The 12th ranked Missouri Western football team ran for 382 yards on 57 attempts in a 57-28 victory over the 15th ranked Emporia State Hornets on Thursday evening. The victory marked the eighth straight victory in the series and fifth straight in Emporia. The Griffons improve to 8-1 overall and 7-1 in MIAA play.

The Griffons made a statement in the first half against the Hornets racking up 384 yards of total offense which included 239 on the ground. Michael Hill scored twice from three yards out racking up 183 yards on 23 carries. Hill also caught three passes for 21 yards.

Travis Partridge continued to be efficient connecting on 11-of-15 passes for 145 yards and one touchdown. His lone touchdown pass came in the second quarter when he hit Tyron Crockum from 19 yards out putting MWSU up 26-0 with 6:58 to play. Partridge wrapped up the scoring with 2:31 to play when rushed in from eight yards out capping an eight play 88 yard drive giving the Griffons the 33 point halftime lead.

Griffon kicker Taylor Anderson made two field goals. His first from 43 yards out gave the Griffons a 3-0 lead early in the first quarter and his 30 yarder gave the Griffons a 20-0 lead with 13:02 to play in the half.

The Griffons defense was outstanding holding the Hornets to just 57 yards with 45 coming through the air. The Griffons held the Hornets to just one first down while Stephen Juergens led the way with four tackles.

The second half started like the first ended for the Griffons as they scored the first two touchdowns going up 47-0 after a seven yard run by Raphael Spencer. Mike Jordan scored the first touchdown of the half on a 91 interception return.

The Hornets scored 28 points down the stretch but the Griffons were able to get an 11 yard touchdown run by Dominic Thomas and an Anderson 44 yard field goal sealing the victory.

Anderson has now made 55 straight extra points and a single season record 49 straight this season.

Hill finished the night with 185 yards while Spencer had 96 yards and a touchdown. Partridge and Thomas had 55 and 53 yards respectively. Partridge also finished with 150 yards passing through the air. The Griffons finished with 532 yards on the evening.

Emporia State falls to 8-1 overall and 8-1 in the MIAA. They had 376 yards with 298 through the air. Tyler Eckenrode had 290 yards passing while Shjuan Richardson had 138 yards receiving on 11 receptions and a touchdown.

Defensively Nick Williams led the way for the Griffons with eight tackles while Juergens pitched in five. Ben Carlson led the way for the Hornets with 13.

The Griffons return to action on Saturday, November 3 when they host the 16th ranked Washburn Ichabods. Game time is set for 1:30 pm from Spratt Stadium. The Griffons will honor 23 seniors before the game as they will be playing their last regular season home game.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The top three teams from the 2011-12 campaign appear atop the MIAA Coaches and Media preseason polls announced today by the MIAA. The top three teams selected this year mirror perfectly the way they finished the 2011-12 season and the top six in both the media and coaches polls are the same.

Washburn, who won both the MIAA regular season and post-season tournament, sits atop the poll, receiving eight first place votes from both the coaches and the media. Pittsburg State, who won the NCAA South Central Regional last year, are ranked second less than ten points behind Washburn in both polls. The third place squad is Emporia State, who fell to PSU in the regional championship, who received first place votes in both polls coming in just seven points behind PSU in the coaches poll.

The fourth spot is occupied by a team new to the MIAA, Northeastern State, who was eliminated by PSU in the regional. Fort Hays State and Central Missouri occupy the fifth and sixth spots in this year’s polls. The number seven and eight spot is where the polls begin to differ, the coaches picked Truman #7 and Central Oklahoma #8 while the media reversed the selection.

In the coaches poll Lincoln and Missouri Southern are tied for the #9 spot, while the media selected Lindenwood #9 and Southwest Baptist #10. Lincoln is #11 in the media poll, while Missouri Western is #12 in the media and #11 in the coaches poll. Lindenwood and Southwest Baptist are tied for the #12 spot in the coaches poll and Northwest Missouri is #14 and Nebraska-Kearney in the final spot.

In the media poll, Missouri Southern is #13 and Northwest Missouri and Nebraska-Kearney occupy the same spots they do in the coaches poll.

2012-13 MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Washburn (8)              189
2. Pittsburg State (6)       178
3. Emporia State (1)        171
4. Northeastern State      154
5. Fort Hays State            139
6. Central Missouri           135
7. Truman                         112
8. Central Oklahoma        110
T9. Lincoln                          65
T9. Missouri Southern        65
11. Missouri Western          64
T12. Lindenwood                62
T12. Southwest Baptist       62
14. Northwest Missouri        51
15. Nebraska-Kearney        18

2012-13 MIAA Preseason Media Poll
1. Washburn (8)                257
2. Pittsburg State (8)         254
3. Emporia State (2)         235
4. Northeastern State       204
5. Fort Hays State            193
6. Central Missouri           183
7. Central Oklahoma        156
8. Truman                        152
9. Lindenwood                 117
10. Southwest Baptist       93
11. Lincoln                         87
12. Missouri Western        69
13. Missouri Southern      65
14. Northwest Missouri    60
15. Nebraska-Kearney    35

— MIAA Press Release —

The Missouri Western men’s basketball team was tabbed 12th in the MIAA preseason coaches poll and 13th in the media poll which was announced today, Tuesday, October 23, 2012 by the league office.

