down field. On that run, the momentum switched and the fans erupted.

A few plays later, a one-yard run by Michael Hill and a two-point conversion pass from Partridge to Reggie Jordan tied the game. From there, Partridge connected on a two-yard touchdown to Adam Clausen, marking the score 28-21. And from there, Greg Zuerlein nailed a school record 58-yard field goal. Just like that, a 31-28 victory over Northwest gave Partridge and his family one of their biggest victories.

“It feels amazing,” Partridge said. “It’s surreal. I don’t want this feeling to end.”

The day has ended, but the memory will always be in his mind. He watched several quarterbacks go up against the Bearcats, and almost all of them have failed. But his first start, Partridge didn’t fail. He succeeded, and nobody can take that away from him.

“Honestly, I keep stopping and [wondering] is this a dream?” Partridge said. “I’ve had this dream so many times in my life.”

Travis Partridge (12) throws deep down field against Northwest Missouri State, in which Missouri Western was victorious. Final score 31-28

Coach Smith has been coaching basketball for over 20 years. He first began coaching at the University of Central Missouri in 1975. This year, coach Smith will hopefully be winning his 600th win on this Saturday, Nov. 12th.

Trophies lie around the school, longing for a place to sit.

The gym is completely dark and the floor is distorted. It has been empty for years, but decades ago, the gym was packed.

Horace Mann High School, which has since been boarded up, still stands on Garfield Street in Gary, Ind., just south of Jefferson Park.

Famous people that once called Gary home include the vocal group Jackson Five, former middleweight champion Tony Zale, Heisman winner Tommy Harmon, 1983 American League Rookie of the Year Ron Kittle and former NBA player Glenn Robinson. Although the accolades don’t come off as great for a Division II coach, among the names that top the list of former Horace Mann attendees and Gary residents is Missouri Western Men’s Basketball Coach Tom Smith.

Smith played his high school basketball career at Horace Mann, where he received Honorable Mention All State honors. His basketball journey didn’t run parallel to his high school. It didn’t die and wasn’t buried into a ghost town legend; Smith prospered. He went to Valparaiso and was an All-American. He loved that school so much, he would even coach there for eight seasons after he graduated. To this day, Smith remembers his time in Indiana.

“I went to a grade school, and all my friends played on the football team,” Smith said.

He didn’t follow his friends, and decided to join a basketball team. Gary was one of the few cities where blacks and whites could play on the same team. So after high school, Smith could have found himself taking part in history.

“[Don Haskin's] link to Gary was my high school coach,” Smith said. “I remember him trying to talk me into going to Texas Western. But he was actually trying to get Haskins to recruit the others guys and take me. So I ended up going to Valparaiso.”

Those other guys Smith was talking about included Orsten Arnis and Harry Flournoy, two key players on the Texas Western’s Men’s 1966 basketball team, a team that won the NCAA National Championship by starting five black players for the first time.

Smith went to Valparaiso and started at point guard. He took them to the conference tournament in 1984 as the coach. It was the Crusaders’ first appearance in the tournament in the program’s history. Shortly after his stint with the program ended, Smith was hired as the men’s head basketball coach at Missouri Western. That’s when history hit full effect.

Inaugurate start of a real Leader

Western made the NCAA Tournament and won its first NCAA tournament game, defeating West Texas State 73-71, in Smith’s second season at the helm. Though they fell in the next round, the Griffons team remains in Smith’s memory.

“That team was pretty good,” said Smith, whose season ended to Southeast Missouri State. “In those days, the number one team didn’t host. You had to bid for it. So Southeast, whose place holds 7,000, they got the regional.”

On their way to the tournament, the Griffons defeated Central Missouri in the MIAA Championship game. A three point victory over a team that Smith once coached gave Western its first championship in its first year in the conference. Smith received Coach-of-the-Year in the MIAA as well as Division II Coach-of-the-Year in the South Central Region.

The 1989 basketball team was inducted into the Missouri Western Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame this past October. And although Smith said he didn’t have much to do with his team at the time, players on the team disagree and said the coach gave the team spirit. Known as a motivator, former guard Heath Dudley said during the season that is exactly what Smith gave them.

“He did not give himself enough credit for getting the coach-of-the-year award,” Dudley said. “He always told us not to give up and to keep playing our best.”

Smith was never wanted by people in St. Joseph. The week he was hired, the local news reported that Western had hired a losing coach, given his losing record. The school newspaper even published a letter stating why Smith was a bad decision. He shrugged the comments off and just coached. 429 wins later, he remains a Griffon.

A true golden Griff

Smith said that the 1988 and the 1989 teams were two of the most enjoyable years as a coach. Throughout the next 20 years, Smith’s coaching style affected his team to the point where he would be inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2006. Among his achievements, Smith won the MIAA regular season title five times. He has been named the MIAA Coach-of-the-Year twice and has coached All-Americans Mike Cornelious and Darrol Wright.

“[1988 team] was the one I inherited,” Smith said. “We were NAIA with that team that preceded the hall-of-fame team. We were fortunate. We didn’t have time to recruit anybody.”

With the team that he hardly knew, he was one win away from going to the post-season tournament. Only five guys remained on the team the next season, but the teams stay close together. After the Hall-of-Fame ceremony, Smith said both teams went to his house to celebrate that night. Those teams, along with a great run in the early 200os, helped Smith reach his win total.

When he first arrived at Western, he never dreamed of winning 600 games. Coming from a school that had to drive hundreds of miles to each game a night, Smith never felt much respect at Valparaiso. It once played a game against Notre Dame at home, where the scoreboard read Home vs. Notre Dame.

“I interviewed for the job, and I knew it wasn’t a good job, but I took it,” Smith said. “We all think we’re great. We all think, ‘the guy before me couldn’t win, but I can’.”

Now though — with 600 within one game — he feels the love.

“I came here because I wanted my gun loaded equally with the guy I’m shooting against,” Smith said. “My gun wasn’t loaded at Valpo. It wasn’t fair.”

You can’t keep a Griffon down

The 67-year-old coach has never been fired. He said he left Central to take a chance at Division I, and not that he regrets it, but he knew that after a few years it wasn’t the smartest decision. When he went to the NCAA Final Four in Kansas City, Mo., he found out about the Western job, and although a late candidate, Smith was hired.

He is tied at No. 61 in overall wins in NCAA Men’s Basketball. He is ranked No. 19 for active coaches. Still, the man once thought that he couldn’t handle any pressure in coaching says it’s not him, it’s his team.

The Gary native recently attended his 45th college reunion. Smith went to Gary on his way through Indiana, and said it changed a lot since he was little.

“It’s unbelievable. I told Marcus [Rhodes] I used to walk to the Palace Theatre. He said ‘you ain’t walking there now’.”

Now that he is out of Gary and in St. Joseph, Smith’s 24th season as head coach is about to tip off. He doesn’t seem tired. He isn’t going to calm down and take it easy. The coach just wants to watch his team perform. In doing so, more wins and achievements look destined for the man in charge. He is more laid back, however. His attitude this season with his first three-freshman class and returning seniors like All-MIAA selection TJ Johnson, should help. Johnson said he is ready for this season to celebrate the 600th win and play some basketball.

“Coach gives us the freedom to just play,” Johnson said. “We need to use our athleticism to get  to the basket and get everyone involved.”

Smith agrees, and says although it may not be his most talented team, they definitely have chemistry and makes it fun to come to work.

“Great teams beat great guys every time.”

A guy whose basketball career looked like it was over when he played his final game against Phil Jackson, 11-time NBA champion as a coach, at North Dakota when the Crusaders played North Dakota, is still is around the game. Smith decided to take it to the next level: coaching. 600 wins later, he is still the same guy.

“It was a hard-fought game,” coach Jerry Partridge said. “I didn’t feel like we had it won until the very end. We played as good as we could play.”

The victory snaps an eight year losing streak for the Griffons against Northwest.

“It feels great to get Coach P. that win again,” Defensive Back Ben Jackson said. “We hit him with the Gatorade after the game, and it’s just a rival. It’s always good to beat your cross-town rival.”

“I think we believed the whole time; we believed the whole week,” safety Jack Long said. “Coach has been preaching to believe it and we all did.”

The Bearcats high-powered offense was on display early as they scored on their first two possessions. Northwest led 14-3 at the end of the first quarter. The Griffon defense forced three punts and gave up no points in the second quarter.

“Down 14-3, I don’t think anybody flinched at all,” Long said. “I think we were ready to go the whole time. It’s a long football game.”

The Griffon offense was able to put together their first touchdown drive midway through the second quarter. Travis Partridge hit Adam Clausen and Reggie Jordan for gains of 20 and 14. Partridge dove the ball into the end zone on a one-yard run to make the score 14-10. Greg Zuerlein added a 53-yard field goal to make the score 14-13 at half time.

“The second quarter was awesome, and that’s really where the momentum changed,” coach Partridge said. “They had total command of that game for a little bit. Our second quarter defense put us back in that football game.”

The Bearcats’ James Franklin broke off a 37-yard run early in the third quarter to give Northwest a 21-13 lead. Partridge responded by getting loose for a 51-yard run to start the Griffons’ drive. He completed a pass to Jordan for 19 yards and then Michael Hill ran it in the end zone. Partridge connected with Jordan again on the two-point-conversion to tie the game up at 21.

Jeremy Weston intercepted a pass from Trevor Adams on the next possession to give the Griffons the ball at Northwest’s 42-yard-line. The Griffons offense took advantage as they moved the ball up the field, and Partridge hit Clausen for a two-yard touchdown pass to give the Griffons a 28-21 advantage. Northwest tied the game at 28 on a three-yard run by Jordan Simmons.

Zuerlein hit a 58-yard field goal to put the Griffons on top 31-28 with 11 seconds left in the third quarter. The kick is the longest in Western history, breaking the record Zuerlein set earlier in the year of 57 yards.

“Coach gave me a chance, and I had a good snap, good hold, and I made it,” said Zuerlein, who has made an MIAA record 16 consecutive field goals. “I didn’t think that I hit it the best. I had some luck, I guess.”

Zuerlein made all three of his field goal attempts on the day.

“We need points every time,” Travis Partridge said. “There’s no point to force things. Other teams have to force things but we will just be safe and take the three points.”

The Griffons pulled off a huge goal line stand to start the fourth quarter after Northwest got the ball inside the five-yard-line. With the ball at the one on fourth down, Northwest elected to go for it instead of taking a field goal that would have tied the game. The play resulted in David Bass dragging the back down for a three-yard loss and a turnover on downs for the Bearcats.

“I’m sure they are regretting the decision to go for it now,” Long said. “I felt that if we stopped them right there, we would swing the momentum so much that they wouldn’t be able to come back from something like that, and it held true.”

Long recovered a fumble on the next Northwest drive. The Griffons continued to run clock and punted the ball back to Northwest with 2:31 remaining in the fourth quarter. The defense held tough and forced a fourth down and six. Jackson, who was beat deep early in the game, tackled the receiver one-yard short of the first down to secure the victory for the Griffons.

“As soon as I tackled him, I knew he was short, and I knew that was our game right there,” Jackson said. “As a DB, you got to have a short memory, and in the end I ended up making a nice play for the team.”

Jackson led the Griffons in tackles with 12.

Travis Partridge is 1-0 against Northwest as the starting quarterback of the Griffons. Growing up with Griffon football, beating his rival is a dream come true.

“There’s been great quarterbacks before me that have never had a chance to beat them,” Partridge said. “I’ve had this dream so many times in my life — it just feels surreal. There’s a lot of emotion involved. It feels amazing.”

Partridge threw for 111 yards and a touchdown and ran for 106 yards and a touchdown on the day.  The Griffon offense had no turnovers in the game.

“Travis played great. He’s a very good competitor,” coach Partridge said.

Clausen led the Griffons in receiving with 52 yards, and Hill ran for 80 yards and a touchdown.

The Griffons improve to 8-2 on the season and 6-2 in the MIAA conference. They will take on Fort Hays State next Saturday in the final game of the regular season. The possibility of a home playoff game exists with a win.

Photo by Jason Brown

Fans rush the field as the clock winded down in Missouri Western's win over North West Missouri State University Saturday.

Photos of last year’s game against Northwest. Western was shut out for the first time in thirteen years in an embarrassing 42-0 loss.

“It is our hated rival, and we are always amped up for this game,” safety Jack Long said. “It’s going to be an intense game, no matter what, every year.”

Northwest (8-1) is the No. 3 ranked team in the American Football Coaches Association top 25 and the No. 3 ranked team in the region. Western (7-2) is ranked No. 25 in the AFCA top 25 and No.7 in the region. Only the top six teams in the region will get into the playoffs.

“We realize it’s a contending football team and a team that’s in front of us, and we want to win the game,” Coach Jerry Partridge said. “Our playoff hopes are affected by it, but I don’t think they necessarily hinge on it. Certainly a win helps our chances and a loss hurts.”

Breaking either team’s stadium attendance record is nothing out of the ordinary for the annual game between the Griffons and the Bearcats. The game set the record for attendance at Northwest last year with a crowd of 10,800. In 2009 a crowd of 10,129 showed up Spratt Stadium and set the attendance record, which was broke by the Chiefs training camp with 10,727.

“Our fans sometimes need to create the excitement for us too,” Partridge said. “I want our student section to get here and get wild and crazy and do whatever they can to motivate our players and have a good time.”

This year’s contest between the two teams have the potential to see the Spratt Stadium attendance record broken again. Safety Shane Simpson can picture fans rushing the field following a big victory.

“The home crowd is always going to be good,” safety Shane Simpson said. “We feed off energy from the crowd a lot and we are at Spratt, so it’s going to be a perfect set up for whatever is going to happen.”

Northwest holds a 20-10 all-time advantage in the series, including beating the Griffons two times last season. The second game between the schools last year ended the Griffons’ season as Northwest edged Western 28-24 in the playoffs. The two schools are less than 40 minutes apart and are bitter rivals, competing for state funds off the field and regional supremacy on the field.

“Sometimes we put too much into it, to be honest with you, the community and the school does, which creates extra pressure on the kids,” Partridge said. “I think the kids want to win the game because it’s the next game for them.”

Partridge is more concerned with stopping a potent Northwest offense that averages 56 points and 560 yards per game.

“That’s the biggest concern to me,” Partridge said. “Can we stop them? No. But I hope we can slow them down enough to score more points than they do.”

“We just don’t want to give up the big plays,” Simpson said. “If we can just stay over the top and not let anything over the top of us, it will be a close game.”

Saturday is the last regular season home game for the Griffons, which means it’s senior night for Long, Adam Clausen, Isaac Collins, Greg Zuerlein, Nic Burrell, Jake Buckwalter, Kip Peters, Cody Kremer, Thomas Madget, David Fowler, Oliver Pryor, Jesse Engelken and Matt Speaks.

The game will be televised live by the MIAA television network and starts at 2 p.m.

Missouri Western — Offense: Michael Hill is coming off his best rushing game of his career. The MIAA Offensive Player of the Week will see a tougher matchup against Northwest, but giving him the ball will make the Bearcats respect the Griffons run game. This, in turn, could allow Partridge some time to make good efficient passes against a suspect pass coverage the Bearcats have. Playmakers like Tarrell Downing should also give Western plenty of chances to advance the football down field. Defense: David Bass and Ben Pister must put pressure on Christopher. If they can steadily be in the backfield, it will disrupt many of his throws. This could give Jeremy Weston and the rest of the secondary opportunities for some turnovers. Special Teams: It’s not a secret the Greg Zuerlein is the best kicker in the MIAA. He currently has made 13 straight field goals. Though that won’t beat Northwest, having great field position each drive will. But the less of Scott Groner fans see, the better off the Griffons might be.

Missouri Western plays its Highway 71 rivals Saturday afternoon at Spratt Stadium, a game anticipating a record number attendance. But how many fans will be there that sport black and gold? Definitely more than ever, as the student body will not just sit on their hands and fans will storm the stadium. But what about the people outside of Western?

Not only will green swoop down 40 miles from Maryville to see a game that would all but clinch the winner a playoff birth, but perhaps steal the fans of St. Joseph, and turn whatever loyalty and team spirit residing in their hearts green as well.

It’s not out of the question to ask if St. Joseph is Northwest’s hometown. Controversial? Yes, but what rivalry games aren’t? This game is bigger than it has been before, and that includes last season’s playoff game. Why? Years down the line can be affected by the outcome of Saturday’s game.

As of now, St. Joseph doesn’t exactly stampede the parking lots at Western Saturday afternoons. But the majority of them don’t head up to Maryville either. Now that the game has this sort of “win or go home” scenario, fans finally have the opportunity to see both teams play for stakes higher than before, right here in St. Joseph.

So when Todd Adolf or Greg Zuerlein kick off Saturday, there should be well over a thousand fans that just want to see football, that just want to see two teams play to the whistle blows. If this is the case, and Western pulls out the win, the fans that leave Saturday’s game will want to see them more. If Northwest wins, St. Joseph will once again wait to see the Bearcats play on television, deep into November, hoping that they keep advancing. Because the Griffons might not be there.

When Western announced Kurt McGuffin was the new director of athletics, he referred to Western becoming St. Joseph’s team, not just the Griffons. A win Saturday will be a huge step.

Name: Michael Hill

Sport: Football

Year: Junior

Position: Running Back

Stats this week: Rushes — 41; Yards — 246; Receptions — 4; Touchdowns — 1

Hill broke the school record for most rushing attempts Saturday in Bolivar, Mo. Hill’s 41 carries gave him the school record and also helped Western win its fifth straight game. Hill, who won MIAA Offensive Player of the Week, also averaged six yards per carry.

Coach Chad Edwards took over a team that had just six days to prepare for its first match in August.

After a full two months of engagement soccer, the season wrapped up over Halloween weekend.

Western finished with a 4-10 record, doubling its win total from a season ago. Though the team missed out on another MIAA tournament appearance, and placed last in the division, the Griffons battled through adversity with so many freshman playing and a new coach. Throughout the first 10 games, the Griffons saw a 3-7 record, where at the half they were either tied or in the lead in every game.

Edwards believes with recruiting well by adding forwards, his team will be in better shape for a post-season run next year. He also said this season will help out the future.

“I’m really proud of the way they competed,” Edwards said. “We got the culture established. I got what I’m trying to accomplish established.”

Among the seniors that played their last game in a Griffon uniform is Audrey Henderson. She leaves the program as the all-time leader in goals made with nine.

“I want to thank the four seniors especially,” Edwards said. “I’m really proud of the way they handled [this season].”

