Missouri Southern football to entertain Northeastern State Saturday

(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)

The Missouri Southern football team play host to Northeastern State this Saturday for the team's home opener. Kickoff from Fred G. Hughes Stadium is slated for 2 pm.

Game Information

Team Records: MSSU 0-1, 0-1 MIAA | NSU 0-1, 0-1 MIAA
Date: Saturday, September 2
Kick-Off: 7:00 pm, CT
Location: Kearney, Neb.
Site: Ron and Carol Cope Stadium (2,500)
Series Record: UNK leads 11-7
Coaches: Atiba Bradley (1-1, overall/at MSSU) | JJ Eckert (0-12 overall/at NSU)

Media Coverage

MSSU Radio: Fox Sports Joplin 101.3, 101.7 and AM 1560; - Mike McClure, Play-by-Play, Scott Boudreaux, Color
Live Coverage: www.mssulions.com/coverage
Lions on Facebook: Facebook.com/mososports
Lions on Twitter: @mososports; @mosofootball
Lions on Instagram: @mososports

The Series: This will be the 25th meeting in the series between the two schools. Northeastern State leads the series 12-11, but the Lions have won 11 of the last 17 games between the two teams. Northeastern State was the Lions' first-ever opponent as a four-year school as NSU downed Southern 45-0 in 1968. 

The RiverHawks dominated the series early on, winning the first seven games in a row, but it has been mostly Southern over the last nine outings. The Lions are 4-7 in Tahlequah, while holding an 6-5 mark in Joplin with one game being vacated by the Lions in 1997. The 86-7 win in 2019 set school records for total offense (743), points (86), margin of victory (79), and first downs (42).

The Dish On The RiverHawks: The RiverHawks are coming off an opening-week loss to Emporia State at home, 38-7. NSU picked up 56 yards on the ground and 103 in the air against Emporia State for 159 yards total. The RiverHawks had the ball for 25 minutes compared to 35 for ESU. 

NSU used a pair of quarterbacks, but three different players threw a pass in the opener. Jacob Medrano went 7-for-12 in the game with 47 yards, while Grant Elerick was 4-for-11 for 36 yards and an interception. Isaiah Davis and Darious Hopkins saw the action on the ground with five carries and 30 yards for Davis, while Hopkins had eight rushes for 28 yards and a score. 

Through the air, four different RiverHawks saw the bulk of the action with Dashawn Williams catching seven passes for 18 yards, Malik Antwine had five receptions for 42 yards, while Keon Moore and Tre Currin picked up two and one pass, respectively. Defensively, the RiverHawks were led by Marques Williams with ten tackles, seven being solo. Marco Garcia and Antonio Johnson were two of four different players with six stops, while Blake Corn had two sacks. Northeastern State will be back in action next week as the RiverHawks will play host to Pittsburg State on September 18. Kickoff from Doc Wadley Stadium is set for 6 pm.

A Victory vs. The RiverHawks Would: be the third in a row for the Lions and 12 in the last 18 games against the RiverHawks.

NFL Representation: The Lions will have Brandon Williams as the lone MSSU alum in the NFL this season. Williams has blossomed into one of the best interior defensive linemen in the NFL and in 2017 became one of the highest-paid, as well, signing a five-year, $54 million contract.

NFL Executive: Former Lion and former NFL wide receiver James Thrash is in his third season serving as the NFL and NFLPA's Appeals Officer. He hears all appeals for the NFL regarding on-field player discipline. Thrash played 12 seasons in the NFL for the Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles.

Lions On Radio: The Lions will partner with Fox Sports Joplin this year as Southern can now be heard on three separate FM stations, as well as an AM station. Fox Sports Joplin will air the Lions' games on 101.3 and 101.7 FM, as well as AM 1560.

Lions On TV: Missouri Southern's KGCS will air every Lions home game live this year during the season. They will also re-broadcast the games on Sunday evenings at 6 pm.

Lions On The Web: All of MSSU's football games are carried live online as part of the MIAA Network. Fans can go to www.themiaanetwork.com/mssulions to view live and on-demand games.