Missouri Western received 65 points in the coaches poll trailing Washburn with 188, Central Missouri with 180, Northwest Missouri State with 170, Fort Hays State and Pittsburg State with 137, Missouri Southern 131, Central Oklhoma 119, Lindenwod 107, Southwest Baptist 89, Emporia State 73, and Nebraska-Kearney with 70. The Ichabods received 11 first place votes while Central Missouri had three and Northwest Missouri State collected one. Truman, Northeastern State and Lincoln rounded out the poll with 54, 39 and 16 total points.

In the media poll, the Griffons were picked 13th with 74 points. Washburn came in first with 267 points and 17 first place votes while Central Missouri was second with 243 points. Northwest Missouri State came in third with 236 points while Missouri Southern had 204 points and one first place vote. Pittsburg State was fifth with 173, Fort Hays State and Lindenwood tied for 6th with 171, Southwest Baptist had 146 coming in 8th, Central Oklahoma came in 9th with 132 points, Emporia State, Nebraska-Kearney and Truman came in 10th, 11th and 12th with 96, 94 and 89 points respectively. Northeastern State and Lincoln rounded out the poll with 74 and 43 points respectively.

Missouri Western is coming off a 9-17 season and went 4-16 in MIAA play. The Griffons return seven letterman and two starters from a season ago.

The Griffons will open up their season with an exhibition contest against Division I opponent Missouri State University on Tuesday, October 30 in Springfield, Mo. Game time is set for 7:00 pm. The Griffons will open up regular season play on Tuesday, November 13 when they host Sterling College (Kan.) at 7:00 pm in the MWSU Fieldhouse.

2012-13 MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll
1.  Washburn (11)                   188
2.  Central Missouri (3)          180
3.  Northwest Missouri (1)     170
T4. Fort Hays State                 137
T4. Pittsburg State                  137
6.  Missouri Southern            131
7.  Central Oklahoma            119
8.  Lindenwood                      107
9.  Southwest Baptist             89
10. Emporia State                   73
11. Nebraska-Kearney           70
12. Missouri Western           65
13. Truman                              54
14. Northeastern State          39
15. Lincoln                               16

2012-13 MIAA Preseason Media Poll
1.  Washburn (17)                 267
2.  Central Missouri              243
3.  Northwest Missouri         236
4.  Missouri Southern (1)     204
5.  Pittsburg State                 173
T6. Fort Hays State              171
T6. Lindenwood                   171
8.  Southwest Baptist          146
9.  Central Oklahoma         132
10. Emporia State                 96
11. Nebraska-Kearney         94
12. Truman                             89
13. Missouri Western         74
14. Northeastern State        43
15. Lincoln                             21

— MWSU Sports Information —

Missouri Western recorded a big conference victory Sunday afternoon at Spratt Stadium, defeating Southwest Baptist 1-0.

The game’s first goal was quickly scored, as AJ Powers aimed a kick toward the 5-yard line, and bounced into Teddi Serna’s possession and she cleared the ball to the net in the 3rd minute of the game for her first goal of the season.

The rest of the game saw a few shots that went toward the net, but neither goalkeeper would let any balls in, ending the game 1-0 in favor of the Griffons.

MWSU is now 5-9-1 and 3-7-1 in the MIAA. Southwest Baptist falls to 6-8-2 with a 3-5-2 record in the conference.

Up Next: Missouri Western faces Missouri Southern at 7 p.m. on Friday at Spratt Stadium for a chance to make the MIAA Tournament. It is also senior night, where the Griffons will honor five seniors.

— MWSU Sports Information —

To say the Griffon football team upset the Pittsburg State Gorillas Saturday afternoon would be an understatement.

No. 16 Missouri Western used 56 unanswered points to defeat No. 7 Pittsburg State 63-14.  Michael Hill ran for 116 yards and Travis Partridge countered with 213 yards through the air. Hill had three scores on the ground and Partridge had four touchdowns.

Pittsburg came out ready on its first drive. After forcing Missouri Western to a 3-and-out, the Gorillas drove 87 yards on 11 plays, and quarterback Anthony Abenoja connected with wide-out John Brown on a 13-yard touchdown pass to cap the drive.

Behind 7-0, MWSU faked a reverse to Tarrell Downing and led Hill down the flat for an open 48-yard touchdown reception.

The Griffons defense then stopped the Gorillas for the majority of the game after the 7-7 tie. David Bass recorded three sacks, and also scored a touchdown on a tipped pass that ended up in the defensive end’s hands. He took it 55 yards for the score to put the Griffons ahead 21-7.

Pittsburg couldn’t do much offensively, and the Griffons continued to score points to take a 42-7 halftime lead.

Missouri Western eventually stretched its lead to 56-7, marking eight unanswered scores before Pittsburg put another touchdown in to make it 56-16. Raphael Spencer scored on a 12-yard run to end the game with MWSU on top 63-14.

Brandon Wright and Derek Libby both score on long receptions, as the Griffons found their downfield game Saturday.

The Gorillas ended with game with five turnovers, including three on downs. Brown finished with a game-high 13 grabs and 153 yards with the one score. It was the worst home loss for Pittsburg since a 63-0 loss to Tulsa on Oct. 31, 1914.

Up Next: Missouri Western goes back on the road in the MIAA to play undefeated Emporia State Thursday night in Emporia, Kan.

— MWSU Sports Information —