Volleyball entering final push

Coach Cory Frederick said he believes his team is playing the best volleyball they played all season.

Two straight losses could contradict that, but he said that didn’t exactly matter.

Western dropped three sets to undefeated Washburn last Saturday, one day after losing a 3-2 split set game to Emporia State. The two losses didn’t do anything to the Griffons in the conference, as they are still slated at fifth place with a 5-7 MIAA record and 12-13 overall.

“We struggled a bit last week,” Frederick said, “but we’re playing some good volleyball. Win five out of six is our goal.”

Frederick pointed to freshman Amanda Boender, who hit .667 and added 10 kills Friday nights against Emporia, as somebody who might step in and help the team over the next two weeks.

Basketball tip-off

Thursday night, both basketball teams will scrimmage for the first time at the Looney Complex, at least the first time against an opponent.

Livin’ the Dream, a pro-am basketball team out of Kansas City, Mo., will bring their talents to Western to play the Griffons.

The women’s team will tip off at 5:30 p.m. followed shortly by the men, who are scheduled to play around 7 p.m.

Tom Smith, who is one win shy of 600 total for his coaching career, is excited to see his team at home in this exhibition game.

“I’ve never had any group work harder than this group has worked,” Smith said. “I have three freshman for the first time. I can’t wait till they’re juniors. Hopefully I’m here when they’re juniors,” said Smith, who not only joked about that, but also about how he hopes to survive a sixth athletic director.

From October

Men’s

Southwest Baptist Invitational – 11 teams

Western ties for fifth overall — t9. Tyler Gast with a score of 145

Park University Fall Invitational – 9 teams

Western places third overall — t.11 Tyler Gast with a score of 80.

Women’s

Bearcat Fall Golf Classic – 6 teams

Western places first overall — 6. Casi Webb with a score of 172.

Park University Fall Invitational – 10 teams

Western places third overall — 5. Natalie Bird with a score of 163.

Truman Bulldog Classic – 6 teams

Western places second overall — t4. Shelby Stone with a score of 163.

Primped in a tan suit and Missouri Western’s colors for the first time, McGuffin finally looked at home.

The seventh athletic director at Western was introduced to a crowd of over 100 people Monday at the weekly Griffon Athletic Luncheon at 36th Street Food and Drink Company located inside Holiday Inn.

“This is a committed [place],” McGuffin said. “I’m excited to be a part of it.”

McGuffin, who is currently staying in Scanlon Hall until he settles in to his new town, said that everybody should expect the Griffons to be everywhere in St. Joseph.

“We’re going to do everything we can to make [St. Joseph] proud of the black and gold,” said McGuffin, who has worked at Division I schools Colorado and Kansas State. “Expect a lot of hard work. It doesn’t matter where you’re at. It’s about relationships.”

McGuffin said that with a veteran staff under him, his job should be not only fun, but easier.

He pointed specifically to basketball coach Tom Smith, football coach Jerry Partridge and softball coach Jen Bagley.  All coaches have over 10 seasons of experience as a Griffon head coach. McGuffin stated that Smith’s 599 win total as a coach impressed him.

The Wichita State graduate beat out a list of over 80 candidates for Athletic Director. He made the final-four cut and gave a short, 20 minute public presentation in September to prove he was good enough for the position. From there, he was chosen as the guy to lead Western as the director of athletics. The job was vacant after Dave Williams’ (2008-2011) contract was not renewed.

“We have a unique opportunity here to have the best D2 facility,” McGuffin said. “I’m proud to be here. It’s a great time to be a Griffon.”

Fans watch proudly as they see the player with the number 23 jersey climb the ladder to the basketball hoop. She takes the scissors, snips a piece of the net off and grasps it tightly in her hands.

Now a tiny piece of a basketball net may mean nothing to the average person, but to senior shooting guard Ashleigh Curry — who will be sporting number 33 this year — it holds many memories of her junior year at Missouri Western when her team beat Northwest Missouri State to win the MIAA Championship in 2007.

Unfortunately, due to NCAA eligibility violations, the wins for the season were vacated. Regardless, the sports management major is still proud of that season and will always remember it. After the incident, however, Curry took some time away from basketball for academic purposes and ended up falling into a different sport: boxing.

Curry, who is from Houston, Texas, never thought she would be asked to box in a match when she went to the gym with one of her friends. Galen Brown, Curry’s current boxing trainer, approached Curry and wondered if she would fight the upcoming weekend. Brown said nobody wanted to fight the woman she would have to face. Like a true competitor, she agreed.

“Her first fight, she didn’t even have any ring experience,” Brown said. “I asked her if she wanted to fight, she said ‘yeah.’ She hadn’t even trained.”

She lost her first fight to Melisenda Perez on May 8, 2009. The match ended in a minute, but she didn’t hang up the gloves just yet.

“She’s a tough girl,” Brown said.

Tough is right. Most people would assume a boxer’s favorite part about fighting is knocking out their opponent, but Curry is quite the opposite.

“I like getting hit,” Curry said. “It doesn’t really hurt; the whole technique is to roll with the punches.”

Although Curry was defeated by Perez the first time, she worked on her technique. She fought Perez two more times, the second time being a draw and the third time ending in a Curry victory.

Curry had improved so much that a week after she beat Perez, she had her first knockout when she fought Jessica Wilson. The match only lasted 41 seconds, a match which she considers one of the highest points of her boxing career.

Curry went from knocking down treys to knocking down other women.

While Curry was pleased with her performance, she didn’t necessarily enjoy hurting Wilson. Curry mainly practices with men, so it’s a whole different story when throwing punches at women.

“When I spar in boxing, I spur with all guys, and I go as hard as I can,” Curry said. “With girls, I take everything lightly. [When I knocked Wilson out,] I felt bad. I was like ‘I’m so sorry.’”

Curry is a sort of kindhearted boxer. Sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? She doesn’t call herself a “kindhearted boxer” by any means, but she does like to think of herself as something along those lines.

“I’m a boxer, but I’m not a fighter,” Curry said.

As of now, according to boxrec.com, Curry’s record remains 3-6-2. It may look like a losing record, but Curry has fought women who are ranked much higher and have more experience than she does. Curry is currently ranked 18th in the world and 6th in the U.S. in the Female Lightweight division.

Now that Curry is back for her last year at Western, she won’t be fighting as much. However, this doesn’t bother her, because she will more than likely pick back up where she left off in boxing after this season. For now though, she is eager to get back to her favorite sport and is ready to prove she is the same player from back in 2007.

“Personally, I don’t think I’ve lost anything from when I played last,” Curry said. “I’m still the same to me. I just need to get my timing and quickness back.”

While Curry was boxing, she maintained her basketball skills by playing pickup games, and it showed at the Tip-Off Party Tuesday as she hit the first three of the game and passed the ball with style. Curry, who considers herself “goofy” when she’s on the court, isn’t the only one looking forward to her season. Coach Lynn Plett is also interested in seeing how she will progress through the season, considering her last season was a couple years ago.

But nonetheless, Plett believes Curry will be a great asset to the team.

“She’s a good player and will give some good leadership this season.”

Sport: Volleyball

Year: Freshman

Position: Outside Hitter

Stats this week: Kills — 47; Digs — 41; Hitting Percentage — .242

Corkill helped the Griffon volleyball team secure three straight wins en route to their fifth place ranking in the conference. Corkill led the team in kills in two of the three games, including Friday night, when the team defeated Pittsburg State 3-2. The freshman tallied 26 kills then, which is the most kills in a game since Lindsay Fuller knocked down 28 against Central Missouri in 2003.

“I think we have better character this year, our work ethic is better, our willingness to play together has been better,” coach Tom Smith said.

Key losses for Missouri Western include last year’s two leading scorers, Jonathan Phelps at 17.4 points per game and P’Allen Stinnett at 16.7. Another loss is point guard Adrian Thomas.

The Griffons return two starters from last season’s team in senior post player, Lavonte Douglas and senior small forward, TJ Johnson.

Johnson averaged 12.8 points-per-game last season, while shooting a very efficient 50.8 percent from the field and starting in all 28 contests.

“TJ is the type of player that has an all-around game,” said Smith. “Making players better, passing, driving, rebounding, running, all those things.”

The last shot Johnson took last season was a missed jumper in the MIAA tournament against Fort Hays State with no time left on the clock. The Griffons lost by one point, and their season was over.  Johnson used that experience as added motivation during the off-season.

“Ever since I missed the game-winning shot last year, I have been in the gym every day,” Johnson said. “I can’t wait until the season starts. If I get that chance again, the shot is definitely going down.”

Douglas averaged 12.3 points-per-game and six rebounds last season and is known as someone who will outwork the opponent in the post.

“Lavonte is tough enough inside to give a us a post presence,” Smith said. “He is 6’5” but plays bigger.”

Speedy senior combo guard Deionta Mitchell is the other returning contributor from last season’s team and will play the role of a starter this season. According to Smith, Mitchell can play either guard position, but his comfort zone is off the ball.

Smith has added six junior college transfers in guards Ladarius Frazier, James Harris, Dylan Frantz, Alex Tuluka-Mfumupembe, and big men Shawn Tarver and Justin Reid.

Harris was a JUCO All-American at South Suburban Junior College last season, averaging 18 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals per game. He will look to take over the starting point guard position once he heals from a fractured hand that will keep him sidelined approximately ten days. Frazier will also play his minutes at the point guard position.

Tarver and Reid, both 6’8”, will add a post presence to go along with Douglas that the Griffons were missing last season, due to losing several players during the season.

“We have an inside threat that I think will make up for what we didn’t have last year,” Smith said. “We did not have that capability of going inside very much last year.”

There are also three true freshman perimeter players on the team. 5’11″ point guard Reed Mells from Des Moines, 6’3″ guard/forward Freddie Manyawu from Platte City and 6’5″ guard/forward Tevin Harris from the Chicago area.  Mells is currently out with mononucleosis and is expected to return a few weeks down the road when he regains full strength.

“Making the move from 1A  in Iowa to the MIAA is a tough move but Reed has done well,” Smith said.  “Tevin is very athletic and Freddie is athletic and very very smart.  I think all three will contribute this season.”

The Griffons may not be picked to finish at the top of the MIAA when the preseason poll is released, but the players are confident that they will have a successful season.

“I expect us to surprise a lot of people because a lot of people aren’t expecting a lot from us because of last year and how we had a bad season,” Johnson said. “But we are planning to turn that around. We got a lot of leaders here. We got new guys who came in and everyone works hard. It’s going to be a team effort.”

“I expect us to do way better than we did last year,” Douglas said. “Every one is playing together now, and I just hope it stays like that for the rest of the season. I expect a 20 plus win season and being one of the top teams in the conference.”

The Griffons will look to slow down the tempo of the game on offense this season and use ball movement to take the smart shot.

“I see us being very conservative offensively because I just don’t think we have the firepower to get in any kind of shootouts,” Smith said. “Our emphasis will be on defense and ball control.”

According to Douglas, the biggest strength of the team is playing together.

“Playing individually would be our biggest weakness,” Douglas said. “Everybody plays their role, plays their position. We don’t have any heroes or wannabe superstars. Everybody just plays together and makes it work.”

Deionta Mitchell hangs on the rim during Tuesday night's scrimmage at the annual tip-off party.

His palms are sweating and his heart is pounding, but after a quick breath, he is ready to be put in the game. Though the opposing team is full of 6-foot-7-inch monsters giggling as he steps foot on the court, he is not worried. Suddenly, this guard magically steals the ball, speeds through the monsters and scores before the big men can even make it down the court. “Who’s giggling now?” the guard thinks as he smiles to himself.

This guard is none other than senior Deionta Mitchell. Mitchell first came to Missouri Western last year as a junior with potential to be better, due to his speed, athleticism and solid work ethic. Since then, Mitchell has grown more and more into his potential and now stands as the go-to guard for the upcoming season.

“My favorite part of the game is that it teaches you about life and how to deal with adversity,” Mitchell said. “It teaches you toughness and dedication. To be a consistent shooter, you have to stay in the gym and work on your strength.”

Mitchell feels that among his physical abilities, he brings a good heart and a positive attitude to the team, which he feels is just as important.

“For a lot of people, when you’re up by 20 points, it’s easy to high-five and laugh and talk on the bench with each other,” Mitchell said. “But when you’re down ten points with about ten minutes left, that’s when you really see who has heart and who doesn’t, and who wants to step up to the plate.”

Though Mitchell has been noted for his speed and athleticism, he sometimes believes that people underestimate him because of his size. In addition to this, the Milwaukee native stays to himself and sometimes shies away from the media’s eye.

“The roster has me listed as 5’10, but I am a legit 5’7,” Mitchell said. “When they see a little guy like me, right away they are thinking that I am not really that good. To those people I say ‘Just watch me play, and you will really like it’,” Mitchell said with a slight smile.

Off the court, Mitchell has a very close relationship with his mother, that truly encourages and motivates him.

“I’m a momma’s boy,” Mitchell said. “I talk to her before every game. As long as I talk to her before every game, I’ll be alright.”

Before the season gets underway, Mitchell has already predicted that the men will have a better record then last year. Among three seniors, head basketball coach Tom Smith recruited six other juniors coming in from junior colleges. Smith also recruited some “big men,” with two 6-foot-8-inch juniors to fill the gap left after former player Brandon Beck graduated last year. Of these big players, Mitchell is very impressed by forward Justin Reid, who is a 250-pound Indiana native coming from Kankakee Community College.

“Whenever Justin gets the ball, it’s either a bucket or a foul,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell also feels team chemistry will be more effective this year, as the three seniors have worked hard to keep their relationships solid and initiate brotherly love.

Fellow senior and roommate TJ Johnson feels that he, Mitchell and Lavonte Douglas have grown very close within the last year and want the other teammates to follow their footsteps.

“When I drive to the hole and need to kick it out to somebody for the three, he’s got me,” Johnson said. “He has my back and I have his back, both one and off the court.”

Against Pittsburg State Friday night, the freshman reminded him why she was recruited here.

Western defeated Pittsburg 3-2 Friday at the Looney Complex, which improved its record to 11-11. Corkill had 26 kills, the most since 2003 for a Griffon.

“That’s a great stat to hear,” Frederick said. “It’s not the best stat in the world because it also means we had to play five games. We’d prefer not to go five games.”

Western took the first game 28-26 after seniors Tahler Johnston and Alex Behnke closed the game out with a kill and a block, respectively.

The second game went to the Gorillas, but it was close, as they won 25-22. The all-important third game was settled late, when Western’s Corkill, up 22-18, killed three scores for her team to take the 2-1 advantage.

“She doesn’t even really seem to notice when she’s playing that well,” Frederick said.

That’s when drama occurred.

Up 2-1, Western nearly ended Pittsburg’s night. It took a 20-10 lead behind five straight Sarah Faubel points off aces. But Western wouldn’t hold.

Christa McCaw added her own four-kill streak, followed two Kristen Erikson attacks as the Gorillas mounted a 17-5 run to tie the game.

“We’ve got a very young team, and when things like that happen, it doesn’t continue to slide down hill,” Frederick said. “To not have those mental letdowns when we do struggle in a game like that — to be able to pick it back up — that speaks well in the future.”

In the end, it wouldn’t matter, as Western survived the outing, winning game five 15-9. Stephanie Hattey totaled 60 assists in route to the victory. Corkill said she is finally more comfortable playing college volleyball, and she showed it, hitting over .300 percentage in the win. Frederick said that is very encouraging.

The Griffons didn’t stop their weekend victories there, as they continued to improve their record.

Western holds a 12-11 record and are 5-5 in the conference, good for fifth place, after it defeated Southwest Baptist Saturday at the Looney Complex.

The Griffons controlled the game late, after falling behind 1-0.

“[The girls] relaxed a little more,” said Frederick, before he said it should continue the rest of the season. “They look more focused.”

Western went on to win the next three games. The second game was close, but the Griffons took the game by two, tying the contest at one game a piece.

The Griffons had to score over 30 points to win the third game, and they did just that, taking a 2-1 lead with a 31-29 game. The Bearcats were too tired to win the fourth game, as Western ended their night with a deciding game four win, 25-8. Corkill led the team in kills again, this time with 16. The freshman also had 18 digs.

Last Tuesday night, Western went on the road to defeat Missouri Southern State. It won 25-13, 25-21 and 25-12. The three-game win streak Western currently has comes after it fell four straight games in the past two weeks.

Both Hattey and Johnston have suffered mild injuries. However, Frederick said it hasn’t affected either player. Western has eight more games left in the regular season, with five at home.

Missouri Western dominated over Truman State at the Homecoming game with the final score being 45 to 7.

“We stepped up when we needed to step up,” coach Jerry Partridge said. “I thought it was just a solid start-to-finish victory.”

Reggie Jordan scored the first two touchdowns for the Griffons. The first one came on a fake punt play that fooled the Truman defense and resulted in Jordan running the ball up the sideline for 64 yards and the score with three minutes left in the first quarter.

“It was very wide open actually,” Jordan said. “I could have jogged into the end zone.”

Early in the second quarter, Jordan caught a four yard pass from Travis Partridge that put the Griffons on top 14-0.

Tarrell Downing scored on an electrifying 80-yard touchdown late in the second quarter. Partridge hit Downing ten yards down the field after scrambling outside the pocket, Downing put a spin move on the defensive back and was off to the races to put the Griffons up 24-0 at the half. Downing had a big day, finishing with 171 receiving yards and a touchdown.

“We have some guys who can catch the short ones, make people miss and turn them into big plays. Tarrell did that,” said coach Partridge. “That’s the type of player I expect Tarrell to be.”

Michael Hill ran for 95 yards, 4.3 yards per carry and a third quarter touchdown that put the Griffon up 31-0. Hill had a 26-yard touchdown called back because of holding early in the first quarter.

Travis Partridge threw for 278 yards on 15-24 passing, three touchdowns and two interceptions on the day. He threw a bomb to Derek Libby for a 60-yard touchdown in the third quarter to put the Griffons up 38-0.

“I see Travis progressing more and more every week,” Downing said.  “It’s showing in the stats and in the game.”

The defense shut the Bulldogs out for most of the night before they scored their only touchdown in the fourth quarter. Nic Burrell led the Griffons in tackles with 9, followed by Jeremy Weston and Shane Simpson with 7.  Simpson also intercepted a pass late in the first quarter.

“Our defense is good. I really put them up against any defense in the league,” Travis Partridge said. “They pick us up every time we make a mistake. There is really no pressure because we know they are going to get it done.”

