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TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State RiverHawks (0-5, 0-5 MIAA) is set to face its fifth ranked team of the season in the No. 6-ranked Missouri Western State Griffons (5-0, 4-0 MIAA) on MWSU's Homecoming. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m. (CT) Oct. 12 at Spratt Memorial Stadium (8,000) in St. Joseph, Mo.

The game can be heard live on KTLQ 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 Missouri Western State have only met three times in the respective history of the two programs . . . the Bearcats have taken all three meetings by a combined score of 122-51 . . . MWSU captured the first game in 1994 by a 33-13 margin, which was the same season NSU won the NAIA national championship . . . the Griffons won the return trip in 1995 44-7, and they defeated NSU 45-31 in Tahlequah last year . . . the meeting in 2012 was the first for the two programs as members of the same conference.
 
Series History (MWSU Leads 3-0)
Date   Winner          Score
2012   MWSU             45-31
1995   MWSU             44-7
1994   MWSU             33-13
 
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 17-21 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.
            MWSU's JERRY PARTRIDGE (Missouri Western State, '85) is in his 17th season with the Griffons . . . he has compiled a 129-64 record during his tenure . . . Partridge became Missouri Western's all-time wins leader on September 30, 2006 . . . his current total of 129 career victories ranks third on the MIAA all-time list . . . he was named the 2012 MIAA Coach of the Year for the second time in his career, with the other coming in 2000 . . . in addition to being the Griffons' all-time wins leader, Partridge's first 16 years at his alma mater have produced these impressive feats: first all-time at Missouri Western in games coached with 192; coached the Griffons' only MIAA Player-of-the-Year, Jerris Evans (2001); only MIAA Special Teams Player-of-the-Year, Greg Zuerlein (2011); only MIAA Offensive Player-of-the-Year, Michael Hill (2012); coached three MIAA Freshman of the Year, Mike Jordan (2012), Drew Newhart (2007) and Roger Allen (2005); coached the school's all-time leader in passing (Drew Newhart), tackles (Eric Walker), sacks (David Bass), tackles for a loss (David Bass), rushing yards (Michael Hill) and rushing attempts (Michael Hill); has had over 240 players named All-MIAA; 25 All-Americans, set the single season school record for wins with 12 and has won nine games or more in seven out of the last 10 years and led the team to its first four NCAA Playoff  appearances (2006, 2010, 2011 and 2012), which included hosting their first ever playoff game on November 20, 2011 against rival Northwest Missouri State . . . he also led the Griffons to their first NCAA playoff victory last November against Minnesota-Duluth by a score of 57-55 in triple overtime at Spratt Stadium, and he guided the Griffons into the quarterfinals with a victory over Henderson State the following week by a score of 45-21 in Arkadelphia, Ark. . . . Partridge has led the Griffons to 10 postseason appearances (2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012) . . . under Partridge, the Griffons were the MIAA Champions in 2012 and were co-champions of the MIAA in 2003.
 
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 have not committed a turnover in each of the last two games . . . 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 this past weekend against Northwest Missouri 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).
 
GO FOR IT .  .  . NSU opponents have been especially greedy in 2013, as all five of them have tried a fourth-down conversion at least once . . . Pittsburg State was the boldest of the four, as the Gorillas tried three but were only successful once . . . Missouri Southern was 1-for-1, but Washburn, Emporia State and Northwest Missouri State all went 0-for-2 . . . NSU opponents are 2-for-10 (20 percent) on fourth-down tries in 2013 . . . conversely, the RiverHawks have gone 1-for-2 on fourth downs in every game this season but one . . . Northeastern State attempted a fourth down in all but one game last season and finished 8-for-19 (42 percent), while opponents also attempted at least one in all but one game and finished 6-for-20 (30 percent).
 
DEJA VU .  .  . NSU has started the season 0-5 for the second-straight year, falling to all the same opponents in Pittsburg State (45-6), Missouri Southern State (17-14), Washburn (48-3), Emporia State (45-24), and Northwest Missouri State (40-12) . . . Northeastern State has now dropped its season opener in nine of the last 11 years . . . the RiverHawks were blown out by PSU a year and also lost a narrow 27-21 to MSSU last season . . . NSU fell 45-31 to Missouri Western State last season and will be looking to buck the trend against the Griffons.
 
THE TREACHEROUS SLATE CONTINUES .  .  . NSU once again is in the midst of one of the most difficult schedules of any team in the country . . . Northeastern State's first six opponents are a combined 29-1, while the team's seventh MIAA game is against a 2-3 Central Missouri squad that has lost to No. 3 Northwest Missouri State and No. 6 Missouri Western State by a combined seven points and most recently fell to Missouri Southern State, NSU's second opponent this year . . . of the six opponents, five are currently ranked in the AFCA Coaches' Poll (NWMSU, MWSU, No. 10 Pittsburg State, No. 15 Washburn, No. 23 Emporia State), while Missouri Southern State was receiving votes in the polls until two weeks ago . . . NSU is competing against the same 10 teams from a year ago.
 
LEADING A NATION .  .  .  Langston Jones has compiled 67 tackles through five games so far this season . . . the senior linebacker is second in the entire NCAA in both total tackles and tackles per game (13.4) . . . 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 and 14 against Northwest Missouri 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 313 career stops are good for third in NSU's modern era.
 
SHUTTING DOWN THE WISHBONE  .  .  .  A week after blitzing Central Oklahoma for 52 points in the season opener, Missouri Southern State was completely baffled by the RiverHawk defense . . . despite scoring 17 points in the first half, the Lions were forced to punt on all six second-half possessions (three three-and-outs, one failed fourth-down conversion) as NSU shutout the visitors from Joplin . . . MSSU mustered just 15 first downs and only 281 yards of offense against Northeastern State . . . the following week, the Lions threw 59 points on Lincoln.
 
JUMPING ON TOP .  .  .  Northeastern State scored first in six of the last eight games to end the 2012 campaign . . . the RiverHawks went ahead 3-0 on a Drew Patton field goal in three of those games (Washburn Sept. 15; Missouri Western State Oct. 6; Southwest Baptist Oct. 27) . . . NSU scored touchdowns against Northwest Missouri State (Sept. 29), Central Missouri (Oct. 20) and Lincoln (Nov. 3) . . . one of the only two contests in that stretch where NSU did not score first was Sept. 22 against Emporia State, when the Hornets shut out the green and white in the opening half . . . Northeastern State did not score first in the season finale against Central Oklahoma, but the RiverHawks were able to defeat the Bronchos . . . despite its 0-5 record in 2013, NSU has been ahead 7-0 against both Missouri Southern and Emporia State.
 
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