Streaming Options: Fans now have even more options to view the Lions online in their homes and on the road. Not only can you view on your computer, fans can now view The MIAA Network on its over the top apps for either Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Android TV.

New Head Coach: Former Lion Atiba Bradley will be the new head coach for the Lions this year. Bradley played for the Lions and graduated in 2005. He was a student assistant in 2006 and returned as an assistant coach before making other coaching stops at Missouri, Quincy, South Dakota and McKendree.

Defensive Lineage: Three former Lions' defensive coaches, all whom current head coach Atiba Bradley and assistant coach Joe Bettasso learned under, are in high-profile positions. Scottie Hazelton (04-05) is the Defensive Coordinator at Michigan State, Brian Ward (2005) is the Defensive Coordinator at Nevada and Todd Wash (2004) is the Defensive Line Coach for the Detroit Lions in the NFL.

Green And Gold Alums: The Lions have four members of their staffs that were either players or earned a degree from Missouri Southern. Head Coach Atiba Bradley, as well as Defensive Coordinator Joe Bettasso and Associate Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator Matt Rahl all played for the Lions, while Director of Operations, Rylee Hartwell is a MOSO grad.

Throwin The Pigskin: The Lions started redshirt freshman Dawson Herl this past week at Nebraska-Kearney. Herl went 8-of-16 for 60 yards in his first collegiate game.

Pass Catchers: Seven different Lions caught a pass for Southern in the opener at UNK. Chris Boudreaux had two catches, while Jaedon Stoshak, Keandre Bledsoe, Ty Harvey, Brian Boyd, Jr., Jeremy Brown and Akeem Gilmore each caught a pass.

Rush It Up: True freshman Nathan Glades got his first collegiate start at UNK in week one. Glades had 18 carries for 63 yards and an average of 3.5 per carry. Jeremy Brown, Brian Boyd, Jr., Chris Boureaux and Dawson Herl were part of six different Lions rushing the ball in the opener.

Up Front: The offensive line will see some reshuffling as it loses three that had at least three starts in 2019 but return Mohamad Al-Ramahi, Lepopeasenuu Tito-Fualaau, Michael Brown and Labrentae Davis all with starting experience. Transfers Theodore Bullard started in the game at Southern Nazarene, while Al-Ramahi and Tito-Fualaau and Caden Coulson saw time as a blocker as well.

Linebackers R Us: Where the Lions are strong are their one-two tackling punch at linebacker with All-MIAA LB's Richard Jordan Jr. and Colton Winder prowling the field. Jordan Jr. finished atop the MIAA ranks and was tied for seventh in D-II with 120 tackles. That number was tied for the lead in D-II for all sophomores and he was tied for 11th across D-I, II, III, while setting the single-game record at Southern with 25 tackles against Washburn. Winder started seven games for the Lions but finished with 95 tackles which was second in D-II and tied for second in the MIAA. It was the fifth-most across D-I, II, III for a freshman.

Linebackers R Us II: Week one saw a trio of linebackers with ten or more stops for the Lions. Coleman Booker had 12 tackles, while Richard Jordan, Jr. had 11 and Colton Winder had ten.

Punt It Up: Nick Williams had seven punts at UNK, including a long of 49 for a total of 285 yards and 40.7 per punt. Five punts resulted in a fair catch, while two were inside the 20-yard line.

Long Time No See: The opening game this year at Nebraska-Kearney was the first time in 672 days the Lions had played an MIAA football game with the 2020 season being cancelled due to Covid-19.

Closing In On 200: Richard Jordan, Jr. is just 12 tackles from 200 career tackles at Missouri Southern.

This Week's Officials: The officials as assigned by the MIAA this week are as follows: referee: Brian Moore, umpire: David Burham, linesman: James Brigance, line judge: Phil Lombardi, side judge: Jason Boswell, field judge: Josh Schmidt, back judge: Travis Huffman, center judge: Phil Kirgin.

Weather Report: The weather report for the Joplin area on Saturday calls for a high of 95 degrees and clear skies with a south-southwest wind of 17 mph. Chance of rain is 1 percent.