Greg Zuerlein hit his only field goal attempt of the day from 29 yards out and made all five of his extra point attempts.

Jerrin Walton scored the final touchdown late in the game on a 29 yard run to make the score 45-7.

The Griffon had 632 yards of total offense on the day.

“I wanted to make sure we closed out the right way. Our defense deserved the seven point total,” coach Partridge said.

The Griffons improve to 6-2 on the season and 5-2 in MIAA conference play.

What about this year’s soccer team? Kyle Inman sure thinks highly of them. And why not? The freshman are playing above expectations, and Missouri Western will see most of this team for the next few years.

On Thursday they played against Northwest Missouri State. They lost 5-1, as Northwest ran up the score like it were in the BCS, trying to leap frog somebody into National Championship contention.

Of course the game was tied at the half; it wouldn’t be a Western soccer game if that had not occurred. Next up was coach Chad Edwards’ alma matter — Missouri Southern State. Western lost this game as well, putting the MIAA tournament in doubt.

K.C. Ramsell hasn’t scored since the fifth game, but she is still finding ways to put the ball in position; the freshman just isn’t hitting the shot on goal as much. If Ramsell, Erin Widrig and a few other key players can score, and Kelly Voigts can continue to stand pat as goalie, the final two weeks of the regular season can see improvement.

Western plays Fort Hays State, Washburn and Emporia State next. The Griffons defeated those last two teams on the road, now they have them at home. It’s simple: Western wins the three games, it makes the tournament. If not, better luck next year.

Volleyball, never sub in until you have to

After losing three straight, the losses continued. The Griffons fell 3-1 to Hays on Friday.

Then another road game occurred when the Griffons went to Joplin to play Southern. The Griffons finally snapped the loss streak,
winning 3-0 against the Lions.

Before further analysis can occur, people must take a second and look at what Frederick has been able to do over the past three years he has been at the helm for the Griffons.

After the 2010 team finished the season with an 12-17 record, the Griffons saw three seniors graduate. Coach Cory Frederick said he would recruit hard and hard enough he did.

Sarah Fauble is making her presence known. She is like Todd Fuller to the Griffon News: very underrated.

This team also has great chemistry. Tahler Johnston is a great player. Alex Behnke is too, but both will graduate after the season. They’ll be alright.

Considering Stephanie Hattey is only going to be a better player in the next couple years, as well as Shelby Corkill and Sarah Fauble, leadership and skill shouldn’t be a problem. If only this team can take advantage of the rest of this year’s schedule, people will realize the talent they have. They also have terrific coaching, including Cory Gove, stat keeper.

Another football column 

I think I’ve written a few too many columns about Western football already this season. The players and coaches probably agree.

But does it really matter? It’s not like we’ve overwhelmed them with columns in the past.

Regarding Western’s three-game win streak, it will continue. Am I guaranteeing it? No. Am I saying it? Yes (Dwayne Bowe). Come on, if the Griffons blow a chance at improving their record to 7-2 before Halloween, it will be a monumental upset. It should make SportsCenter’s Not Top 10 list.

Despite losing to the teams they were supposed to lose to and beating the teams they were supposed to beat, the Griffons won somewhat toss-up games against Southern and Emporia. That has to be encouraging to Jerry Partridge and his staff, considering there was always “that one game” where Western would lose and jeopardize a post-season appearance.

Saturday, Western traveled to Emporia and held on to a hard-fought 22-16 victory. Western had to earn the win, and, in all seriousness, it knew that going into Emporia, because the Hornets do not lay down for any opponent. Homecoming is next.

Befriending the Enemy 

I work for the Griffon News, this is obvious. But, I also take part in the newspaper from across the town: The St. Joseph News-Press.

As an employee there, I can’t work for the Griffon News 24/7. I can only work for them 16/4 and 24/3. The other 8/4 I am a News-Press employee. Confused? Now you know how I feel.

I befriend the enemy. I play both sides. I’m like Ashton Kutcher cheating on his wife. Except, I don’t know who Demi Moore is in this situation.

I’m put in positions many times where I have to work downtown and cannot attend games. Thanks goes to my Editor-In-Chief (Dave Hon) and my boss Ross Martin (Western alum, ‘05), who understand this.

Anyway, it’s rough. Last Thursday, when Western played rival Northwest, I was unable to work for the Griffon News. I had to attend the game on behalf of the News-Press.

I had to cover Northwest for the most part, especially since it won and forward Victoria Von Mende scored a team record 10 goals this season. I still talked to the Griffon News staff who attended, including the Break Away guy, Jason Brown. I couldn’t tweet the game to the GriffonNewsCom followers, but instead, NPSportsNow followers received the game updates.

Last Saturday, this is even better, I had to attend a state quarterfinal softball game, and could not make a trip to Emporia. I then sent a tweet out to GriffonNewsCom followers to follow NPSportsNow for updates.

Oh, it’s worse: This Saturday, when everybody is attending Homecoming events and the football game, I will be at District Cross Country, covering local high school Central trying to pave its way to state. They may, because they have those Bachman twins. But anyway, scheduling conflicts again occur.

A Little Inside Info

I don’t wear glasses. Many people know this, but I needed a pair in order to take my picture.

This isn’t the News-Press, where, when they write a column, they are submitted into the paper with a full body length photo of them looking up, so that their shoes are the size of pebbles. I’m sure you all know what I’m talking about.

But here we have to use a real mug shot (and not a Dave Williams type of mug shot, where you actually have a reason to look eccentric).

So instead of my picture focusing on my face and who I am, I needed an object to distract the reader. Insert Prof. Bob Bergland’s glasses. Instantly, my face became a hit. Not two hours after print people were asking me about the photo.

Since I am unable to grow a beard at this point in my life, and Bergland will not let me barrow his goatee, I need a new disguise. Any help?

One last note: My computer at the Griffon News in use, so I am taking this opportunity to type from Blair Stalder’s. The only reason why I mention this: Stalder needs a reference every now and then. Everyone knows Stalder doesn’t receive enough credit. “Stadler” on the other hand …

Four days after the citation, Pister did not play during the loss to Washburn. He also sat out two games last year, one against Mesa State and the other against Washburn, one due to injury.

Last spring, Pister was arrested on Jan. 29 for third-degree assault and second-degree burglary charges.  The arrest was related to a fight that allegedly took place between the football and baseball teams. According to a Feb. 2 article on newspressnow.com, the complainants said that a group that included Western football players assaulted them. In May, a municipal judge ordered Pister to pay a $200 fine for assault.

Head Coach Jerry Partridge declined to comment on Pister’s DWI citation.

“Anything that happens with our kids is going to be handled in house, and I’m not going to comment on it in public,” he said.

Pister is a physical education major who is a redshirted junior. He played for St. Joseph Central High School where he was two time All-state. This season, Pister has 5.5 sacks, one interception and 26 tackles.

According to the Athletics Department Drug and Alcohol Policy, the first misdemeanor or felony conviction related to alcohol would result in the notification of the head coach, athlete and the athlete’s parents or guardian. That athlete is also required to seek counseling independent of the athletic department.  The student athlete would also be subject to disciplinary actions through Student Affairs.

Associate Athletic Director Patsy Smith said that on top of the department’s policy, head coaches have their own policy.

“Each of our sports have certain rules within their sport that could differ from sport to sport and how a coach deals with things,” Smith said.

Smith said that she and former Athletic Director Dave Williams were addressing some concerns with the drug and alcohol policy — specifically the repercussions of a second incident. According to the policy, student athletes who have a second incident not only have to seek further counseling, but are also suspended for 90 days.

“Because sports vary in how long their season is, perhaps you’d look at a percentage of games rather than a number of days,” she said.

According to the Athletics Department Drug and Alcohol Policy, Western athletes must undergo drug and alcohol abuse awareness training. The policy states, “Missouri Western State University will provide an education program to inform our student-participants of the inherent hazards of abusing these substances.  It is our goal to promote the physical and psychological well-being of the MWSU student-participant.”

Zuerlein attempts one of the five field goals he made on Oct. 1 against Missouri Southern . The senior has an opportunity to move on to the next level, as scouts of NFL teams have already asked about him.

“He is going to be in an NFL camp next fall,” coach Jerry Partridge said. “We have had a lot of NFL teams come through, and that’s the feedback that I’m getting,”

When the University of Nebraska-Omaha announced it was shutting down its football program, it was news to Zuerlein.

“I was shocked, and I didn’t have any forewarning or anything,” Zuerlein said. “I was surprised at their decision to shut down the program.”

Partridge wasted no time in pursuing the strong-legged field goal kicker after MIAA teams were cleared to go after former UNO players.

“He was the first call I made,” Partridge said. “I just knew what kind of a weapon he was and what a special football player he is, because of how well he kicks.”

Zuerlein chose Western because he admired the athletic facilities and because of the way he had seen the coaches develop kickers in the past.

“Specifically the kicking coach Jay White,” Zuerlein said. “He has helped a lot of the kickers get better here, and I thought he could help me, so that was the biggest thing.”

Zuerlein was a three-time all-conference selection at UNO. He hit 136 field goals in his three-year-career, with a long of 52 yards. He holds the school record for consecutive extra point conversions with 61 straight. He also has a school record of 131 PATs made in his career.

In 2010, what would have been Zuerlein’s senior year, he suffered a torn labrum in the hip and was forced to sit out the season with a medical red-shirt.

“I was just kicking, and I felt a pop, and I couldn’t kick anymore,” Zuerlein said. “Now I’m getting back into the swing of things. I’ve had some setbacks, but I’m finally getting back to being 100 percent.”

Zuerlein has already impacted the Western record books after playing five games. Against Missouri Southern State, he set the school record for longest field goal with 57 yards and tied the record for field goals made in a game with five.

Zuerlein is 13-14 in field goal attempts on the season, including 4-4 from over 50 yards. That type of leg strength is exactly what professional teams look for in a kicker.

“I would definitely like to play football after college, but that’s mainly on the back burner for me right now,” said Zuerlein. “I just want to do what I can here and see what happens.”

Being able to depend on getting three points whenever the team can’t convert on third down is a great safety-net for the Griffon offense. Zuerlein leads the Griffons in scoring with 56 points on the season.

“When we start getting into his range we kind of start pulling the reins back a little bit, and it’s been effective,” Partridge said. “He has been a great teammate to the kids, and he’s just a great kicker.”

Coming to a new school, Zuerlein admits he did not know what to expect, but everything has gone well for him so far at Western.

“I love it here; it’s awesome,” Zuerlein said. “From the coaches to the players, everything is great. I feel like I have really been accepted into the program.”

Goalkeeper Kelly Voigts kicks the ball after her save. The Soccer team fell to Northwest State University with a score of 5-1.

“I just felt like at the end of the game we lost all of our energy, execution of everything and fell apart,” coach Chad Edwards said.

The loss pushes the Griffon’s losing streak to four. Their record on the season falls to 3-7 and 0-4 in MIAA conference play.

The two teams were even on the scoreboard after a first half where the Bearcats took ten shots and the Griffons attempted five.

Victoria Von Mende scored the first goal of the game and her tenth of the season at the 56th minute mark. In the 60th minute Hannah Silvey made the score 2-0 Bearcats on a goal from five yards out.

The Griffons fought back and put in their only goal when Ashley Grunder scored her first goal of the season in the 78th minute on an assist from Audrey Henderson. That made the score 2-1 with 11 minutes remaining.

“We had the momentum going,” Grunder said. “We kept pushing through it, but after we scored we all thought we had a chance, and it was going to go our way,”

Three minutes later, any hopes the Griffons had of a comeback were crushed when Emilee Davison scored a goal off of a rebound to put Northwest up 3-1.

Northwest’s Tammie Eiberger scored two meaningless goals with less than four minutes to go in the game to push the score to 5-1.

“We gave ourselves chances to score throughout the game. We were in it with them, we just had five breakdowns basically,” Edwards said.

The Bearcats attempted 26 shots to the Griffons 11 on the way to improving their record to 7-3-2 and 4-1 in the MIAA.

Griffon goalkeeper, Kelly Voigts, notched 11 saves on the day. Each team committed eight fouls in the game, and the Bearcats attempted two corner kicks to the Griffons none.

Even with the losing streak, the Griffons have a good shot to make the MIAA tournament in Kansas City, Mo. Western has four games left on the season before the tournament including games with Washburn and Emporia State, two teams that the Griffons have already defeated this season.

“Now it’s just a matter of being positive and maintaining focus on our goal of making it to Kansas City, which is still out in front of us,” Edwards said.

Western will resume play on Oct. 15 in Joplin when they take on MIAA conference opponent Missouri Southern.

Michael Hill stands far in the backfield as Travis Partridge kneels down and runs down the clock after a long day of running the ball versus Missouri Southern State University.

“Michael is a good, quiet leader by example,” coach Jerry Partridge said. “He does what’s right, and I think he is one of the most respected kids on the team.”

Hill was born and raised in St. Joseph and started playing football at the young age of eight.

“I used to always get in fights when I was little, so my mom said I needed to get into something, so she got me into football,” Hill said.

Hill starred at Central High School in St. Joseph as a three-year-starter and a two-time All-District back. Although Hill always knew about Missouri Western, he was unsure where he would play after high school.

“At first, it’s like you want to get away from home,” Hill said. “But after my first year and getting to know everybody here, I just felt good and knew that this was a good place. I like playing here; it’s my home and I just feel free here. ”

Hill takes on the role of RA in the dorms where he is in charge of the suites and works at the desk.

“I wanted to get involved more and be more than just a football player,” Hill said. “Just in case football ends for me I want to get my professional skills up and have something to put on my resume.”

On the gridiron, Hill’s resume as a Griffon is already impressive. As a freshman, he accumulated 792 yards on 180 carries, averaging 4.4 yards-per-carry and scored eight touchdowns. His success continued during his sophomore season as he racked up 704 yards on the ground and five touchdowns.

“He is a really good player and a very explosive athlete,” Partridge said. “A very strong, powerful, complete player. He’s a good receiver, a good blocker and a good runner.”

In Hill’s first two years he was forced to split carries with other upperclassmen, but this season, as a junior, the starting running back position is all his, and he is taking advantage.

“The first thing I’m thinking is you have to score and get no negative rushes,” Hill said. “Play every down like it’s your last.”

Averaging a remarkable 4.9 yards-per-carry with five touchdowns, Hill has 562 rushing yards and 114 receiving yards on the season, including three touchdowns in the first half of last week’s game against Lincoln.

“I always prepared like I was the starter,” said Hill. “It’s cool to be starting but at the same time I know these other guys can do close to what I can do. We are all different types of running backs.”

Hill is one of five Griffons who are from St. Joseph and currently hold down starting positions on the team.

“We realize it’s important that the community supports us and we certainly want to support them back,” Partridge said. “Hill really, surprisingly, didn’t get recruited very hard by other schools, which is shocking, but I’m glad he didn’t.”

Sport: Volleyball

Year: Sophomore

Position: Setter and Right-Side Hitter

Stats this week: Assists — 93; Digs — 33

Hattey helped keep the Griffons in both road games this week with her setting and ability to keep the volleyball in play. She led the team in digs in both games as well as maintaining her job as the setter. Hattey had all but four of her teams assists between the two games.

Western traveled to Warrensburg Friday to take on No. 8 ranked Central Missouri and was defeated 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-22).

“They are really good this year. They don’t make any mistakes; on the season they are hitting almost .350,” coach Cory Frederick said. “We are going to have to get more consistent if we are going to play with them later in the season because they just don’t make any errors.”

Alex Behnke led the way for the Griffons with 11 kills. Shelby Corkill had seven, and Tahler Johnston added six. Stephanie Hattey had 35 assists and 13 digs, leading the team in both.

Saturday the Griffons made the trip to Kirskville to take on the Truman State Bulldogs. The match was a five set battle that ended in a victory for the Bulldogs 3-2 (19-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-20, 12-15)

“I give Truman credit,” Frederick said. “They played much better than I’ve see them play this season. Their crowd was phenomenal, and I think that had to do with the fifth game that we lost.”

With the match tied up at 2-2, it all came down to the crucial game five. The Griffons pulled out to a quick 4-1 lead but allowed Truman to get back in it and take the lead 7-6. The Bulldogs never looked back and went on to win the fifth set 15-12.

Behnke led the Griffons in kills with 15, followed by Johnston with 14 and Hannah Zimmerman added 12. Corkill and Meredith McCormick chipped in with 11 kills each. Hattey had 58 assists and 20 digs on the day.

“I thought it was a match we should have won, we just, for some reason, could not put everything together,” Frederick said. “As soon as we would fix something, two other things would fall a part. We were having a lot of trouble with our rotations.”

According to Frederick, a win at Truman would have been helped the Griffons substantially, as it would have allowed them to move into fourth place in the MIAA conference.

“It was a rough weekend, but I think we got some good things, and we will recover,” Frederick said. “We need to get that killer mentality. Right now we are playing a little bit scared, so we are going to try and get over that. The next stretch of games are important for us, and they are all winnable.”

But after playing the nine games, looking at what could have been for the Griffons is rough. Chad Edwards took over the team in early August, and it responded well for him. Except Western has held a lead or have been tied at half time in every single match.

The second half woes continued over the past week, as Western lost to Truman State and Southwest Baptist. Both losses were by one goal; both goals were in the 72nd minute.

“Tuesday was a debacle,” said Edwards, referring to his team’s loss in Kirksville. “But we had some chances to score. We just didn’t get it done.”

Western hasn’t had difficulty on the road thus far. It went to Oklahoma and shut out Southwest Oklahoma State 2-0. Then it defeated both Emporia State and Washburn to have a 3-3 record. However, with three straight losses, Western soccer is starting to spiral down in the MIAA.

On Tuesday, Ashley Juravich shot Western’s only ball in the whole game, compared to Truman’s 34. Goalkeeper Kelly Voigts tallied 12 saves for the Griffons in Kirksville.

Edwards said that he wasn’t too upset with the difference in shot attempts, because a lot of the Bulldogs shots never had a chance. They were high or wide each time.

Still, the Griffons couldn’t pull out the win as Jaclyn Schumann knocked in the lone goal.

Four days later Western played tight against Baptist. With no score at halftime, the Bearcats’ Ashely Creason nailed one of her three attempts to put her team up a goal. Western never answered and lost a fifth game decided by one goal.

“We’ve been talking about it since day one: Let’s get forward,” Edwards said. “We’re playing scared. The battle is the fear of getting scored on.”

