By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Fresh off its most dominant performance of the season, Washburn University football will be shooting for its second straight win on Saturday, going on the road for a 1:30 p.m. MIAA road contest at Central Missouri.
Washburn is coming off a dominating 42-21 home win over Missouri Southern last Saturday and heads to Central Missouri on Saturday. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Washburn (2-5 overall, 2-4 MIAA) is coming off a 42-21 home win over Missouri Southern last Saturday at Yager Stadium while Central Missouri (4-3, 2-3) topped Northwest Missouri, 35-30, in Maryville last time out.
Washburn never trailed against Missouri Southern, scoring on its first three possessions of the day, and also blocked two field goals and had defensive lineman Chase McCoy return an interception for a score en route to the 21-point win.
"It was nice to go out and play a complete game where we were kind of just dominating the whole entire game and really just showcase the resilience of this team and the continual fight,'' said WU standout junior safety Jordan Finnesy.
"That was really good to see and above all to be able to get a win at home in front of our fans, who have been showing out week after week for us.''
The Ichabods opened the game with a six-play, 58-yard drive, capped by a 29-yard touchdown pass from redshirt freshman Keller Hurla to former Highland Park star Tre Richardson.
Ichabod freshman JC Heim, a former Washburn Rural star, forced a Missouri Southern fumble on the Lions' opening drive that was recovered by Julius Jackson. Two plays later Lucas Oitker followed up a Richardson 41-yard reverse with a 4-yard run for the score and a 14-0 lead 5:51 into the game.
Washburn then forced the Lions to punt and Ichabod quarterback Sam Van Dyne moved the Ichabods 65 yards in eight plays, finishing it off with a 7-yard run up the middle for the score as Washburn led 21-0 with 4:13 to play in the first quarter.
Van Dyne tied a school record in the win over Southern for completion percentage with at least 10 attempts as he was 9 for 10 for a .900 percentage, tying a program record that has stood since 1980 when Jerry Raushelbach was 9 for 10 against Missouri Valley.
Washburn averaged 7.0 yards per carry against the Lions, rushing for 279 yards on 40 carries -- the ninth-best average in program history.
"We're going to keep working and just continue to fight the rest of the year and hopefully win these last four games,'' said Finnesy, the Ichabods' second-leading tackler with 48 stops on the season while also contributing an interception and a blocked kick.
The Ichabods are ranked second in the nation in punt returns, averaging 23.2 yards per return, while Richardson is 16th in the nation and first in the MIAA in all-purpose yards, averaging 136.4 yards per game. McCoy is second in the MIAA in sacks at 0.7 per game.
Central Missouri is ranked second in the nation in first downs with 193 while also leading the nation in passing yards per game at 410.0.
The Mules are also ranked 15th in the nation in scoring offense at 36.4 points per game and fourth in total offense at 511.3 yards per game.
Individually, Central Missouri quarterback Zach Zebrowski, the 2023 Harlon Hill winner, is second in the nation in completions per game with 32.5, and leads the nation in passing touchdows with 27, total passing yards with 2,865, 409.3 passing yards per game, 168 points responsible for, points responsible for per game at 24.0 and 444.1 yards of total offense per game.
Zach Patterson is ninth in the nation in receiving yards with 718 and eighth in yards per game with 102.6.
Washburn dropped a 58-28 loss to Central Missouri last season at Yager Stadium and the Mules lead the all-time series 29-21-2 over the Ichabods in 52 all-time meetings. Washburn is 3-7 in the last 10 match-ups with the Mules.
The Ichabods will celebrate Homecoming on Nov. 2 against Nebraska-Kearney and then the following week host Central Oklahoma on Senior Day before wrapping up the season on Nov. 16 at Northeastern State.
