NORTHEASTERN STATE (1-7, 1-7 MIAA) vs.
WASHBURN (5-3, 5-3 MIAA)
Saturday, October 29 -- 2 p.m.
Gable Field at Doc  Wadley Stadium 
All-Time Series: Washburn leads 9-1

TAHLEQUAH -- Northeastern State will be honoring local First Responders Saturday afternoon, where they will host Washburn for week nine in the MIAA schedule. 

Saturday's game will be aired on the radio on Billy Country 96.3 - Tahlequah and GoRiverHawksGo.com. The video broadcast can be found on The MIAA Network through the NSU video portal.  

TOP STORYLINES

1 | In all three of their home games this season, Northeastern State has led or has been tied at the end of the third quarter. 

2 | Following the national anthem, Air Evac Lifeteam will be flying in from Claremore to deliver the game ball as part of First Responder's Day at Doc Wadley Stadium.  The helicopter will land at midfield, with first responders receiving the game ball.

3 | NSU's defense has recorded six sacks and forced four turnovers in the previous two games. 

4 | Tyler Crawford is 12th nationally in NCAA-DII with average yards per punt this season (42.5).  Heading into week nine, his season punting average would be tops in NSU's NCAA-DII record book.

5 | Saturday is the 307th game played on Gable Field, the home for Northeastern State football since 1964.   Northeastern State has won 170 games on the current site for the football program. 

NSU QUICK HITS
>>  Dashawn Williams leads the team with four touchdown catches and has 28 receptions.   Against Missouri Western in week seven, the senior had seven catches for a career high 110 yards.  Williams is ninth in the MIAA with 3.9 receptions per game.  Malik Antwine leads NSU's receiving group with 331 yards and 24 catches.  The sophomore has three touchdowns and has thrown one on a 46-yard pass in the second quarter at Pittsburg State

100-Yard Receiving Games (2022)
Malik Antwine - 106 yards vs. Missouri Southern State
Dashawn Williams - 110 yards vs. Missouri Western

>> Darius Salters paces the NSU running back group with 270 rushing yards on 79 carries.   The senior ran in his first touchdown against Missouri Western in week seven.  Isaiah Davis has led NSU in carries in the previous three games and has 260 rushing yards and two touchdowns.   

>> Ben Ward earned the starting nod at quarterback for the previous two games with Grant Elerick sharing drives from under center.  Elerick started nine games at quarterback during the 2021 season as a redshirt-freshman.   Jacob Frazier started the first six weeks for the RiverHawks, and has a pass completion percentage of 61.2 with seven touchdowns.   

>> Northeastern State's defense has a new look in 2022.  Mike Lucas took over the RiverHawks' defense in August and is a well-seasoned coach with 30-plus years of coaching at the NCAA Division I college level.  Lucas was the head football coach at Southeastern Louisiana and was most recently the defensive coordinator at Northwestern State.  Damani Carter, an NSU letterwinner, will be the defensive line coach, along with Jalen Alexander, who was at Texas A&M-Commerce and Kilgore College.

>> After recording sack in the first four games of the season, the NSU defense went two weeks without one.  In week seven, they had a season-high of four, and the first safety since 2019.  The RiverHawks are seventh in the MIAA with 12 sacks and sixth in 6.4 tackles for a loss per game. 

>> Jordan Lamotte leads the NSU defense with 53 tackles (39 solo-14 assist).  His 39 solo tackles are tied for third overall among those in the MIAA.  Lamotte recorded an interception and had a fumble recovery at Northwest Missouri.  Novis Cullom paces the team with 4.5 tackles for a loss this season.

>>  Tyler Crawford is 7-for-12 on field goal attempts this season, but he is just the third kicker in NSU history to have a pair of 50+ yard made attempts.  The Broken Arrow native is the only kicker in NCAA D-II football this season with three 50+ yard kicks and is 13-for-13 on extra point attempts.  Additionally, in NSU history, he is one of two kickers with three 50+ yard made attempts and owns three of the top-14 longest field goals.  He also booted a 77 yard punt at Northwest Missouri, which was second longest in the NCAA-DII era.  Crawford was an MIAA Special Teams Player of the Week selection in week four and also handles punting duties for NSU where he is third in the MIAA in 42.5 yards per kick.

>> The RiverHawks are the fourth-lowest penalized team in the MIAA, with 39 flags called this season.

>> Instant replay is available in the MIAA during the 2022 season; the RiverHawks are 1-3 in coaches' challenges.   A charged time out is given to a team if their challenge is unsuccessful. 

>> Northeastern State's captains for the 2022 season are: Shaakir Smith (#7), Jacob Frazier (#9), and Coltin Knape (#48).

>> The RiverHawks' 2022 roster holds 62 student-athletes from Oklahoma. 

THE SERIES WITH THE ICHABODS
>> First meeting with Washburn was in 1987.
>> Northeastern State is 1-4 when hosting the Ichabods.

ABOUT THE ICHABODS
>> Washburn's three losses this season have come within a touchdown.

>> The Ichabods are eighth in the nation passing the ball 297.4 yards per game.   Quarterback Kellen Simoncic is third nationally with 24 touchdowns and tenth overall with 2,243 passing yards.  He has thrown at least two touchdown passes in every game but one this season.  Simoncic was 8-for-17 with a touchdown against the RiverHawks in last year's meeting in Topeka. 

>>  James Letcher, Jr. leads the MIAA with eight touchdown catches and is eighth nationally with 7.2 receptions per game.  He has been named MIAA Athlete of the Week twice this season as offensive and special teams.  A fifth-year senior,  Letcher has an all-purpose yards total of 5,216 yards and has scored a touchdown against every time in the MIAA except for Nebraska-Kearney. 

>> The 2022 roster for Washburn features just one player from Oklahoma. 

>> Washburn this season is ranked second to last in the MIAA with 54 penalties and allows 245 passing yards per game, 21st most in the nation. 

>> Dane Simoneau, Washburn's Co-Offensive Coordinator / Offensive Line Coach, was Northeastern State's Offensive Coordinator for three seasons (2016-18).