Erin Widrig, after missing the first month, was cleared to play and started against Baptist. She is expected to contributed more as the Griffons need her in order to make a push towards the conference tournament.

So far this season, Western has tallied 10 goals, eight by freshmen (K.C. Ramsell, Teddy Serna and Katie Kempf). Another freshman, Emily Hoffmann, has attempted three shots and they have all been on goal.

“[They're] starting to realize it takes a lot more than it did in high school to win ball games,” Edwards said.

Five more games are left on the Griffon’s schedule before the MIAA Soccer Championship in Kansas City, Mo., Nov. 3 through 6.

Michael Hill stiff arms a Lincoln defender, then breaking a large run in the second quarter Saturday, October 8th.

Western defeated Lincoln (Mo.) 81-20 Saturday at Spratt Stadium. It was the second year in a row in which the Griffons put up 81 points against the Blue Tigers.

Alli’s block, which was returned 98 yards by the freshman in the second quarter, put the Griffons up 19-6. Had the extra point block not occurred, Lincoln would have been down by just 10.

In the very next play Tarrell Downing returned his second touchdown, which put the Griffons up by 20, doubling a score which might have been.

“Coach Bell did a great job of finding the weakness in the special teams,” Alli said. “I just did what Shane and J West taught me.”

Alli, who is becoming a fan favorite with his special teams play and big hits, recorded five tackles, had a quarterback pressure and a hit against Lincoln’s Robert Redmond to go with his block touchdown return.

“I know one thing’s for sure: If I got caught, Coach P. would have never let it down.”

Western started the game with Downing’s first return, a punt that he first dropped. After he picked up the football, Downing made two moves to speed his way through a big hole to go 72 yards for the score.

“The kickoff return was a really big one,” said coach Jerry Partridge, before giving credit to the other big special teams player . “Yomi took the time to block an extra point and run it back. It was a big play.”

A few minutes later, running back Michael Hill scored on a 53-yard pass from Travis Partridge.

After Western added a field goal, Lincoln scored a one-yard-touchdown from Deon Brock. The Blue Tigers were inside the 1o-yard-line after Travis Partridge threw an interception to pre-season All American O’Hara Fluellen.

“He hesitated a little bit,” Jerry Partridge said of his first-year starting quarterback.

The ensuing extra point was then blocked by Alli, and he returned it all the way for the Griffons own two point, which turned the game by three points in favor of the Griffons.

Western scored three more touchdowns to end the half up 43-6, two of the scores were by Hill. One was from 13 yards out, and the other was on a 44-yard scamper.

“I think Coach P. could have went in there and run the ball through those holes,” Hill said. “I really didn’t do nothing. I caught the ball on the screen and just ran straight. The same with the other one.”

The special teams didn’t miss a beat as Downing’s two returns helped Western jump out to its big halftime lead.

“I had great blocking in front of me,” Downing said. “[This is] a confidence booster. We just got to keep on keeping on.”

Western scored 38 points in the second half, as much of the backups came in to finish the game. Zuerlein hit a 50- and a 51-yard field goal to put him at 4-4 on kicks more than 50 yards on the season. He is also a perfect 7-7 on field goals 40 yards or more. His only miss this season was a 29-yard field late in the game against Central Missouri, a game in which Western won 23-6.

The Griffons scored seven different ways Saturday (punt return, kickoff return, extra point return, run, pass, interception return and field goal) on their way to the 61 point victory.

Western tied its own record of points scored in a game. Last season, the Griffons won 81-14 over Lincoln.

Dr. Vartabedian and Mr. McCauley listen in as new Athletic Director Kurt McGuffin speaks about his new position over the phone

Kurt McGuffin is a great fundraiser and a great man.

Those were the words that Missouri Western President Robert Vartabedian said made McGuffin a worthy candidate and the reason he was chosen to become the new Athletic Director at Missouri Western.

“Certainly with the budgetary crunch that we’re experiencing, those kinds of skills were obviously very important to us,” Vartabedian said. “Bottom line is: We believe he has the professionalism and the experience to be an exceptional A.D. at Missouri Western.”

McGuffin was not present at the press conference. Instead he was contacted via phone to talk about his new position.

“I’m truly honored to be selected as the director of athletics at Missouri Western,” McGuffin said. “These athletic director positions are hard to get at any level, and making a decision as athletic director can be even harder. I feel the four candidates that were finalists were very qualified.”

McGuffin said he was pleased to be a part of Western because he could tell by the way the selection process worked that Western is a good place to be.

“I think I was pretty clear on campus that I expect our focus to be on our department being good servants to this university and the community.”

The new A.D. pointed to one of his mentors, Kansas State football coach Bill Snyder as a key reason he is going to be at Western.

Snyder, who was born and raised in St. Joseph, said that McGuffin would make a great athletic director.

“He’s an extremely hard worker who will engage Missouri Western and its constituents in a very forthright and caring way,” Snyder said.

Both Howard McCauley and Vartabedian said that choosing an A.D. quickly made sense because Dan Nicoson is going to retire soon, and all the candidates deserved to know who it was going to be. Each person also said any of the four would have made a quality director

“We had a great pool to pick from,” McCauley said.

McGuffin’s duties will officially begin on Oct. 31. McGuffin said he is excited and ready to take over this job.

“[I want to] go out in the community,” McGuffin said. “I think we need to look at all of our sports across the board, and when we build facilities, we want it done right.”

The Wichita State graduate also stated that because of his history with the area, he is thrilled to be an Athletic Director.

“St. Joseph is what I’m used to,” McGuffin said. “I grew up in the footprint of the MIAA in Southeast Kansas, and I can drive to nine schools within three hours of my hometown. My history there and my knowledge of this conference is fun and exciting.”

Relationships are important to McGuffin, and he said he is ready to establish them with Western, the community and the Kansas City Chiefs. With a good relationship with the Chiefs, Western will be able to keep the summer camp here for years to come.

McGuffin graduated from Wichita State in 1999, three years after receiving his bachelor’s of science from Kansas State. He was the assistant athletic director at Kansas State before moving on to Colorado, where he has held that position for the past two years. McGuffin strongly expressed interest in helping students out at Western, and that was a key factor in drawing his attention towards Division II athletics.

As for the current director, Nicoson is set to retire in June 2012. He took over as the Athletic Director shortly after Dave Williams’ contract was not renewed last summer. Williams had been the A.D. since March 2008.

Tahler Johnston kills the ball in the third set of Western’s second conference home game. The Griffons defeated the Bearcats in split games Tuesday night.

Before the fifth game ended, Missouri Western looked flustered.

Down by four, the Griffons needed a spark in order to defeat their MIAA rival Northwest Missouri State. But instead of one player in particular garnering the change, a team effort for Western was all it needed.

Western defeated Northwest in a five-game set Tuesday in the Looney Complex. With the victory, the Griffons improved to .500 in the conference and 9-7 overall.

“The energy that we brought here was better [than last week's],” coach Frederick said. “The carry over from Texas was we still had a little bit of ball control issues. That’s something we’ve got to get under control.”

Although the Griffons won the first game, the following game didn’t look like the same team. Western showed little energy, in contrast to its opponent.

“It’s really common to see, where you get up 1-0, and you kind of relax a little bit,” said Frederick, who is in his third season as the coach. “I’m happy to see towards the end of the game they’ll stick with it and finish out the match.”

Western finished Northwest in the final game, though it had trouble early. With his team down 8-5, Frederick called a timeout and the team rallied around each other to finish out the game on a 10-4 run and win 15-12. Western won each of its other two games 25-19. It lost the second game 25-18 and the fourth 25-14.

Torey Lyman led the team in digs with 14. Steadily behind her with 12 was freshman Sarah Faublel.

“It’s such a big deal since they’re our rivals, and we’re glad that we got it accomplished,” Faubel said. She also gave credit to senior Tahler Johnston, who tied Shelby Corkill with 14 kills, which led the game.

“She’s such a star player and she brings so much energy and team leadership to our team.”

Johnston was one of four players who had double-digit digs. Besides the aforementioned Faubel, Lyman and Johnston, Stephanie Hattey had 10 digs herself.

The 2010 MIAA Freshman of the Year had 48 assists to help Western win and secure its third straight home win over the Bearcats.

Factor in two season-ending injuries - T.J. Fannin and Marcus Thompson - how should Western fare in the second half of the season?

Although Jerry Partridge said he would much rather be 5-0 at this point, three wins out of the “more challenging” part of the season isn’t too bad. The Pittsburg State loss is all of a sudden looking less devastating after it handed No. 1 Northwest Missouri State its first conference loss in six years.

Not to say that Western would beat Pittsburg if the two squared off this Saturday instead of opening weekend, but maybe the first game should be overlooked. Yes, Pittsburg was playing its first game of the season as well, and the Gorillas were the road team, but they knew what they had in Zac Dickey and caught lightning in a bottle with transfer Jon Brown.

Western, on the other hand, saw Travis Partridge start his first game and its defense go up against an offense that is averaging over 37 points-per-game, as well as a Pistol Gun set that drew attention away from Western’s defensive line and standout players Ben Pister and David Bass.

The next three Saturdays, Western has a date set up with teams that have a combined record of 4-11; two of the games are at Spratt Stadium. These games are definitely not chalked up as wins just yet, especially since they are all conference games, but winning the games would set the Griffons up with a 6-2 record. Last year’s 8-3 record sent Western up to Maryville, Mo. for post-season play. Will the committee be so kind this year?

Highly unlikely, considering the MIAA doesn’t receive that sort of superior credit — Pittsburg, Washburn and Northwest are all in front of Western, and don’t forget about the Mules: they’re still around. Three of those teams will probably receive a bid. Four, well, maybe; all five — no. So how about this: On Nov. 5, when Northwest comes to town to play Western, the meeting between the Bearcats and Griffons could actually have a playoff contention scenario, and so that game might actually mean something. Wait. It always means something.

Men’s

Missouri Intercollegiate – 18 teams

Western places 7th overall — t13. Tyler Gast with a score of 232.

Pittsburg State – 11 teams

Western places 8th overall — No. 20 Logan Gilliland with a score of 151.

13th Annual NSU Classic – 19 teams

Western places 15th overall — t14. Tyler Gast with a score of 217.

Women’s

Drury Fall Shootout – 18 teams

Western places 9th overall — t24. Shelby Stone with a score of 161.

CSP Wildwood Lodge Invitational – 12 teams

Western places 6th overall — t8. Natalie Bird with a score of 161.

Fort Hays State Invitational – 4 teams

Western places 2nd overall — No. 6 Kristen Cooley with a score of 170.

The Griffons fall to 3-4 overall and 0-1 in MIAA conference play while the Jennies improved to 9-1 and 2-0 in conference play.

“We battled and fought with them,” coach Chad Edwards said. “They were undefeated last year and made the NCAA tournament, so for us to battle and be tied at half is great. Now we have to finish the game and play that second half.”

Central wasted little time scoring the first goal. Becky Lackey knocked in her fifth goal of the season on a rebound from one-yard-out in the fourth minute.

The Griffons tied the score at 1-1 when they connected on their only shot attempt of the first half. Teddie Serna scored on an assist from K.C. Ramsell at the 20-yard-line on a shot that landed in the bottom left corner of the net.

“We made the run up the field and K.C. ran into some pressure,” said Serna. “I was open behind her so she just dropped it back, and I had the opportunity to shoot so I took it.”

The game was tied 1-1 at halftime despite the Jennies controlling field position and attempting 22 shots to the Griffons one.

The Jennies made the score 2-1 on a goal from Carly Stanley in minute 57 from 15-yards-out. The assist was from Kristin Bright.

Kayla Shain assisted on a goal from Alyssa Rhodes in the 71st minute to make the score 3-1.

Western only attempted three shots on the day and attempted no corner kicks, while the Jennies shot 39 times and had eight corner kicks. Ashlyn Castillo and Brooke English both missed on their only shot attempts.

Ramsell is the Griffons leading scorer on the season with five goals; however she was unable to get off a shot attempt against the Jennies. Ramsell is only two goals shy from the all-time record of goals made at Western.

Despite allowing three goals, Western goalkeeper Kelly Voigts saved 14 shots, including some athletic diving saves on several occasions when the Jennies had a chance to extend the lead.

“She is a stud, and I am so thrilled she is on our side,” said Edwards. “She is an all-conference player for sure.”

The Griffons have held the lead or been tied at halftime in all four of their losses this season. They defeated Washburn 2-1 on Thursday.

“I’m proud of the girls for figuring out a way to keep in the games for a half, but now we just have to finish our games like we did on Thursday,” Edwards said.

Both teams committed five fouls in a very physical contest.

“That’s what you are going to get playing top teams in the country,” Edwards said. “I don’t think we looked less physical than them, they just possessed the ball a little better. That’s a very good team.”

The Griffons will play their second conference game on Tuesday when they take on the Truman State Bulldogs in Kirksville, Mo.

Western (3-2) fell behind early, after Southern (1-3) scored on a 1-yard-touchdown run by Steven Sumpter.

Western’s Greg Zuerlein connected on three straight field goal attempts on the next three drives, including a Western record 57-yard try, breaking the previous record of 54. Zuerlein tied a school record with five field goals.

Up 9-7, Travis Partridge hit receiver Adam Clausen in stride for an 8-yard score to give the Griffons a two score lead, 16-7.

After halftime, Western was up 16-10 when Jerry Partridge decided to go for it on 4th-and-1 from the 46-yard-line. The Griffons ran a sneak and Travis Partridge ran up the middle, pounding his way through the hole before breaking loose. He would score on the run to give Western a 22-10 lead midway through the third. The 46-yard-touchdown was Partridge’s second touchdown run this season.

Western didn’t look back. There were two interceptions in the second half, one by Jeremy Weston and the other by Shane Simpson, as well as two more touchdowns gave Western a 35-23 victory, which now pulls the Griffons even at 2-2 in the conference.

David Bass had another two-sack game, giving him nine on the season. Weston recorded his third interception. Michael Hill ran for 125 yards on 21 carries, and Partridge had 96 yards on the ground as well as completing 50 percent of his passes for 120 yards.

Western lost kickoff return specialist and starting receiver T.J. Fannin for the season with a ruptured Achilles tendon. The loss hurts the Griffons as he was the leading receiver on the team with 13 receptions heading into Saturday’s game. Also, cornerback Marcus Thompson broke his leg early in the first half, and he too will miss the remainder of the season.

Western returns home next week to play Lincoln (Mo.).

Other scores in the MIAA: In a battle between the top two teams in the MIAA, No. 16 Pittsburg State played No. 1 Northwest Missouri State in the annual Fall Classic game at Arrowhead in Kansas City, Mo. Pittsburg, once down 28-6, scored 29 straight points on its way to a 38-35 upset victory and ended Northwest’s 49-game conference win streak. Fort Hays State defeated Lincoln 24-21. No. 9 Washburn remains undefeated after a 41-20 victory over Emporia State. No. 18 Central Missouri topped non-conference opponent Arkansas Tech 42-16 and Truman State beat McKendree.

Alnutt, the senior associate athletic director for administration at Missouri, was the fourth and final man to make a pitch for the Athletic Director position currently available at Missouri Western. Alnutt spoke about why he wants to be at Western during his presentation in the GISC.

“This is a tremendous facility,” Alnutt said. “I’ve told many people that we would die for a facility like this in Columbia, Mo. This is something we need to take advantage of.”

The facility, as well as the community, are two of the reasons Alnutt stated to make him want to be at Western.

“One thing that attracted me here to this position is: This is a great community to raise a family,” Alnutt said.

Alnutt is the only candidate out of the final four that has never had a director of athletics job. This doesn’t matter to Alnutt; he said he has worked hard his whole life and has been put up against the odds plenty of times.

He was a former walk-on for the Missouri Tigers football team. Alnutt eventually played well enough to be put on scholarship and graduated at Missouri shortly after. He stated that competitiveness is all too important when dealing with college students, but not just the drive to succeed at their sport, but also the will to graduate. He said that’s what makes a student a champion.

“It’s a tremendous honor to represent [Western],” Alnutt said. “There’s going to be a lot of victories, and when I say victories I’m not just talking about games. I’m talking about victories in the classroom.”

Alnutt did not shy away from questions about the Kansas City Chiefs summer camp. He has negotiated with the Chiefs before, as he was one of the key partners in the Missouri-Kansas fall rivalry game being played at Arrowhead Stadium for the past four seasons.

“My next step is to be able to stay in communication with them and make sure this camp stays here for a long time and it benefits both parties.”

The Missouri alum made a bold statement before taking questions from the media and boosters at the presentation.

“I guarantee we’ll make it the full 10 years,” said Alnutt, when referring to the Chiefs and Western’s partnership in the summer camp. The camp currently has three years left in its contract, and after that point either side can separate at any point for the following five summers.

Alnutt said he is sure about the Chiefs because relationships are what matter, and he has a strong relationship with many of the Chiefs’ personnel.

Besides handling money at Missouri, he is also the chairman of the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Committee. He said he understands rivalries, and another draw to Western is that the MIAA reminds him of the Big XII, in the sense that it is a strong conference.

Ashlyn Castillo bounces the ball off her head to give Western momentum again.

The Griffons Soccer team fell to 2-3 on the season after losing their home opener at Spratt Stadium against the Fort Hays State Tigers. They lost 2-1 after letting a one goal halftime lead slip away.

“It was a matter of effort, and we will get it fixed,” coach Chad Edwards said. “We need to be more consistent for ninety minutes.”

The Griffons took the early lead when K.C. Ramsell scored a goal off an assist from Ashlyn Castillo in the 14th minute of the game. The goal was the fifth of the season for the freshman.  She has scored five of the seven total goals on the season for the Griffons.

“K.C. has been fantastic,” Edwards said. ” As a team we need to be more consistent for the ninety minutes, but she is doing fabulous.”

Things looked good for the Griffons at halftime as they held a 1-0 lead, but Hays wasted little time in the second half to score.  Joanne Glynn netted a goal from twenty yards out on an assist from Cindy Benitez in the 50th minute.

Hays stayed aggressive and scored its second goal to make the score 2-1 in favor of the Tigers in the 62nd minute.  Glynn scored the goal on an assist from Benitez again.

“We let two players on their team beat our whole team,” said goalkeeper Kelly Voigts. “We have to learn how to play a whole ninety minutes, and we have to learn how to play with heart and take pride in the field.”

The Griffons tried to make a comeback and tie the game up near the end. It looked as if Ramsell had a chance to score again, but an off-sides penalty was called.

