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TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State RiverHawks (0-7, 0-6 MIAA) will travel to face the Central Missouri Mules (3-4, 2-4 MIAA). Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m. (CT) Oct. 26 at Audrey J. Walton Stadium (12,000) in Warrensburg, Mo.
 
The game can be heard live on KTLQ 96.3 and 1350 AM in Tahlequah with Scott Pettus and Sean Rowley providing commentary. A free audio broadcast can be found at goriverhawksgo.com. The game will also be streamed live on America One (b2tv.com, subscription based).
 
GAME NOTES
THE MATCHUP  .  .  .  Northeastern State has an unblemished 9-0 all-time mark against Central Missouri . . . the RiverHawks and Mules first met back in 1962, with the green and white earning a 7-0 shutout victory . . . the two teams also met last year for the first time as members of the MIAA - and for the first time since 1986 - and NSU earned its first victory of the season with a 24-23 come-from-behind home triumph over UCM . . . six of the nine victories have been by a touchdown or less, while the other three were by 62, 30 and 20 points, respectively.
 
Series History (NSU Leads 9-0)
Date    Winner    Score
2012    NSU    24-23
1986    NSU    42-22
1985    NSU    14-10
1978    NSU    50-20
1977    NSU    21-13
1974    NSU    14-13
1972    NSU    16-14
1963    NSU    62-0
1962    NSU    7-0
 
THE HEAD COACHES  .  .  .  NSU's KENNY EVANS (Northeastern State, '82) is in his sixth season as the RiverHawks head coach . . . he was named head coach in 2008 after 28 years as an assistant coach at six other universities . . . during that span, Evans coached in six bowl games, two national playoffs and was part of a coaching staff that won eight conference championships . . . his ninth conference championship was added in 2010 as the RiverHawks posted their first winning season in 10 years. He owns a 17-23 record in his last four seasons after starting 3-19 in his first two campaigns . . . in 2012, Evans guided Northeastern State through its first season as members of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association . . . the RiverHawks started slow against the premier competition, but they finished strong by winning their last four games to end the year at 4-6 . . . the 2011 team was one of the most successful in school history, as the RiverHawks recorded 30 team and individual school records . . . Evans has coached or recruited nine All-Americans, 11 conference players of the year, more than a dozen who have made it into the National Football League, as well as numerous All-Conference players at seven different colleges.
            UCM's JIM SVOBODA (Northwestern College, '83) is in his fourth season with the Greyhounds . . . he has compiled a 28-15 record during his tenure . . . he was named the 28th head football coach of the program on January 15, 2010 . . . he has led the Mules to two postseason appearances and UCM had the second most wins in a two-year period during his first two seasons in Warrensburg . . . last season, he led the Mules to a 6-4 mark, including an upset win over No. 3 Northwest Missouri to break a nine-game losing streak in the series . . . the Mules missed out on the postseason for the first time during Svoboda's tenure . . . during Svoboda's time in Warrensburg, the Mules have broken 60 school offensive records and 20 conference offensive records . . . he has coached seven All-Americans and 35 All-MIAA players, including 10 first team selections . . . Svoboda has experienced success at every level, winning national championships at the Division II and NAIA level as an assistant coach, as well as three bowl game appearances at the FBS Division I level.
 
DANCING DIXON .  .  . NSU starting running back Joel Rockmore went down with a season-ending injury in the third game of the season, so junior Terrance Dixon was called upon to spearhead the rushing attack . . . he has stepped up quite nicely, as he has scored six touchdowns in his last six games, and he has rushed for 382 yards this season . . . his best game came against Emporia State, when he carried the ball 27 times for a career-high 132 yards and two touchdowns . . . he also leads Northeastern State with 15 catches for 151 yards . . . four of his six touchdown runs this season have been longer than 15 yards.
 
A FIRST IN THE MODERN ERA .  .  . Northeastern State registered five interceptions against Washburn on Sept. 21 . . . the five picks were two shy of the school record set in 1980, and it was also the most by any NSU team in the modern era and the most by any NCAA team in a single game this season . . . the feat is so rare, there have been two NSU teams in the modern era (2004, '05) that recorded five interceptions all season . . . those that picked off Ichabod QB's were Kyler Harris (2), Chandler Barr, Carson Smallwood and Darrain Winston.
 
YOU CAN'T HAVE THAT .  .  . The RiverHawks did not commit a turnover against either Emporia State or Northwest Missouri State . . . the last time Northeastern State posted back-to-back games without giving the ball away was Sept. 19/26, 1998 . . . NSU also recovered its first fumble of the season (collected by senior defensive lineman Bobby Pointer) against Northwest Missouri State and has now won the turnover battle for three straight games . . . the last time Northeastern State recorded fewer turnovers than its opponent in at least three consecutive games was a four-game stretch from Sept. 25-Oct. 15, 2010.
 
ROTATING QB'S .  .  . Northeastern State has utilized three starting quarterbacks in 2013 . . . senior Johnny Deaton made his 19th career start in the season opener against Pittsburg State, but he suffered a season-ending injury against the Gorillas and was relieved by sophomore Thor Long . . . Long went on to start the first three games of his career against Missouri Southern State, Washburn and Emporia State, but he went down against the Hornets and was replaced by redshirt freshman Cory Meaders . . . the transfer from Hardin-Simmons University earned his first-career start against Northwest Missouri State, and Long took back over the reins against Missouri Western State . . . others who were high on the depth chart at QB but have suffered injuries were Josh Cousins and Prince McJunkins . . . Cousins, a redshirt freshman, suffered a season-ending injury in the 2013 spring game, while McJunkins, a sophomore who has started at wide receiver at NSU and was a high school QB, was slotted as the backup quarterback following Deaton's injury but was injured against the Ichabods . . . the last time the RiverHawks started three quarterbacks in the same season was 2009 (Woody Wilson, Kenny Davis, Pat Cook).
 
LEADING A NATION .  .  .  Langston Jones has compiled 97 tackles through five games so far this season . . . the senior linebacker is third in the entire NCAA in both total tackles and tackles per game (13.9) . . . he started off the year with a bang, stopping 12 Gorillas in the season opener . . . he recorded a career-high 21 stops against Missouri Southern State and followed that with a 13-tackle effort against Washburn . . . he also had seven against Emporia State, 14 against Northwest Missouri State and 12 against Missouri Western State . . . Jones exploded for 110 tackles a year ago, and he led the MIAA with 11.0 tackles per game and was also tied for 10th in the nation . . . he was named to the All-MIAA Second Team and the Don Hansen All-Super Region Three Third Team for his efforts . . . Jones was also named a 2013 USA College Football Division II Preseason All-American prior to the start of this season . . . he has registered 14 career double-digit tackle performances . . . his 343 career stops are good for second in NSU's modern era and third amongst all active NCAA Division II players.
 
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