By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University senior fullback Connor Searcy will welcome any chance he gets to carry the football this fall, but the 6-foot-1, 220-pound Tonganoxie product also knows that's toting the pigskin is not where he's most valuable to the Ichabods.
Connor Searcy, who represented Washburn football at last week's MIAA Media Day, is back for his senior season at fullback for the Ichabods. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"I'll take as many as (coach Craig Schurig) will give me,'' Searcy said during last week's MIAA Media Day in Kansas City, Mo. "That's up to him, but I'll always take the ball whenever he wants to give it to me.''
Searcy, who has appeared in 30 games with 21 starts for Washburn, got just three carries for 4 yards and a touchdown in 11 games last season but was a valuable receiver for the Ichabods with 15 catches for 163 yards and three TDS and probably his most important role is to pave the way for WU's other backs.
"I just need to be the lead blocker and kind of open up holes for the running back,'' said Searcy a third-team All-MIAA pick in 2022. "I think about it like I put my life on the line -- quote, unquote -- for my running back.
"I take the hit so he doesn't have to. It's my job to lead the way for him and make sure that they stay healthy because they're the ones running the ball. I just embrace my role.''
Washburn was ravaged by injuries in a 2-9 campaign last fall and was picked ninth out of 10 teams in the MIAA preseason polls, but Searcy said the Ichabods just have to use last season and the 2024 predictions as motivation.
"I think we should have motivation no matter what critics think of us and what people think of us,'' Searcy said. "If they think we're going to be the ninth team in the conference, well good for them, we're going to prove them wrong. If they think we're going to be the best, well good for them, we're going to prove them right.
"Whatever they think about us and who we are, it's probably going to fuel me a little bit, but I know who I am and I know who Washburn football is and that's that we're going to come out every time and we're going to come out swinging.''
Tonganoxie product Collin Searcy has appeared in 30 games with 21 starts for Washburn University's football team. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Washburn will report for preseason camp over the weekend and hold its first practice on Monday, Aug. 5th.
The Ichabods will open the season against rival Emporia State on the road Thursday, Aug. 29.
After an off week Washburn will play its home opener at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14, against Colorado School of Mines, last season's national runnerup, in Yager Stadium.