“We do work well together as a team, but today we didn’t connect our passes like we usually do,” Ramsell said. “That’s why we didn’t have a chance to come back and score.”

Voigts made 10 saves and gave up two goals. Hays attempted 21 shots to the Griffons’ 13.

“Kelly is fantastic. She is a leader, an all-conference player, and we are fortunate to have her on our side,”  Edwards said of his goalkeeper.

This is the first season that Hays has a soccer program and the first ever meeting between the Tigers and the Griffons.  Hays is 3-4-1 on the season.

“Our goal was to score first–we just have to be able to finish the game,” said Edwards. “We just gave up too many opportunities.”

The Griffons next game is against Washburn Sept. 27 at 6 p.m. in Topeka, Kan.  The Ichabods are 0-4-1.

Photos by: Jason Brown

Missouri Western football is knee-deep in its regular season schedule. Four games in with only two wins, all indications are that the Griffons need to win six out of their next seven games to have a chance at another post-season appearance.

But Western may be on the uprise. With some heads looking down at the quarterback, Travis Partridge led a 12 play, 70-yard drive to signify his presence with the Griffons is needed. Before the drive, Western looked shot. It was down by two touchdowns, and the offense didn’t appear able to amount to a comeback.

Although the Griffons comeback did fall short, that drive alone stood out for many reasons. For one, the job of the quarterback isn’t simple, but one of the main areas a quarterback needs to be successful in is third-down- and fourth-down-conversions.

Partridge nailed a third down, 7-yard strike to TJ Fannin on the Griffon side of the field. Three plays later, on fourth-and-1, Partridge ran for a first.

His most impressive play came when he hit wide receiver Tyron Crockum for a touchdown. Not only did it give Western a serious shot at winning a nationally televised game, on the road against a top-10 opponent, but the ball zipped past the defender’s hand. If the ball was thrown any differently, an interception would have ended the night, and more criticism would come.

One question remains about the offense, and it is not the quarterback. Why is the offensive coordinator still running what seems to be over 90 percent of the plays out of the shotgun? Michael Hill is an old-school type of running back. He is averaging four yards a carry. Is the shotgun really needed? And it’s not like Western’s receivers have outstanding numbers right now.

Fannin leads the team with 13 receptions, and no other receiver has double-digit catches. If the offensive line can help give Partridge more time to throw, perhaps the team can justify its play calls.

Until then, the Griffons should give 100 percent effort Saturday afternoon, when they head to Joplin, Mo. to take on Missouri Southern. Because they know every game is the most important game of the week, and they must take it one game at a time.

In 2005, the same year Fannin graduated from high school, Hurricane Katrina forced him and his family to relocate to Missouri.

“I have been evacuated from probably 15 hurricanes in my life,” Fannin said. “I just thought this was another evacuation, but they weren’t letting people back in the state for a month or two this time.”

But this wasn’t just another evacuation. The city was ruined. Where Fannin lived was destroyed by wind damage, and 20 minutes down the road there was 40 feet of water.  Some of his friends lost their homes.

Fannin’s parents are originally from Missouri and decided to make the permanent move after being back here for a couple of months. Fannin’s heart was still in New Orleans, and he didn’t want to be in Missouri, away from everything he knew.

He went back on his own and began working and living in a FEMA trailer, which is a government-issued trailer given to victims of the hurricanes that sit in front of their homes and run off propane and electricity from the house. They have become part of the cultural landscape of New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina.

“It was 5 or 6 feet by 15 to 20 feet,” Fannin said. “We would run out of propane all the time. There were times during the winter when we didn’t have any propane at all.”

The trailer Fannin was living in was in front of his best friend’s grandmother’s house. She decided that she didn’t want them living there anymore and cut off the electricity to the trailer. At that point, Fannin was living in a FEMA trailer with no propane or electricity.

Fannin went back to Missouri and attended a community college. He grew tired of it and decided to go back to New Orleans. He planned to work for a while and then walk on to a football team and go to school there, but money and living situations forced him to move back to Missouri with his parents.  He met a girl that encouraged him to go to school, and he started looking for a place to play football.

“I wanted to play for a really good school,” Fannin said. “I sent my highlight tape out to a bunch of places, and it came down to here and Northwest (Missouri State).”

The choice became an easy one when the coach of Northwest told Fannin that they only allowed two players to walk on each year, so he shouldn’t even bother.

“Western let me know that they wanted me here and were happy to have me,” Fannin said. “When I got here they had a locker ready for me and everything. It was like God sending me a message, telling me this is where I was supposed to be: this is my new home.”

Fannin’s greatest gift on the football field is his world-class speed. He has been clocked running the 40-yard dash in 4.3 seconds, which is very impressive for any level of athlete.

“He is obviously very fast,” coach Jerry Partridge said. “His running ability is so great that he can catch the short ones and make things happen after the catch. When he catches the ball he turns into a running back out there.”

Fannin misses his two sisters, two nieces, a nephew and his many friends who are in Louisiana and still visits when he can.

“It’s tough watching your best friends get married and have kids and you can’t be there, but it is what it is,” Fannin said. “Never would have thought I would be playing football at Missouri Western. I had never even heard of it, but it worked out great, and I wouldn’t change it for anything.”

When you run as fast as Fannin does, there is always a chance at having a future in professional football.

“I’d go play anywhere, really. I’d play arena football, Canadian football. Why not? To be making money to play football would be really cool. It’s a game,” Fannin said.

Name: K.C. Ramsell

Sport: Women’s Soccer

Year: Freshman

Position: Forward

Stats this week: Shots on goal — 2; Total shots — 2; Goals — 1

Ramsell scored her fifth goal in five games last Saturday and almost added another in the second half of her first home game played at Western. Though the Griffons lost (2-1) and have a record of 2-3, Ramsell is currently 11th in the nation in goals scored per game.

He stated that this is what Missouri Western needs throughout his presentation Monday at the Griffon Indoor Sports Complex.

McClain, one of four candidates for the Athletic Director job currently available at Western, said he wants to be a part of the Griffons and loves the division in which Western participates.

“Things that happen at Division II programs are a little bit different,” McClain said. “I’ve proven that programs I’ve been involved in have been successful. I think from a learning curve standpoint, I walk the walk.”

McClain was a Division II athlete at Delta State, where he is currently the AD. He said that D-II is entertaining just like Division I, but that the atmosphere is great because you can be a student athlete, as well as have the experience of being a part of the student body.

“Student-athletes have a unique opportunity to not only play high level, highly competitive, very entertaining college athletics, but to also be a better student.”

The Delta graduate said the key to recruiting as well as maintaining a great program is to have athletes that graduate. McClain stands behind his words, as the graduation rate at Delta has risen from 50 to 69 percent while he has been in charge. He says if Western can hold a steady 60 percent graduation rate, everybody will benefit.

“That’s a pretty lofty goal, but it can be done,” said McClain, who also stated it helps with recruiting when talking to parents. “[Recruitment] is the key to reaching that goal of 60 percent and reaching the goal of quality programs.”

Western is attractive to McClain because he likes the facilities, the campus and St. Joseph. McClain said Western is in great shape to move forward and build on success.

A former professional athlete, McClain was an All American baseball player at Delta. He said that if anybody asked about his legacy, Delta would be thankful for what he accomplished while there, as a student and a director.

“I would hope that people would say that we were successful,” McClain said. “That we won on the field and on the court. That our student athletes were treated fairly. That they were given resources they needed, the opportunity to be successful and that we graduated our student athletes.”

But overall, McClain said his student athletes were given an opportunity to succeed in sports and in the classroom because the budget was very well balanced.

“We are facing pretty difficult times, but it didn’t sacrifice what we provided for our student athletes, fans and our lives.”

On Friday, Kaverman stood in front of his audience in Spratt Hall and said there are five areas in which Western needs help.

After he announced the five: academic success, competitive success, program integrity, external outreach and athletic program value to the universtiy and community, Kaverman began his presentation.

“Visioning as an exercise is just the first step in a planning process,” Kaverman said.

Kaverman envisions plenty of future plans for Western. One of his plans includes Western finishing in the top half of the conference.

“[We] need to compete annually for MIAA championships,” Kaverman said. “[We should] be recognized nationally by having teams consistently advance to post-season play.”

Kaverman said in order to compete and have success, athletics has to be important to the community. He believes fundraising options are available through private parties.

“The only way we are going to be able to move forward,” Kaverman said, “is to generate additional financial support.”

There are over 21,000 alumni in the state of Missouri, and over 5,000 live in the St. Joseph region.

The Harris-Stowe athletic director is a former director at Western. He was here when Jerry Partridge was announced as the head football coach. Kaverman left Western in 1999 to go to Southeast Missouri State, where he served as Athletic Director for 10 years.

If Western appoints Kaverman to the university, it will hire an applicant who has had issues in the past.

While at Southeast, Kaverman helped produce the Women’s basketball team as a participant in the NCAA Tournament. However, Kaverman was fired at Southeast for refusing to resign after allegations spread of illegal actions taking place at Southeast.

“I don’t feel we violated the rules,” Kaverman said. “The rules are very complex.”

Southeast was accused of violating several NCAA terms, such as future prospects given benefits and coaches illegally watching practices. Kaverman believes that the allegations were more of a miscommunication than a violation.

“We didn’t consciously violate anything,” Kaverman said. “We found ourselves in violation of rules as a result of not knowing what was going on.”

Kaverman said changes have been made since he was last employed here, and that it a great thing. If Western can succeed in the five areas he mentioned, he thinks it will have a successful program. He also said the athletics program should not have to compete with St. Joseph.

“Griffon athletics definitely makes Missouri Western a better place,” Kaverman said. “It’s important to communicate that with the university and the community through the media.”

Western was up by three at halftime but let the lead squander away as they lost 41-20.

“They had big conversion plays [in the second half],” Partridge said. “We did wear down a little bit. Some of Washburn’s technique wore us down.”

The Griffons showed how well they could adapt on the road against a top-10 team, even when things weren’t exactly going their way.

Western had three turnovers in the first half, but still held a tight lead, 13-10.

“We played pretty good in the first half,” Partridge said, though he admitted Western still had problems. ”We did a lot of mindless things.”

Travis Partridge impressed the coach as well. Partridge was making his first road start of his collegiate career.

“One of the brighter spots of the football game was how he played.”

Travis kept his composure throughout the game. Even though he has faced skeptical criticism, Partridge showed he can play against an MIAA opponent on the road.

“In the first half we came out playing,” Partridge said. “We just didn’t get it done. There was not one thing I know that we could have done.”

In the second half, Western (2-2) fell behind after two big touchdown drives by Washburn (4-0). The Ichabods came out primed. They scored on a five play, 57 yard drive and then on an 11 play, 60 yard drive to tire out Western’s defense and keep Travis Partridge and company off the field.

“We were really not a smart football team tonight,” Jerry Partridge said.

Travis didn’t connect with his receivers for much of the third quarter. The Griffons went three-and-out, and then Partridge gave Washburn its biggest break of the game.

The Ichabods, up by four midway through the third, backed their pass coverage up. Playing off of wide receiver Tarrell Downing, Partridge sailed the pass too high, and Ichabods cornerback Devon Connors snatched the ball out of the air. The pass put Washburn in great field position to set up the next touchdown. Eventually, it would add a field goal to up the lead to two scores.

Partridge didn’t let the crowd, nor the 14-point predicament Western had in the fourth, affect his play. He stayed tough and drove the Griffons from their own 30-yard-line down to the seven. From there, he zipped a pass through Washburn’s defenders coverage to Tyron Crockum for the score. This put the Griffons down by a touchdown with 9:17 left in the ballgame.

Western’s defense couldn’t hold up against pre-season All American quarterback Dane Simoneau and his prolific offense.

“We just gave up some big plays in the second half,” cornerback Ben Jackson said. “We just didn’t play [Missouri Western] football.”

Jackson wasn’t on the field when the Griffons were down by seven late in the fourth. Instead, Marcus Thompson stepped in at right cornerback, but couldn’t handle the receivers he was put up against.

He was flagged for pass interference, which moved Washburn inside the 30-yard-line. And a few plays later, the Ichabods ended Western’s hope at a victory.

“They got a couple big runs,” Jackson said. “Passing wise, maybe we gave up a little bit over the top, but that’s on the secondary. We’ll come back harder.”

Washburn faked a run on third-and-goal from its three-yard-line, and delivered a strike towards Thompson’s side as wide receiver Ronnell Garner caught a pass in the back of the end zone. With 6:47 left on the clock, Washburn again found itself up by two scores.

“They made some great plays, and they’re a really good football team,” Jerry Partridge said.

Western gave up just eight yards on the ground in the first half, but in the third quarter alone had 207 total yards. Western had just four yards passing in the quarter.

The loss hurts the Griffons, not just because they find themselves at 2-2, but also because they have to go on the road again next week to battle Missouri Southern in Joplin, Mo.

Western was without starting defensive end Ben Pister, who was suspended for disciplinary reasons. He will return for the Griffons next week, and they need him. Western did record two sacks on the day, but the pass rush wasn’t there, and it was noticeable in the second half. Jerry Partridge compared Washburn’s offense to Pittsburg State’s, as the misdirection plays in the second half hurt the Griffons.

With only two wins in four games, the Griffons find themselves in a must-win mode as they look to make it back to the playoffs. Last season, they fell to rival Northwest Missouri State in the first round, though the Griffons did make it in with three losses.

Downing had three receptions for 61 yards. Adam Clausen caught an 11-yard-touchdown to put Western up 13-10 towards the end of the second half.

Simoneau shook off a bad first-half performance to end up with 360 yards through the air. Another pre-season All American, defensive end David Bass, recorded a sack in this third straight game. The game was broadcast on national television (CBS Sports Network).

All Photos by: Jason Brown

Name: Michael Hill

Sport: Football

Year: Junior

Position: Running Back

Stats this week: Rushes — 19; Yards — 91; Touchdowns — 2

Hill opened up this year as the true starting running back for the Griffons, and has done a solid job so far. Against Langston, Hill rushed for a score and added another, this time as a receiver, in the third quarter.

“My whole family is very supportive,” Johnston said. “They travel to all my games and they have had the biggest impact on my life, and they will always have the biggest impact.”

Johnston leans on her father, Bernie, to help her with volleyball technique and skill and her mother, Melanie, for emotional support. If she needs someone to vent to, her mother has always been there to pick her up.

“My parents are great people,” Johnston said. ”Even when my mother was diagnosed with cancer last year and was going through chemotherapy, she still traveled to every game.”

Johnston’s mother finished chemotherapy on June 2 and is now cancer-free.

She is also extremely close with her older sister, Taryn, who was a volleyball player, too.

“I love my big sister. We talk almost every day,” Johnston said. “If she can’t make it to my games, she is always watching the live stats.”

So far this season, Johnston is not only leading the team in kills with 102 after nine matches, but she is playing the role of team leader inside the locker room.

“Tahler has stepped up her leadership this year on her own,” Coach Cory Frederick said. “When you have players that take on that leadership role internally, it makes you much more successful overall.”

Johnston wrote her team a letter before the first conference game of the year against Fort Hays State featuring motivational quotes to pump them up. She also provides ribbons for the team to wear, carrying on a tradition from high school.

“We wear yellow on our right side because that is our team color, and that’s our dominant side, so that’s what it stands for,” Johnston said.

Johnston is from Marshalltown, Iowa and lists upsetting third ranked Ames in high school to go to the state tournament as her greatest sports accomplishment.

“We were the underdog and nobody expected us to win. We went five games, and the fifth game went to 22-20,” Johnston said. “The last time the team made it to state was four years earlier when my sister played there.”

Johnston spent two years at Indian Hills Community College before becoming a Griffon. The first year was different for her because the coach had a policy that freshman couldn’t compete for a position until after half way through the season. Johnston’s second season was much more successful. There was a coaching change and her position was changed from middle to outside, a position where she thrives today.

Johnston has nothing but positive things to say about her time at Western so far.

“The girls here are awesome. Some of my closest friends have been from the team,” Johnston said. “I have always struggled with school and never really liked it, but I enjoy the school here. I recommend this school to a lot of people.”

Johnston finished second on the team in 2010 with 271 kills. She scored a career best 22.5 points against conference opponent Pittsburg State. This season is still young, but she has continued her outstanding play, making the UNK Fall Classic all-tournament team.

Johnston plans to graduate in the spring with a degree in business management and work in the human resources field.

But once that fan looks at the numbers and notices the competition was not the best, then they begin to question how good this Griffons team will really be.

The first part of the game was a slow start – not a lot of action for the offense – but the defense and special teams were making plays to keep the fans into the game. It seemed as though Western had the field goal kicker out there on the field more than the offense.

The defense made some excellent plays to keep this game a shutout from the beginning. Three interceptions and three fumble recoveries were plenty to keep the momentum going for the team, and with the help of special teams, it was only a matter of time before the offense would take off and begin to put up numbers.

Going into halftime with a strong lead was not good enough for the Griffons. In the third quarter, 21 points were added to the score to boast the differential to 40. The team was beginning to function well on all cylinders. Running the ball became the main strategy for Western. The scheme was working well, so they stuck to it throughout the quarter. The Griffons completed every one of their possessions in the quarter, where in the first half 4-7 possessions resulted in field goals.

Michael Hill had an average game. Nothing stellar took place, but he was a constant worry on this Langston University defense. Hill averaged 4.6 yards a carry, moving the ball in for three scores throughout the game showed his hard work had paid off, even though his numbers were nothing to boast about. Hill ran for under 100 yards and received another 13.

One standout player who kept popping up through the game was CB Isaac Collins, who was making plays on special teams and on the defensive side of the ball. With a blocked punt and the recovery taken all the way to the Langston seven yard line Collins was able to set the Griffons up for their first score of the game.

Early in the fourth quarter Collins was able to make a great interception in a very timely manner. It was the deepest Langston had made it into Griffon territory and while knocking on the door of the red zone, Collins was able to snag an opportunity away quickly.

For the most part, the team did look stellar to this 2-0 Langston team, but the one part of the team that looked weak to everyone was the Griffons quarterback. Travis Partridge seemed to be having problems making smart plays from the get-go of this game. Partridge seemed as though he could not throw on the run, nor could he complete a pass to a player in motion.

In the opening minutes of the third quarter, a 53 yard reception was made by Tarrell Downing. On paper the play looks like a great score, but in reality the receiver had to stop his momentum to come back for the ball, then make a great turn up the field for the score. Partridge never looked completely confident in the pocket. During scramble situations it seemed as though he was unsure of what choices to make.

