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TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State RiverHawks (0-8, 0-7 MIAA) will be looking for their first win when they play host to the Southwest Baptist Bearcats (1-7, 1-6 MIAA) in the final meeting of the two programs as members of the MIAA . . . kickoff is set for 2 p.m. (CT) Nov. 2 at Doc Wadley Stadium (8,300) in Tahlequah, Okla.
 
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 and Southwest Baptist have met just three times in the history of the two programs, and all three meetings have come since 2008 . . . NSU won the first game 45-20 in Tahlequah, which also served as Kenny Evans' first-career victory as a collegiate head coach . . . the Bearcats returned the favor 42-34 in Bolivar the following year . . . the RiverHawks took the lead in the series after winning last year's battle 22-17 in Bolivar . . . the 2012 meeting was the first between the programs as members of the same conference.
 
Series History (NSU Leads 2-1)
Date    Winner    Score
2012    NSU    22-17
2009    SBU    42-34
2008    NSU    45-20
 
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 17-24 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.
            SBU's CRAIG SCHULER (Benedictine College) is in his first season with the Bearcats . . . he has compiled a 1-7 record during his tenure . . . on Jan. 8 2013, Southwest Baptist University announced the hiring of Craig Schuler as  the 8th head football coach in school history . . . Schuler is in his 25th year as a football coach, and his 23rd year at the collegiate level . . . he is married to Alison Schuler and they have two daughters: Katie and Nikki . . . Schuler completed his ninth year as an assistant head coach and offensive coordinator at Lindenwood in 2012 where he also served as recruiting coordinator . . . he led one of the most prolific offenses in the nation during his tenure at Lindenwood, including averaging 45 points per game since the beginning of the 2009 season (45-game stretch) . . . in 2010 Schuler's offense averaged a national record 8.94 yards per snap, and helped claim Lindenwood's first ever HAAC championships in 2004, 2007 and 2009 . . . before joining the Lindenwood football staff, Schuler spent time coaching at both the collegiate and high schools levels . . . he started his coaching career at Benedictine College where he spent time as the offensive coordinator, assistant head coach, recruiting coordinator, and sports information director from 1989-00 . . . Sculer became the head football coach at Bishop Alemany High School from 2000-01 before moving to Avila University where he coached for two years (2001-03), helping jump-start the Avila football program . . . Schuler's final stop prior to Lindenwood was an assistant head coach/defensive coordinator position for one year at Wayne County High School in Georgia from 2003-04.
 
THE LOSING STREAK .  .  . The RiverHawks are currently 0-8 this season, and the eight-game losing streak is the most since the end of the 2011 season (0-2)/beginning of 2012 (0-6) . . . if NSU falls to Southwest Baptist this Saturday, the nine-game losing streak would be the longest since the 2004 season (0-10)/beginning of 2005 (0-4).
 
THE WRONG RECORD SET TO FALL .  .  . Northeastern State has allowed 2,220 yards rushing through the first eight games of the season (277.5 ypg) . . . . NSU's all-time record for rushing yards allowed in a single season was set in 2011 when the team conceded 2,289 yards . . . the RiverHawks must hold their final three opponents to less than 70 yards total in order to hold the new record at bay . . . Northeastern State's defense has allowed three teams to post at least 350 yards rushing in a game this season (Pittsburg State-354, Eastern New Mexico-368, Central Missouri-374), and the rest of the teams in the MIAA have combined for just four such occurrences (Pittsburg State had 361 against Central Oklahoma, Nebraska-Kearney had 365 against Lindenwood, Missouri Southern had 427 against Central Missouri, Missouri Southern had 607 against Lincoln).
 
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) . . . so far this season, NSU's quarterbacks have combined for just five touchdown passes (Long has three and Meaders has two) . . . there have been six occurrences in 2013 when a quarterback in the MIAA has thrown for five touchdowns or more in a single game (ESU's Brent Wilson (2), WU's Mitch Buhler (2), UCM's Hayden Hawk, PSU's Anthony Abenoja).
 
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 seven games, and he has rushed for 422 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.
 
LEADING A NATION .  .  .  Langston Jones has compiled 102 tackles through eight games so far this season . . . the senior linebacker is sixth in the entire NCAA in both total tackles and tackles per game (12.8) . . . 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 348 career stops are good for first in NSU's modern era and fifth amongst all active NCAA Division II players.
 
ID'S REQUIRED FOR ENTRY IN 2013 .  .  . All fans wishing to attend an NSU home football or basketball contest this season will be required to show a ticket prior to entering the facilities . . . NSU students and faculty/staff will still be allowed free admittance, but NSU ID's will no longer be accepted as a form of entry . . . tickets can be purchased at NSU's new ticketing Web site, goriverhawkstickets.com . . . NSU students and faculty/staff can access goriverhawkstickets.com and secure their free tickets (either printable or downloaded to your smart phone) through their goNSU accounts . . . for questions regarding ticket options, please contact Brynn Hamner at 918.444.3901.
 
GO RIVERHAWKS GEAR .  .  . Northeastern State University Athletics has partnered with Advanced-Online and has launced its new, one-of-a-kind online shopping site, goriverhawksgear.com . . . NSU fans have another avenue for acquiring Northeastern State apparel and accessories . . . the store is loaded with options for fans of all ages, ranging from T-shirts, polos and sweatshirts, to home office supplies, drinkware and kitchen essentials . . . every item is branded with official Northeastern State athletics and university logos, and select RiverHawks gear and accessories are customizable . . . the new online store can be accessed by simply visiting www.goriverhawksgear.com . . . the shop can also be viewed by clicking on the shopping cart at the top right of www.goriverhawksgo.com, the static graphic underneath the main picture or the rotating horizontal carousel just above the video player.
 
-GoRiverHawksGo.com-