Throwing for a 50 percent completion rate was not a great showing from this young quarterback against a team of Langston’s quality. With the 18 offensive plays in the third quarter, 11 rushes and seven passes were attempted. The third quarter was such a large success due mainly to the running scheme brought together by the coaches.

This Western team has the ability to have a great season, but with QB questions already being brought up by fans and players, it makes one question: What will happen? If the accuracy questions are brought to light and fixed for this Thursday’s game, then the team will have nothing to worry about except making a run for the playoffs.

On the last play of the match, the Griffons celebrate winning their third and final game over Fort Hayes winning the night 3-0.

The Griffon volleyball team swept conference opponent Fort Hays State  Saturday in the first home game of the season with scores of 25-17, 26-24, 25-21. The team improved their record to 5-4 overall and 1-0 in MIAA conference play.

“We looked good overall. We need to eliminate some errors that we can control on our side, but overall I’m happy with the performance,” Coach Cory Frederick said. ”We need to win all these games that we can right now.”

Seniors Tahler Johnston and Alexandra Behnke led the way for the Griffons. Johnston finished the day with 12 kills and Behnke with 11. Other contributers were Hannah Zimmerman with eight kills and Meredith McCormick and Shelby Corkill with seven kills each.

Stephanie Hattey finished with 39 of the Griffon’s 42 assists on the day. Sarah Faubel had 16 digs.

“I think it was good for the freshman and the newcomers to get a feel for what our home court was like and we will just come out stronger every time,” Johnston said.

Game one was played even by both teams with the score tied at 8-8. Western went on a run and was able to grab a 15-9 lead after a kill by Hattey. It didn’t look back and went on to win the set 25-17. Johnston had five kills in the first game.

The second game provided the biggest scare of the day for the Griffons. Western went up 5-1 in the second set after two kills from Behnke. The Tigers battled back and took a 13-12 lead and were ahead the rest of the way until the very end. With the match on the line, the Griffons kept composure and scored the last four points of the match to end it at 26-24. Western had 16 kills on the match with Behnke and Zimmerman scoring four each.

“It’s nice to see them not give up and play all the way through to the end of the game,” Frederick said. ”We had 14 errors on our side of the net during the second set, which is something we need to eliminate. I think we can make it not so close next time.”

The third set started out close, tied at nine all.  After a Western kill from Zimmerman, it took a 14-11 lead and the two teams played even until the end after that. The final score of the third game was 25-21 Griffons.

The Griffon’s next two games are both against tough MIAA conference opponents on the road. Friday they will play at Emporia State and Saturday they play at Washburn.

All Photos by: Jason Brown

For more photos see: http://www.gogriffons.com/gallery.asp?sport=Volleyball&year=2011&album=Volleyball11-FHSU9-17-11

But on Saturday, Western defeated Langston University 47-0 at Spratt Stadium, a game which sets up a tough matchup on Thursday at Washburn, who, as of Saturday, is ranked No. 13 according to the America Football Coaches Association.

“We played well,” coach Jerry Partridge said. “I felt pretty good about it. A couple plays bothered me.”

Western started out slow, as they went into half up 19-0. In the third quarter is where the game turned in the Griffon’s favor.

“We’ve really played well in the second half all year.”

Travis Partridge went 7-for-19 for 105 yards and one touchdown in the first half. His shaky performance changed in the second half, as he led the team on three scoring drives in a row. The Griffons first play from scrimmage in the second half — a 53-yard strike to Tarrell Downing — was a touchdown. From there, Western pounded its way to another touchdown behind junior running back Michael Hill.

The Griffons scored for the third time in the third quarter when Partridge ran a quarterback sneak up the middle for a 1-yard-touchdown as Western [2-1] went up 40-0 over Langston.

“There was no difference in our attitude from the first to the second half; we just executed,” said Partridge, who was making just his third career start. “After getting three under my belt, the game is starting to slow down. It’s fun.”

Partridge was a perfect 5-for-5 in the second half.

The starters were taken out after the last touchdown, as Western has to have a sufficient amount of rest before it’s next game. On Thursday, on national television in Topeka, Kan., Washburn awaits.

“[Washburn] is real important. We have to send a message to this team and the other teams in the MIAA,” David Bass said. He registered another pair of sacks to go along with his four-sack performance last week when Western upset No. 12 Central Missouri 23-6. The defense hasn’t allowed a touchdown since the second-to-last play in the opening week against Pittsburg State.

Western’s offense didn’t perform well in the first half, though they had a 19-0 lead. Four times Western had the Lions inside the 20-yard-line, but could only come away with 12 points [four field goals].

“We didn’t run the ball well down there,” Jerry Partridge said. “We didn’t cash in; we left some points out there.”

Special teams played a valuable role for Western as well. Yomi Alli and Isaac Collins both blocked punts in the first half to set up great field position for Western. Collins also had his second career interception early in the fourth quarter. The senior said it was exciting to be able to contribute, on both defense and special teams.

“We knew that they were a little bit weaker on the edges,” Collins said. “So we had a couple twist that were going on, to confuse them a little bit on who they were suppose to block.”

Western’s special teams also faked a punt and a field goal because they felt Langston [2-1] wouldn’t look for it. The fake punt saw Reggie Jordan take the snap to the left side and dust out a 57-yard run. He had two receptions for 56 yards to go with his long run.

Hill had 20 carriers for 92 yards and a touchdown. Backup quarterback Jerrin Walton saw a lot of playing time late in the game. He complete two passes but ran seven times. This marked the first shutout for the Griffons in nine seasons.

Western will play it’s third MIAA game Thursday at 7 p.m at Washburn. It will be broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Network.

Other scores in the MIAA from the weekend’s contest: Central squeaked out a seven point win over Emporia State, 45-38. Northwest Missouri State again pounded its opponent and improved to 3-0 as they defeated Lincoln [Mo.] 73-7. Washburn, just like the other two games, went on the road and won 30-14 against Missouri Southern State. Washburn is now 3-0 on the year. Southwest Baptist and Pittsburg made it five out of six for the road teams this week in the division as Baptist won 30-28 over Fort Hays State and the Gorillas surprisingly had trouble from Truman State. They won 27-26 to stay undefeated. All three were MIAA games.

All Photos By: Jason Brown

McGuffin flashed a picture on his powerpoint which showed himself, his wife and two sons sitting on a park bench. He said he is a family man and his values will lead Missouri Western in a positive direction.

The first of four presentations was heard on Thursday afternoon in the Griffon Indoor Sports Complex to a room filled with coaches and media. McGuffin, assistant athletic director of athletics development at the University of Colorado, stood in front of everybody and showed he wasn’t afraid to explain his reasons for wanting to come to Western.

“We have to do a better job so the community knows we are doing our job,” McGuffin said. “I want Missouri Western to be St. Joseph’s team, not just [Western's].”

McGuffin said that he would like to be the Athletic Director of a Division II school because he sees the difference between the two divisions, and that Division II sports are more into student-athletes than just athletes or money.

“I don’t care what level you’re at, relationships are the bigger factor,” McGuffin said. “Sometimes the bigger you get, the less focussed you are on what is important.”

McGuffin said student-athletes are the reason why he has a job and he misses being apart of them more. He went on to say money creates more problems, but if Western can have a good budget with better facilities, they will make the next step that people are craving.

The Wichita State graduate said he does want success in sports as well as in the classroom. He wants athletes to graduate with a diploma, a championship ring and a smile.

McGuffin has a bachelor of science in education, received at Kansas State in 1996, and three years later received a master of science in education at Wichita State. He has been involved in the Big XII for the past decade, as he was the Assistant Director of Athletics for Development at Kansas State before taking his current position at Colorado, which he has worked for the past two years. If he is employed at Western, he wants the students to be prepared for life after college.

“When students go out into that work force, and they get knocked down, [it's our job] they get back up,” McGuffin said. “Some of them are still young kids that we have to continue to beat that home on. When [students] get out there, it’s going to be rough, but now they’ll have the tools to succeed.”

“I’m overall happy with how everything turned out and I think we are getting closer to playing competitive with the top 25 teams every time we get on the court,” said Coach Cory Frederick.

Senior Tahler Johnston was named to the All-Tournament team for her outstanding play during the tournament.  She tallied 43 kills and 31 digs during the weekend.

“We are kind of our worst enemy right now,” Johnston said. “Nobody is outplaying us or beating us we are beating ourselves. We are making errors and we can change that and get better.”

Chadron State was the Griffons first opponent of the weekend.  Western swept all three games, winning 25-17, 25-23 and 25-23.  Freshman Shelby Corkill led the team with 13 kills in the first match.

The Griffons faced off against 5th ranked Nebraska-Kearny Lopers in their second match of the tournament.  Western was outplayed by the home team and lost the match 3-0 25-10, 25-17, 25-14.  Western was led by Johnston with nine kills, while Stephanie Hattey had 18 assists and 11 digs.

On Sunday the Griffons started the day by defeating Black Hills State 3-0 by game scores of 25-14, 25-13, 25-9. Alexandra Behnke led the Griffons with 12 kills.

“I think we played pretty well for the beginning of the season,” said freshman Sarah Faubel. “Our team has really good chemistry for being such a young team.”

The second match of Sunday featured the Griffons facing off against the 10th ranked Wayne State and was defeated 3-0 with scores of 25-17, 25-19, 25-15. Johnston led the Griffons with 14 kills on the match.

Western will play its first home game of the season on Saturday, Sept. 17 against MIAA Conference opponent Fort Hays State at 4 p.m.

Griffon co-captains and starting safeties Jack Long and Shane Simpson have been in the national spotlight since saving the life of a young boy days before the Griffon’s home opener.

17-month-old Liam Snook was accidentally locked in a hot car and was suffering from heat stroke when Long and Simpson drove by. They noticed the boy’s grandmother frantically and unsuccessfully trying to break out the windows with a hammer. Not understanding why she was doing this, the duo kept driving, but then decided the scene didn’t look right.

They turned the car around and Simpson broke out the window with one swing. The boy’s life was saved. The heroes then went back to check on the boy later on that day to make sure everything was alright.

“The family was definitely grateful. We were just trying to be good human beings,” Simpson said. “It’s a humbling, good experience and it’s just crazy how fast it’s blown up.”

The feel-good story hit national coverage from every major network in the country including ESPN, CNN, NBC and FOX.

The family wanted to give the pair a monetary reward, but the two football heroes turned her down. NCAA regulations won’t allow them to even be treated to dinner, and the guys didn’t feel they deserved a reward anyway.  Saving a life and being lauded for their good deed is enough for them.

“Mostly teachers bring it up in class and a couple people walking around,” Simpson said. “It’s not too crazy. Facebook is really what’s been blowing up, going crazy everywhere.”

The original story, broke by Ryan Menley [Western Director of Athletic Video Production] through a YouTube video that now has 166,000 views.

“I thought that it would get regional play, but when I saw it on the main page of ESPN, that’s when I thought this might go big,” Menley said. “It made a great story because the woman was able to talk about it. It’s a feel good story and people need to know what these kids did.”

People don’t have to look very hard to find stories of college football arrests and other negative stories in the news, and Long credits that for the reason the story went national.

“I’m absolutely positive that’s why. People told us that when we were being interviewed that they were glad there was something positive about college athletes,” Long said. “It kind of counter balances all the negative stuff in the press.”

This story will be remembered and talked about for a long time. The two are thankful for the attention that they have received and feel they were just doing what any decent human being would do.

“I just want to say thank you and we appreciate it from everybody and everyone giving us respect for doing the right thing,” Long said.

Missouri Western football heard all week from the media and the people around them that they looked awful. It was a disaster, a performance that people couldn’t believe was the same team that made the playoffs a year ago. But it was. It was a game that could let a coach know where he stands and how he is perceived by the “true” fans, as well as his first-time quarterback. Until they played again.

Western did what they needed to do to keep the fans from not selling out on them so early in the season. The Griffons defeated a better team, according to AFCA’s rankings, this past Saturday. Rankings can easily be misleading, especially in the pre-season. How else can Pittsburg State, unranked, defeat the Griffons; yet Central Missouri lose?

Coach Jerry Partridge said after his team’s win over Central Missouri that his team just plays football, that Western doesn’t look at wins and losses to determine how they play, nor do they look at how good other teams are that they play. This was determined to be true as his team dominated both sides of the field against the Mules, the same way Pittsburg defeated them on opening weekend.

For people to bash both of the Partridges over one game was senseless. That game looked bad from every angle, but that didn’t mean the whole season would turn out that way. In one game, Western’s season was supposed to be determined as well as the play of a sophomore quarterback who was making his first start, which happened to be an MIAA opponent?

Now, for people to think because they beat the No. 12 team in the country, and Partridge shredded the defense with rigid force as he implemented total excitement in a crowd that hadn’t sounded as loud in two seasons with one 68-yard-touchdown, that this team is far better than week one might not stand true either.

It was two teams with two different game plans, and a team that wasn’t nearly as prepared week one, or motivated, as they were in week two. Now, as the season continues, Western must play as they did against Central, behind pre-season All-American defensive end David Bass and the defensive line, who lived up to the hype finally. If they do that, the football season won’t be as bad as it appeared to be heading after week one.

Over the next several weeks, Western will welcome those finalists to present their vision of Western Athletics, and make their claim as the right person to lead it into the future.

President Robert Vartabedian said that the search for the new AD has gone extremely well, and he has been really impressed with the quality of the candidates. Even those who didn’t make the cut received a stamp of approval.

“The first cut was twelve,” Vartabedian said. “I thought the pool was so deep that I thought any one of those twelve could be a very good AD.”

Vartabedian said that the committee just kept at trying to find the absolute best possible candidates and they have settled on the four coming to campus.

Don Kaverman, Harris-Stowe University — Kaverman is a former Atheltics Director at Missouri Western for four years [1995-1999]. After leaving Western, Kaverman took over as Athletic Director for Division I Southeast Missouri State before accepting director’s position at Harris-Stowe. Redhawks Women’s basketball made the NCAA tournament in 2005 and 2006.

He has also worked in the National Football League as a conditioning coordinator and assistant athletic trainer for the Detroit Lions.

Kaverman has a bachelor’s degree  in business administration and a master’s in physical education from Michigan State University. His presentation is Friday, Sept. 23 in Spratt Hall, Room 205.

Jeremy McClain, Delta State University — McClain has been at Delta since 2007, and while there he has increased the graduate of student-athletes close to 20 percent.

The football program placed second in the Division II National Championship in 2010. Besides running the athletics program, he also performed as an All-American pitcher for the baseball team while he attended Delta. He would eventually be drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 1999.

McClain has a bachelor’s degree in business administration. His presentation is Monday, Sept. 26 at 2 p.m. in the KCP&L Lecture Hall in the Griffon Indoor Sports Complex.

Kurt McGuffin, Colorado University — McGuffin is the Asstistant Athletics Director at Colorado, which he has held for the past two years.

He has been involved in Big XII sports for the past decade, previously working with Kansas State. McGuffin has been influential on basketball, as he was the director of men’s basketball operations at Eastern Washington University, a student assistant at Kansas State and also was involved with the women’s basketball program while they steadily had a top 10 ranking.

McGuffin graduated from Wichita State with a Master of Science in education in 1999. His presentation is Thursday, Sept. 15 in the KCP&L Lecture Hall in the GISC.

Mark Alnutt, Missouri University — Currently at Missouri, Alnutt is the senior associate athletic director for administration. Alnutt has committed plenty of time to sports overall, including football and golf.

He helps plan trips that the Tigers must take during post-season play. As a Tiger, he played football at Missouri from 1992-1995 before graduating. This past year, at Missouri, Alnutt received the Barbara S. Uehling Award, an award given out to an administrator who shows leaderships and improved working conditions to the Missouri staff.

He has bachelor’s degree in sociology and a master’s in public administration. His presentation is Thursday, Sept. 29 at 2 p.m. in the KCP&L Lecture Hall in the GISC.

Name: K.C. Ramsell

Sport: Women’s Soccer

Year: Freshman

Position: Forward

Stats this week: Shots on goal — 6; Total shots — 8; Goals — 4

Ramsell scored four goals in her first two games as a Griffon. Last season, the team totaled nine goals all year. The Griffon’s lost their first game in overtime despite Ramsell’s breakout performance, but won their second game 2-0.

Bass had four sacks and tied the Griffon’s single-game sack record as Western [1-1] upset No. 12 ranked Central Missouri 23-6 Saturday at Spratt Stadium.

The Mules had no answer for Western’s pass rush, as the team combined for seven sacks and forced three turnovers in a defensive battle. Western’s offense was more calm than Central’s, and it showed.

With 4:55 to go in the first quarter, Travis Partridge stepped back and surveyed the field, only to fake the pass coverage and not throw the ball deep. Unlike last week, Partridge scrambled down field and used his legs to move the ball.

Seconds later, his decision to tuck the ball looked more proficient as he ran to the south end zone for a 68-yard-touchdown. As the crowd began to erupt, so did the Griffon’s sideline, as they knew they could beat Central [1-1] on both sides of the field.

“It was great and the receivers down field blocked, so I had an easy job,” Partridge said. “We all woke up and we just knew we was gonna do it.”

Partridge went 14-26 for 109 yards and one touchdown, but one key stat that changed from last week’s loss to Pittsburg State was the turnovers. Partridge had zero.

“[Last week] it was a little bit anxious and jitters and I was unsure about things. Week two I already knew what it was, and we knew what we needed to do, and we got it done.”

Western’s only turnover came midway through the third quarter when wide receiver T.J. Fannin fumbled the ball at mid field. Still, its defense held the Mules off from scoring a touchdown, forcing them to settle for a field goal. Bass said in a way he thanked Pittsburg State for last week’s game.

“That loss last week kind of motivated us,” said Bass, a pre-season All-American. “I’m just glad we’re back.”

Coach Jerry Partridge said that it was a dominate performance by the defense, and the first game was more of a system product that troubled the Griffons than his actual team.

“Pittsburg does a great job of the option,” Partridge said. “[Central] was our type of offense where you go after.”

After last week’s disappointment, Western came into Saturday’s contest with a lot to prove. With 6,251 people in attendance, it had the stage to do so.

“I’m just glad [the crowd] stuck with us after last week, and I’m glad we can put up a good showing,” said Ben Pister, who had two sacks to go along with his first career interception. He also tied linebacker Tom Madget for a team high of eight tackles.

Although the players and coaches said this wasn’t any more of a must-win game than others, they performed like it was, much to the pleasure of the crowd. If Western had dropped to 0-2, it would have been the first time in over 10 years that they hit that mark, and that was something Jerry Partridge couldn’t let happen.

“I never sensed a doubt on this football team all week long.”

Jeremy Weston intercepted the ball two times in the second half. Weston went up against the Mules’ talented wide-out Jamar Howard, who caught five passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns in last weeks 42-24 win over Missouri Southern. Saturday night, Howard was held to 37 yards receiving.

“[The defensive line] made our job easy,” Weston said. “Stay over the top was all we were preaching all week.”

To go with Bass’ four sacks, he had three pass defenses and three other quarterback pressures. Bass said that it was a team effort though.

“I thank the other 10 people who was out there on defense, most of them could have been coverage sacks and the others could have been from my three other lineman putting pressure.”

Michael Hill rushed 25 times for 113 yards. He had a 33-yard run to the left side in the fourth quarter. This looked to be the first time Central’s traveling fans realized their team might lose the game.

“It’s a boost for our team to know we can move the ball and stop the opposing team,” Hill said.

This season is the first time Hill is being used as a full-time starter. He helped Western rush for 238 yards compared to the Mules’ 20.

Tarrell Downing caught a 14-yard-touchdown reception with 2:38 to go in the first half. Downing ran a slant route from the left side of the field as Travis Partridge threw a perfect spiral to his target. It was Downing’s first touchdown of the season as well as Partridge’s first collegiate touchdown pass.

Western battles its first non-conference opponent, Langston University, this Saturday at Spratt Stadium. Langston is undefeated in two games this season.

Other scores in the MIAA from the weekend’s contest: Washburn, now 2-0, defeated Lincoln [Mo] 66-26 last Thursday. Truman, coming off a 62 point home loss to Northwest Missouri, beat Fort Hays State 36-31. Northwest improved to 2-0 as it handled Sioux Falls 52-17 and Pittsburg matched Northwest and Washburn with a mark of 2-0, as it defeated Emporia State 38-14. Pittsburg is the only MIAA school that has two division wins.

Western dropped the first set 23-25 but came back and took the next three sets to advance and play Angelo State. Western’s head coach Cory Frederick in now in his third season with an overall record of 24-30. Frederick took over after Western’s season ended in 2009 with a 4-32 record.

In their second matchup, Western did not find the same success, as they dropped three straight sets. Western’s record stands at 1-1. The Griffons will play two more games on Saturday, one against Texas Permian Basin, followed by West Texas A&M.

An exciting game started Coach Chad Edwards regime at Western, but the excitement did not fall in Griffon soccer’s favor as they lost a 3-2 overtime thriller against East Central.

Western started the game off hot when freshman K.C. Ramsell from Bellevue High School in Bellevue, Neb. knocked in a goal in the ninth minute. However, East Central responded well, tying the game minutes later.

Ramsell again scored, which put the Griffons on top 2-1 and looked to be heading home winners before the Tigers stole a goal late. Stephanie Flores put the goal in the net in the eighty-fifth minute, which sent the game into overtime and East Central took control from that point on and claimed the victory.

The Griffons’ Ramsell played well in her first game and must continue to help the Griffons if they want any success this season. They play in the GAC/MIAA challenge on Sunday against Southwestern Oklahoma State in Ada, Okla.

The same look as we saw most of the time Partridge takes another sack.

Penalties, sacks, chaos: it wasn’t pretty. Missouri Western dropped its season opener against MIAA opponent Pittsburg State Thursday night at Spratt Stadium 34-7.

Western’s defense was unable to control the Gorilla’s pistol offense, which controlled the game from beginning to end. It was supposed to be a coming out party for sophomore quarterback Travis Partridge. This game was supposed to prove that Western belonged in the top 25 AFCA ranking, but nothing could go right for the Griffons.

The Griffons opened the game by throwing the ball, surprisingly. Coach Jerry Partridge was not afraid to let his son and quarterback set the tempo between the two rivals. But after a few failed plays, Western had to the punt the ball. And that’s when it started.

John Brown returned the punt 84 yards for the first score of the game. Zac Dickey and company didn’t even see the field before their team was ahead 7-0.

“Coverage just broke down,” Jerry Partridge said. “We have to start doing our job; that killed us in the first half quite a bit.”

Western’s woes didn’t end there. Shortly after that play, Western went three-and-out, giving Dickey the ball and a chance to go up by two scores.

Dickey, a former redshirt at Oklahoma State, wouldn’t let up one bit in pounding the football right at Western’s defense. Though his first drive ended in a punt, he made sure they would score on his next opportunity, as Western surrendered an eight play, 81 yard drive that took less than three minutes.

“It’s very frustrating,” said junior defensive back Jeremy Weston. “It’s smash mouth football. When you don’t know where they’re gonna come from, they like to throw the ball, it’s frustrating.”

Weston recorded six tackles in the physical matchup, which saw both teams play very ruggedly at times. The style of play that was witnessed by over 5,000 fans proved to favor the Gorillas, as they quickly turned the game into a blowout.

Western [0-1] started the second quarter with a little momentum after running back Michael Hill had a 12 yard and the Griffons moved into Pittsburg [1-0] territory. But on fourth and 13, Western called for a pass, and it was snagged out of the air by Gorillas defensive back Elijah Olabode. Travis Partridge would go on to turn the ball over two more times, one inside the five yard line when he tried to run the ball in for a touchdown.

“Those first couple of drives, I’m not going to lie, things were moving very fast,” Partridge said. “But this was a team effort. When you only put up seven points in a football game, it’s all wrong.”

Partridge was sacked five times in the night and pressured many more. On one particular play in the second quarter, Partridge’s helmet was ripped off while he was laying on the ground, but no penalty was thrown. Coach Partridge said that he was told by the ref that his helmet came off a few times prior to that point. Given the nature of this particular night, it wasn’t going to be called anyways.

Not only could Western not function well on the field, but off the field they ran into problems as well.

“The head sets went down again,” Partridge said. “Communication was a pivotal thing that kind of cost us in a couple spots.”

Partridge pointed to the end of the first half, while his team was down 21-0 with less than two minutes to play, that without the head set he was not able to let his team know to run out the clock and go into halftime. Instead, Travis Partridge threw two straight incompletions and was sacked, which gave the ball back to Pittsburg with enough time to drive down field and score a touchdown.

“We got our butts kicked, period. But that’s football,” Jerry Partridge said. Western was called for nine penalties which resulted in 140 yards.

The Gorilla’s wide receiver Brown, a transfer from Coffeyville Community College, ended the night with four receptions for 70 yards, while Dickey continued what he left off from last season, registering 140 rushing yards and 114 yards threw the air.

Western’s lone score came late in the fourth quarter, when backup running back Dominic Thomas returned a punt return 60 yards, making sure Western would not let Pittsburg shut them out on their home field.

Western plays another division opponent next week, Central Missouri. Western hosts them next Saturday at Spratt Stadium, and Travis Partridge says the team won’t and can’t let this game be in their heads, stating that the team will move forward from Thursday night.

Central Missouri [1-0] ranks in the top 15 in the AFCA poll as of Thursday night. They defeated Missouri Southern 42-24.

Other MIAA scores from Thursday include Fort Hays State defeating Emporia State 27-17 and Northwest Missouri State went on the road and pounded Truman State 65-3. Washburn did not open the season against an MIAA opponent, instead they defeated Sioux Falls 33-17 while Lincoln [Mo.] plays Saturday against Avila University.

All photos by Jason Brown:

Western looks to climb their way back into playoff contention, where they have not found much success. Tonight will be the first time Western begins the season against an MIAA opponent in over 10 years. This has given both teams plenty of motivation to begin the season on a high note.

Tonight’s game will feature the Griffon’s new starting quarterback, Travis Partridge for the first time. Partridge saw action in eight games last season, throwing for 125 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Travis Partridge is the son of Head Coach Jerry Partridge.

At running back will be No. 22 Michael Hill, a 5’11 junior who looks to contribute more this season than he has in the past. The past two years, Hill has split time, but will now be the focus point on the ground for the offense. He  might have to carry the offense, at least for now, while the Griffons adjust to life after star quarterback Drew Newhart graduated.

Another key component will be the Griffons strong defensive line. Starting at defensive end will be preseason All-American David Bass, who registered eight sacks last season.

Pittsburg State will look to run the pistol offense tonight in hopes of confusing the Griffons’ defense, something Western must be able to control to pull out the victory. The Gorillas line up with Zac Dickey at quarterback for another season. Last year, Dickey recorded over 900 rushing yards.

The Griffons defeated the Gorillas last season 42-25. The game is scheduled to kick off at 6 p.m. tonight at Spratt Stadium.

Jeff Hansen was at the helm for the Griffons the past five seasons, but during the summer, he decided to leave the program and coach high school boys soccer. This left the Griffons with a big hole to fill, and that is exactly what Interim Athletic Director Dan Nicoson did.

“We are pleased that Coach [Chad] Edwards has accepted the position of coach of the Griffon women’s soccer team,” Nicoson said in a press release introducing the new coach. “Coach Edwards’ experience as both a collegiate coach and player will serve him well.”

Edwards was the head coach at Avila University prior to accepting his new role. Before Avila, Edwards was an assistant coach at Missouri Southern State.

To know his players’ strengths will be a difficult task before the season starts, but he will have help from seniors Brooke English, Jeanna Ross and Molly Slattery. But perhaps the biggest key to the season will be midfielder Audrey Henderson, who had eight shot on goals last season and three that went in for scores.

The Griffons will have to replace Kelsey Bowman, Jenna Weis, Heather Schmiemeier and Jessica Martin, who earned all region honors while at Western.

Though most of the team is made up of freshman [according to gogriffons.com, there are seven on the Griffons' roster] the team will have to rely on past experiences to lead them this season.

Western finished last season with a 2-10-6 record. But out of the 18 games played, only two of the contests were decided by more than two goals, both to the same opponent: Central Missouri, who won the conference with a 16-0 record and 19-1 overall.

Edwards himself was a standout player for Southern in the late 1990s. Not only did his team win the conference championship his first season, but he was also voted team captain for the Lions. His experience should help this team win.

Western was picked to finish seventh in the MIAA preseason coaches poll. Their season will kick off on Sept. 2 in Oklahoma at the GAC-MIAA Challenge.

Photos by: Jason Brown, Photo Editor

During his five seasons, the Griffons went 17-65-14 overall.

Hansen was able to coach his team to an all time win total in 2009 when his team went 8-10-2 and finished sixth in the conference.

Other accolades during his tenure include Hansen coaching 14 players to All-MIAA honors as well as Jessica Martin earning all-region honors.

The former Western coach now looks to lead a group of high school boys to a championship as he will take over as head soccer coach at Carbondale High School in Carbondale, Illinois. He said his reason for leaving is “solely based on family.”

Hansen resignation was effective on August 1st.

Lineman David Mims (70) works on footwork and quick hands in his first NFL training camp.

The Kansas City Chiefs Training Camp wrapped up a little over a week ago, and  Missouri Western, Saint Joseph and the Chiefs went back to their traditional ways.

The three-week long camp was a bit different from 2010. Due to the expiration of the Collective Barganing Agreement, the NFL season was in jeopardy, which left Western unsure if they would have a camp just days before the Chiefs were scheduled to arrive.

However, the last week of July saw new life in the season when the owners unanimously agreed to a new CBA. The players agreed shortly after. That left Western with a little less than a week to prepare. The NFL Lockout lasted a total of 136 days.

Fans were now able to sit back and watch camp just as they could the year before. Yet, unlike the previous season when the intensity was high and the Chiefs had something to prove, Coach Todd Haley did not want to put his team through rough means.

“Training camp is training camp,” Haley said. “We’ve made progress in the areas that are most important to us here, and that’s what I feel we had to get done.”

Although fans were not as pleased with what they saw this summer, and the number of spectators were down from the year before, the energy was high all around and people were happy that the Chiefs were back on campus and that the NFL is here to stay for the next several years.

Before the Chiefs arrived in St. Joseph last year, the team got rid of many of their star players and rebuilt their team. This season, most of their team stayed intact, other than losing team captain and five-time pro bowl guard Brian Waters.

The Chiefs added young talent in drafting wide receiver Jon Baldwin and defensive end Justin Houston; both could start for the team this season. They also added veteran free agents in nose tackle Kelly Gregg and full back Le’Ron McClain, and they expect these great character guys to help their locker room chemistry.

Making his second trip to Western was standout rookie Eric Berry. Berry played every snap for Kansas City last season and earned a trip to the Pro Bowl in just one year. Along with linebackers Tamba Hali and Derrick Johnson, Berry will need to be a vocal leader if the Chiefs want to make it further than their Wild Card finish last season.

“It was just good to get back on the field,” Berry said. “We’re making progress but at the same time we need to do a little bit better “.

Although they were not a favorite to win their division, Kansas City still finished 10-6 and won the AFC West title. But the last time fans were able to see their favorite team perform, they were blown out by the Baltimore Ravens 30-7. Berry said he is anxious to get back on the field.

“[We] just have to keep working and practice and get ready for the upcoming season,” Berry said.

The Chiefs will return to campus in less than a year, and will be here for at least three more seasons. Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said that he was just happy to be able to say there was going to be football this year.

“I want to thank our fans for the patience that they demonstrated through the process,” Hunt said. “As an organization, we’re very excited to get back to football with training camp.”

The Griffons were picked to finish fourth in the MIAA coaches poll and landed three spots outside the top 25 in the AFCA Division II coaches poll.

Coach Jerry Partridge says being ranked in that position isn’t anything out of the ordinary for the Griffons.

“I don’t really read too much into it, and I don’t think our kids do either,” Partridge said. “We are used to being on the outside looking in on the top 25. We lost a great player in Drew Newhart, so that’s part of the reason for the ranking.”

Newhart was a four-year-starter at quarterback who threw for close to 11,000 yards in his Western career. He will be replaced by Sophomore Travis Partridge, a 6’4” 230 pound athlete from Savannah.

Explosive running back Michael Hill will be one of the biggest weapons for the Griffons on offense this season. A Returning all-MIAA honorable mention, Hill is a 6’0” 205 pound junior half-back that has averaged over four yards-per-carry in both of his seasons as a Griffon. He has the opportunity to break out even more in 2011 because he won’t be splitting caries with another back like he has in the past.

“I wouldn’t trade Michael Hill for any back in the league,” Partridge.  “He’s got to stay healthy, and that’s up to the offensive line. I have a lot of faith in Michael. He is a class individual. He’s even a better person than he is a player.”

A strong core at the wide-receiver position should help ease the transition for quarterback Travis Partridge. The Griffons return three out of their top four wide-outs from last season. Tarrell Downing, Adam Clausen and T.J. Fannin headline a deep group at the position. The trio combined for ten touchdowns last season.

“We have great talent, a lot of athleticism on offense,” Hill said. “I have confidence in Travis Partridge and everything that we got.”

Defense is a big strength for the Griffons. Western returns all-MIAA conference performer safety Jack Long,  and alongside him will be ultra-athletic Shane Simpson.

“I think our starting safety’s are outstanding,” Partridge said. “I think our defense will be pretty good. They run well and are physical and have a bit of a nasty streak.”

Defensive end Junior David Bass will look to build on a very successful 2010 that netted him eight sacks and two interceptions. Ben Pister will be at the other defensive end position, while John Brown and Austin Baska will make up the rest of the defensive line.

“The biggest strength of our team is the D-line. We call them death row: you don’t want to go down there,” said Long, who led the team in tackles with 75 and caught two interceptions last season. “Our Defensive ends are physical, and the inside guys are strong and athletic for their position.”

According to Coach Partridge, another strength of the team that people might overlook is the special teams unit.

“I think our specialists are very good, and I think our return team will be very good,” he said.

The Griffons will begin the season against MIAA conference opponent Pittsburg State at 6 p.m. on Sept. 1 at Spratt Stadium.

Frederick took over a 4-32 team in 2009 and has gone 23-39 in his two seasons as coach for the Griffons. He has increased the win total each year. In 2010 the team finished with a record of 12-17, including eight MIAA conference wins, the most for the team since 2002.

The Griffons were picked to finish eighth in the 2011 MIAA pre-season coaches poll, but Frederick hopes to exceed those expectations.

“We obviously expect to finish quite a bit higher than that,” Frederick said. “I don’t put a lot of clout into the preseason polls. We don’t know how the new players at other schools will produce, and we don’t know how our own freshmen will produce.”

The 2011 Griffons will feature seven new players on the roster. According to Frederick, the newcomers will make an immediate impact on the team.

“I’m going to bet that four or five of them see considerable playing time,” Frederick said. “They are going to challenge the returning players this year, which is what we need. Some of the returners need that boost and the challenge of someone behind them.”

The Griffons return versatile 2010 MIAA Freshman of the Year and Honorable Mention all-MIAA player Stephanie Hattey.  She will take on an increased leadership role in 2011 with the departure of some key seniors from last seasons team.

“I think she understands having a good year like last season and she is not going to let down her second year, which is always the worry of the coach,” Frederick said. “She is trying to implement those types of beliefs and attitudes to the new players already, which is great to have back.”

Hattey could compete for the MIAA Player of the Year in her just her sophomore season.

“I’m a very competitive person, so I’m going to go for it, but it’s usually only juniors and seniors who get it,”Hattey said.

Senior Tahler Johnston is the team’s returning leader in kills with 271, averaging 2.53 kills per game. She has set her expectations high for her last season as a Griffon.

“I think people picture us as the underdogs, and I think we will come out and surprise a lot of people this year,” Johnston said. “My expectations are having a better record than last year and making it to the national tournament.”

Another player that Frederick expects big things out of this season is returning senior Alexandra Behnke.

“We expect to have a lot more production out of Behnke than in the past,” Frederick said. “She has played a lot this summer and has been lifting and working out.”

Frederick knows how it feels to be a winner. He won a national championship in 2008 when he led Park University to a 29-1 record and a National Championship.

“It’s a tough thing to break a losing mentality,” Frederick said. “We are instilling the right beliefs in our players, and it seems to be working with us moving in the right direction every year.”

Last year the team had players who had been beaten year in and year out by the other MIAA teams.  Frederick said this group won’t have the preconceived notion that they are going to lose because they don’t have those experiences.

“I think that is going to make one of the biggest differences from this season to last season,” Frederick said. ”We don’t have that losing mentality anymore.”

Dance is a foreign student, but there is nothing foreign about her game. She is the softball team’s leading home run hitter this year with 11. She also leads the team in RBI’s. Her hitting skills started to develop at a young age, when she was introduced to the game.

“I was introduced to the game at 11,” Dance said. “My teacher, by the name of Peter Kenny, was the one who did.”

Dance relocated to the U.S. in the year 2007 because they did not offer softball in Australia like they do in the United States. She originally went to Iowa Western Community College before transferring to Missouri Western.

Her hitting there was like a coming out party because she hit 22 home runs her sophomore season at the college. This good season gave her the extra boost to be able to join the Western softball team.

Toni Dance is a senior starter for the softball team. She has 11 home runs for the team this season.

Dance has a lot of different experiences in her life because she can say that she has lived in two countries her lifetime.

There are differences in the way Australia does things compared the United States. Some of the different things are how they do healthcare, how the people are and the price of living.

“College here is easier compared to back at home,” Dance said. “The assignments are easier and the grading is easier too, here.”

The relationships with people are stronger in the U.S., according to Dance, and that is what she likes about being here. Friends mean a lot to her and she is thankful for her strong friendships. Dance said that the people are nicer though back home in Australia. The scenery is also another advantage of her home country. However, Dance said that there are things that she likes about both countries, so her decision is even about her thoughts on which country is better.

Dance is a senior this year and her time at Missouri Western is coming to an end. What makes matter worse is that she is currently out with an injury that has kept her sidelined for weeks. The injury is a strain of the medius muscliet. This injury happened when she attempted to catch a fly ball. She is very disappointed of her injury, but is not letting it stop her from helping her teammates.

“I have never sat out a game until this year throughout my whole career and it was heart breaking,” Dance said. “Even though I’m out I still help them with their swings, collect balls when they are doing hitting practice and catch for coach.”

The Griffons improved to 27-8 on the season and 7-1 in MIAA conference play.

Coach Jen Bagley stressed offense to her team before the game.

“We talked before the game that we needed to really take our offense seriously and make sure that we are having good at bats.” Bagley said. “We needed to start building as we are going into the more weighty party of our conference schedule.

Kim Robinson throws a ball in from the outfield.

Coming fresh off of a no hitter, freshman Jackie Bishop took the mound in
game one and started right where she left off by striking out three in the first inning.

Things started well for the Griffon offense when Lincoln walked Ashley Hudson, the
first batter.

Hudson advanced to second on a single by Maegan Roemmich and then stole third and scored on an error by the catcher. The Griffons led 1-0 after the first inning of play.

The score remained 1-0 until the fifth inning when Brittany Douglas singled with the bases loaded and score Leah Steele.

After a series of wild pitches that allowed the Griffons to add another run, Keri Lorbert singled and drove in Hudson and Roemmich.

The score was 5-0 Western after five.

Western added one run in the sixth off of a Robinson double that scored Taylor Anding and another in the seventh off of a Blair Stalder single that drove in Douglas, making the score 7-0.
Bishop continued her phenominal play by striking out eight batters and giving up two hits on the day. She improved her record to 16-2 with an earned run average of .88.

Jonnelle Belger took the mound in game two and the Lady Blue Dragons had no answer, failing to score their only run until the fifth inning and only getting four hits.

“When our hitters produce runs like that it makes the pitchers job really easy because you aren’t pitching tentatively.” Belger said.

Similar to game one, Hudson crossed home plate to put the Griffons up 1-0. Roemmich batted her in with a single to right field.

“The team is starting to hit a lot better and everyone had a lot more confidence at the plate.” Roemmich said. “We played really well as a team so it was nice to bring it all together.”

Western scored three runs in the third inning. Douglas scored on a wild pitch and then Leah Steele singled to center field to drive in Anding and Lorbert.

The Griffon lead was 5-0 after three.
Hudson’s home seventh run of the year started off the scoring for Western in the fourth inning. The Griffons scored three more runs off of a three run homer by Lorbert..

In game one of the series, the Griffons struggled at the plate. They were shut out through the first four innings of the game, with Jason Solma being the big hitter in the game with a two RBI double in the
fifth inning off Pitt State’s Ryan Sorell.

The Griffons had a chance in their final at bat to tie the game up, but pinch hitter Scott Groner hit into a game ending double play to seal the Griffons loss 6-4.

Nic Jurado put the team on his back in game two of the series as he threw his second consecutive complete game. Jurado gave up just three hits and struck out seven in the game as he improved his
record to 4-1 overall.

“I started throwing my changeup today and got guys out in front and was able to get a win,” Jurado said.

Matt Berig throws a pitch during his first collegiate start against Pitt State.

Solma continued his hot start from game one as he went 3-5 with three RBI’s. Western’s offense also came alive as they pounded out 11 hits in the game. The Griffons also scored four runs in the first inning with three of them coming with two outs.

Western would overcome four errors in the field to give Jurado the win 11-2.

Sophomore Brandon Simmons picked up his sixth straight victory in game three of the series on Saturday afternoon.

Simmons went 7.2 innings, throwing 98 pitches, 65 of them strikes. Tyler Riddle relieved Simmons and was able to work out of a two out jam with runners at second and third to earn the save and preserve Simmons’ win.

“I was still a little sore from Tuesday, but you just have to fight through it and give your team a chance to win,” Simmons said.

Kyle Peterson started the scoring for Western with an RBI single to left field to score Ian Atkinson. In the fifth inning, Andrew Pieper and David Chew executed a perfect as Peiper stole second and on the throw to second, Chew swiped home to give the Griffons a two run lead. Pieper later scored on a double by Ian Atkinson.

Behind a strong performance in his first collegiate start, Matt Bergin pitched eight shutout innings, struck out five and scattered seven hits to lead the Griffons to a 4-0 victory over the Gorillas.

“We expected him to go maybe five but for him to go as long as he did and keep them off balance, that was big for us,” Buzz Verduzco said.

Western’s offense did just enough in the game to give Bergin the win and take three of the four games in the series.

After the series, Western improves to 17-13 overall and 16-9 in the MIAA. The Griffons also currently sit fourth in the MIAA standings.

Bishop dominated the game from start to finish, going seven strong innings and striking out 11 on her way to her no-hitter.

“I didn’t even know that I had one going; it’s probably a good thing I didn’t know though,” Bishop said.

Western’s offense was not as potent as it has been in the past few weeks, but the Griffons were able to find just enough offense from a few key players to get the win.
Leah Steele started the scoring when she batted in a run in the second inning. Steele belted an RBI single to bring Adelaide Quaney, who was pinch running for Keri Lorbert, across the plate and give Bishop an insurance run.

The Griffon infield huddle around pitcher Jonelle Belger before the inning starts.

The second run of the contest scored when Michelle Stevenson singled home Blair Stalder after a leadoff double in the fourth inning.

“We faced some slower pitching in the game and was throwing our hitters off on their timing a little bit,” head coach Jen Bagley said.

Keri Lorbert was able to deliver the first hit in Spring Sports Complex history for softball as she singled in the second inning to lead things off.

“It feels good to get the hit, at the time I wasn’t really thinking about it.” Lorbert said. “Now that I think about it, it is pretty cool.”

Game 2

The Griffon softball team took on Southwest Baptist Bearcats in game two of a double header Monday at the Spring Sports Complex.

Jonnelle Belger improved her record to 10-5 on the year by pitching a complete game and only allowing only one hit for the entire game as the Griffons came away with a 4-0 win.

“Today I was able to focus on the things that I needed to work on,” said Belger.

The Griffons scored two runs in the first inning off of four walks and a wild pitch.  Maegan Roemmich and Ashley Hudson scored the runs.

The game stayed at 2-0 all the way until the bottom of the sixth inning when Michelle Stevenson singled to center field, driving in two runs and giving the Griffons a 4-0 lead.
Pitching saved the day for the Griffons, as the offense was only able to come up with three hits.

“Our bats did not come out like they needed to,” Bagley said. “They were throwing a lot of balls that kept us off balance.”

Belger said that she wasn’t concerned with the Griffons lack of run support.

“I think we will always produce runs,” Belger said.  “I just focus on doing my job because I know they will do theirs.”

With the win the Griffons improve to 5-1 in conference play, something that Bagley says is important.

“There is not a lot of room for error with all the good teams in this conference,” Bagley said. “The loss at Washburn was tough, but we got our momentum back and Hays and kept it going today.”
Western improved their record to 25-8 on the season.

With the Griffons tied up with Northwest at two late in the eighth inning, head coach Buzz Verduzco put on a suicide squeeze that was executed perfectly by Andrew Piper. Piper laid down a bunt down the first base line that he was able to beat out on the play and allow Mac Collette to score and give the Griffons the lead at 3-2.

Jake Graham belts a pitch from a Northwest pitcher during their four game series this past weekend.

“I just had this feeling that we were going to be able to pull the game out, especially with all the momentum we had coming into this game,” Piper said.

One run was all Brandon Simmons would need to shut the door on the Bearcats as they take the game 3-2.

Simmons pitched a complete game, allowing eight hits and striking out 10 in the victory.

In a double header on Saturday, the Griffons would keep their momentum as they swept both games from Northwest.

In the first game of the day, Ollie Kadey continued where Simmons left off on Friday night. Kadey would go the distance in a complete game victory as he scattered five hits and gave up just one run.

In the second game of the day, Ian Atkinson continued his hot hitting as he went 2-3 with two RBI’s in the game.
Western’s Nick Jurado continued the dominant pitching as he went all seven innings in the contest as he shut out the Bearcats, giving up three hits and striking out four.

“This isn’t what you expect in a four game series,” Verduzco said. “We only used three pitchers in three games and you just don’t expect that.”

In the series finale, Northwest was able to avoid a four game sweep of the series with a 3-1 victory over the Griffons.

“From the first inning I could tell that we just didn’t seem to have it today,” Verduzco said.

Loeffler provided the lone bright spot for the Griffons as he delivered an RBI base hit in the second inning.

Western improves to 13-11 overall and 12-7 in the MIAA after the series.

“It’s just such a hard sport that you can’t ever perfect it,” Feist said. “I mean, you can go undefeated in basketball for a season, but you’ll never win every single tournament you play. Tiger’s probably the best that’s ever lived and he wins maybe 50 percent of the tournaments he plays in. It’s just something that you’ll never perfect. You’re always faced with really tough shots on the course. The reward is to actually hitting the shot how you’re trying to hit it and the result ending up good.”

Last summer, after being diagnosed with testicular cancer, Feist had to take a nine-month break from golf. He’s now preparing for his first season back, after receiving a medical red shirt last season. The NCAA allows players with injuries and illnesses to sit out a season with the red shirt distinction.

Feist stands on the links for his first season back on the Missouri Western golf team. Brooke Carter/ Photo&Graphics Editor

“I went to the chiropractor like five different times in two weeks and it didn’t help at all,” Feist said. “It was really bad pain; the worst I’ve ever had before. Other than that, I completely felt fine.”

Feist knew that the back pain was linked to something more serious; a couple of weeks earlier, he had found a lump in one of his testicles.

“I had kind of looked up on the internet after I found the lump, and was like ‘uh-oh,’” Feist said. “But at the same time, I’m like ‘No, that can’t be it.’ Being 21, you don’t really think you’re going to have cancer.”
Feist knew, however, what his eventual diagnosis would be. All of his internet research pointed him to cancer.
“It was kind of a surprised to think that that’s what it could be,” he said.

After being diagnosed on July 22, 2009, Feist went through months of treatment. His first surgery, on Aug. 3, removed the effected testicle. This operation is called an orchiectomy. After the surgery, he went through 12 weeks of chemotherapy. Following the chemotherapy, effected lymph nodes were still found in his belly and aorta. His doctors were not sure how to handle his treatment.

“I was not a by-the-book case,” Feist said. “They originally sent us home, thinking I was going to start another two cycles of chemotherapy.”
Feist’s doctors contacted Lawrence Einhorn of the University of Indiana, a prominent specialist in the testicular cancer field.

“He is one of the doctors that treated Lance Armstrong,” Feist said. “He’s like the specialist in the United States about this cancer.”

Einhorn suggested that Feist’s doctors wait before performing any surgery. The wait might allow the lymph nodes to die off on their own. Feist’s doctors waited two weeks before operating. During eight hours of surgery, they removed 40 lymph nodes from Feist’s abdomen. They were all dead. The lymph node in the aorta was left.

“The lymph node in my aorta is in such a tricky place to get to, that they didn’t take it out,” Feist said.

At Feist’s most recent check-up, his doctor labeled him as “cured.” This is obviously great news to the golfer, who is more than ready to start the new season. He has been playing as much as possible since treatment, and feels he is now in the same shape he was before the cancer. Feist has worked hard to redevelop his skills.

“I lost a lot of weight: a little bit through chemo and most of it through my second surgery,” he said. “Just the effects from that and rebuilding your muscles. It was weird to swing a golf club; you almost lost muscle memory. It took a while to get it back. But now there’s not any difference than what it used to be.”

While he is physically the same as he was before treatment, he does feel that some things have changed.
“Nothing like this had ever hit my family; never really had any disease or anything like that,” Feist said. “No heart attacks, nothing. I’d never dealt with it before. I guess I’m kind of more aware of things like that. I think I’m better prepared to handle it.”

Feist also has a different outlook on life off the golf course.

“You kind of realize you have to take your opportunities when you can get them,” he said. “If you have an opportunity to go on a trip that’s kind of once in a lifetime, you better figure out a way to do it. If I have the opportunity to do something that’s not ‘everyday,’ then I try to do it.”

Testicular cancer is most prevalent in males between the ages of 18 and 34. Feist wishes to spread the education that he does not feel he had on the topic.
“I was kind of mad because I wasn’t really educated,” he said. “Even though you have physicals every two years for sports, like in high school, I was never really told. I didn’t know what they were looking for, you know?”

The Griffons continue to stay consistent, playing inspired softball. Western played two games against Southern Arkansas and then two games against Henderson State, winning them all in great fashion. The team stays determined to play great defense and to keep improving offensively. Western has now won six straight games and has been playing as team. Western has had plenty of help from their talented outfielder, Toni Dance.

“The games this weekend were a great show of team work,” Dance said. “We hit the ball as a team, which showed with the high scoring outcomes.”

The players all seemed to come together as if they had something to prove. Their last loss was against the University of Arkansas-Monticello who was ranked 13th in the nation. The Griffons got plenty of help from the pitchers, only allowing four runs in the four game span. Ashley Hudson has noticed the consistent play of teammates that the team has used that as motivation to continue winning and playing great softball.

“It was a group effort; there wasn’t just one or a few key players,” Hudson said. “We worked really hard, worked together and sought out the rewards for it and I am proud of the team work this weekend and group effort that allowed us to be successful.”

The Griffons were highly motivated to play well and Hudson said head coach Jen Bagley provided a little extra motivation or the players.
“We don’t get dessert unless we play well or win,” Hudson said. “We’re very motivated by that.”

Toni Dance added to Bagley’s unique motivation by saying, “Coach said she wouldn’t feed us.”

The entire Western team has really stepped it up as of late and the team has taken an emphasis on batting. The players have really stepped up to the challenge and players like Blair Stalder have really taken it on themselves to work hard and get better.

“Our goals were of course to win but also to string together hits. At times we’ll have good hits but they’re really only worth it if they score runs,” said Stalder “Coach Bagley also wanted to work on good at bats and not focus on getting a hit exactly. Good at bats will lead to hits.”

The 2010 Tennis season is well behind coach Ron Selkirk and his team. The season is over; done; finished. 2011 has started and there could not be better news surrounding the tennis team.

Last year, finishing with a record of 0-7 in the conference and 3-15 overall, Western did not look anywhere near a team ready for the MIAA tournament. They drew the number one seed, Northwest Missouri, and was ousted 5-0.

In just the first week of competition of the 2011 season, Western has already won two games, just one less than the total of last season, and already looks more competitive. This is definitely something coach Selkirk can build on.

“We’re doing pretty good,” Selkirk said. “I would have liked to have been 4-0 but they’re things to build on.”

Western defeated Lincoln University last Friday, a team they lost to 8-1 a year ago. Not only did Western get payback against Lincoln, but they also took care of Morningside 7-2, a team that they defeated last year.

Senior Mindy Buschbom knows this is her last year and is ready for the rest of the season.

“I want to win more games,” Buschbom said. “For me personally I want to win more singles and doubles.”

Buschbom did not play on the team last year but will be looked at as a leader for her final season. She was not eligible to play last year becaue of credit hours. Being back on the team is great for Western because she is one of the better players.

“I like everyone; we all get along,” Buschbom said. “We are all like the same person. As for the coach, he is a great coach. He’s always getting us feed back on what to do.”

Western has a favorable schedule early on. They already defeated two of the four teams they played. Next is Johnson County Community College, a team that finished 4-11 in the regular season last year before making a run for the Region 6 title, taking second. They also play Emporia State, who finished 6th in the conference last season, and Baker University.

The schedule gets tougher in the middle of the year, as Western has to travel to Iowa to play Graceland University, go to Maryville to play last years regular season conference champions Northwest and also go to Topeka to play the defending conference tournament champions Washburn University.

“Playing the conference as a whole, it’s tough; there are some good teams so good competition,” Selkirk said.

Western has four freshman who were not part of last years dismal season. This includes Erin Ward, Sophia Robertson, Katherine Guinn and Katie Field. Continuing down the roster, Western has the only sophomore on the team, Nicole Kerr and junior Alecia Jenkins. Western has two seniors, the aforementioned Buschbom and Sarah Hatten, a public relations major who transferred to the team after attending the University of Oregon.

Last season, Selkirk talked great about how well Hatten played during her single’s matches. If she can continue donig that this season, she will help Western get more wins.

According to the MIAA website, the women’s tennis division did not have one team finish in the regional rankings last year. However, Selkirk thinks there is great competition for his team this year.

“We beat Lincoln so we’re already 1-0,” Selkirk said. “That is a good thing; getting the monkey off our back because we finally won a conference game.”

Look for Western to rebound from a poor 2010 season and gain great experience from a young team in 2011. With leadership from Buschbom and Hatten as well as quailty play from the two, Western is capable of upsetting some teams along the way and if they can do that the 2011 season will be much more enduring and easier to manage than the year before.

According to Western Athletic Director Dave Williams, Plett had been suffering discomfort for more than a week and decided to go to the emergency room yesterday.
The surgery was successful and Plett is recovering at Heartland Regional Medical Center and is currently experiencing less discomfort than he was.

Plett will miss tomorrow night’s game at Pittsburg State and currently there is not a specific timeline for when Plett is expected to be back on the sidelines for the Griffons. Plett could not be reached for comment.