NORTHEASTERN STATE (1-7, 0-7 MIAA)
vs (RV) MISSOURI WESTERN (6-2, 5-2 MIAA)
Saturday, October 28 -- 1 p.m.
Craig Field at Spratt Memorial Stadium (St. Joseph, Mo.)
All-Time Series: Northeastern State trails 12-0 -- Last meeting was Oct. 15, 2022 in Tahlequah (23-16 L)

TAHLEQUAH -- Northeastern State journeys to the Show-Me state for the third time this season for a Saturday meeting with Missouri Western. 

TOP STORYLINES

1 | Northeastern State will be in search of their first victory in program history against Missouri Western in this Saturday afternoon matchup. The Griffons are one of two teams in the MIAA that the RiverHawks have never beaten in football, with the other being Northwest Missouri.

2 | This is the first of two games this season that have 1 p.m. start times. The 2023 finale on Nov. 11 in Topeka, Kan. against Washburn will also start at the same time, while the Senior Day and Hall of Fame Game against Northwest Missouri at Doc Wadley Stadium will start at 2 p.m. on Nov. 4. 

3 | While undefeated on the road this season, the Griffons enter with a 2-2 record in contests held at Craig Field at Spratt Memorial Stadium in St. Joseph in 2023. MWSU took a loss against Northwest Missouri (27-23) in their most recent outing at home.

4 | NSU will look for another big-time performance from one of their receiving targets in this year's clash in St. Joseph after Dashawn Williams netted 110 receiving yards for the RiverHawks in last year's 23-16 nail-biter loss to the Griffons in Tahlequah. 

5 | While it his first time doing battle with Northeastern State as the head football coach of Missouri Western, Tyler Fenwick coached against Northeastern State while serving as the offensive coordinator for the Griffons in 2012. Meanwhile, NSU head football coach J.J. Eckert has taken part in nearly half of the all-time series between the teams, as he's faced the Griffons a combined five times as a player (1994-95) and as a coach (2019, 2021-22). 

NSU QUICK HITS

>>  The RiverHawks 2023 roster holds 60 student-athletes who are from Oklahoma.

>> After having just 14 upperclassmen on the roster in 2022, the RiverHawks possess 35 juniors and seniors on the 2023 roster, well over double last season's total. 

>> Entering the final three weeks of the campaign, NSU remains one of the MIAA's least-penalized teams. The RiverHawks have seen 42 penalties against them in 2023, tied with Fort Hays State for the fewest in the conference.

>> Jack Meservy is in his first season as the offensive coordinator for Northeastern State. Meservy has been on the football coaching staff at NSU since the start of the Eckert era in 2019. Other roles Meservy has previously held on the Northeastern State coaching staff include running backs coach, equipment manager, and assisting with the program's external communications. Meservy still serves as wide receivers coach in 2023, marking his third season in the role.

>> Two RiverHawks scored the first touchdowns of their NSU careers last Saturday. Running back Loran Kirk found his way into the end zone on a one-yard sprint in the third quarter, while tight end River Shaw made a two-yard scoring grab from Ben Ward on the very next drive. 

>> Blake May put together his best game of the season on the ground last weekend against Central Oklahoma. Rushing for 149 yards on a heavy workload of 30 carries (5.0 ypc), the junior tallied the most rushing yards in a single game for an individual NSU player since Craig Davis ran for 170 against Missouri Southern on Oct. 20, 2018. 

>> Will Bergner was a factor again through the air in last Saturday's President's Cup matchup. The sophomore receiver led the team in receiving with 64 yards while getting involved in the team's longest offensive play of the day on a 54-yard catch off a Ward pass in the third quarter. 

>> The NSU offensive line has done a stellar job of keeping their quarterbacks safe in 2023. The RiverHawks are tied for third in the MIAA with eight sacks allowed across the season.

>> Northeastern State is in its second season with defensive coordinator Mike Lucas. Lucas took over the RiverHawks' defense in August 2022, and despite being hired right before the start of the season, he guided them to their best season in years on that side of the ball. The defensive unit surrendered their fewest points per game (33.6) and rushing yards per game (206.7) since 2012 and finished in the top half of the league in passing defense (206.3 passing yards allowed per game). Prior to coming to Tahlequah, Lucas was the defensive coordinator at Northwestern State. Lucas possesses over three decades of coaching experience at the NCAA Division I college level, and was the head football coach at Southeastern Louisiana from 2007-12. 

>> The duo of linebackers in Dalton Crumbly and Makarios Brown proved to be a factor in Week 8, as they paced all NSU defenders with nine and eight tackles, respectively. In his first season with the program, Brown leads the team with 58 tackles (38 solo), while Crumbly ranks second with 54 (21 solo) in his first season as a full-time starter for the RiverHawks. 

>> Defensive lineman Chris Lee has been a regular sight in opposing backfields again in 2023. After recording another tackle for loss last week against Central Oklahoma, the junior brought his total up to seven on the campaign, surpassing his previous single-season career-best of 6.5 from 2021.

>> After failing to intercept any passes across the season's first five games, the NSU defense has picked off a pass in their last three. Notably, LaKedrick Holmes recorded his second interception of the season after getting in front of a Central Oklahoma pass on the first series of the game last weekend.

>> Tyler Crawford has been one of the MIAA's best in the kicking game across the campaign. The 2022 All-MIAA Honorable Mention ranks second in the conference with 42.4 yards per punt, while he's tied for the MIAA lead in punts of at least 50 yards (12). Meanwhile, Crawford and Jackson Delassus have combined for a 57.9 kickoff average that ranks fourth in the league.  

ON THE AIR

>> Northeastern State football's radio home is Billy Country 96.3 FM in Tahlequah with Bill Huddleston on the call as "the Voice of the RiverHawks", handling play-by-play. Shawn Tiemann serves as the primary road color analyst. Audio streaming is provided on GoRiverHawksGo.com under the Live tab on the homepage. 

ABOUT THE GRIFFONS

>> Head football coach Tyler Fenwick is in his first season leading the program at Missouri Western. Fenwick previously served as the offensive coordinator at MWSU from 2007-12 before NCAA Division II head coaching stops at Missouri S&T (2013-18) and Southeastern Oklahoma (2019-22). 

>> Quarterback Armani Edden has logged a passing touchdown in every game this season, while the senior ranks inside the conference's top five in passing yards (1,704).

>> Missouri Western possesses the strongest rushing offense in the conference with three weeks remaining in the regular season. As a team, the Griffons have rushed for 1,511 yards and 21 touchdowns, both ranking atop the MIAA. 

>> The Griffons have been one of the MIAA's elite in the red zone in 2023. They have the conference's top red zone defense, surrendering points on just 62.1% (18/29) of trips inside their own 20, while the offense has the second-highest red zone conversion rate at 87.5% (35/40). 

>> The Griffons have one of the league's better rushing defenses, ranking fourth in yards allowed on the ground (122.3), while they place near the bottom of the conference in passing defense (tenth, 285.4 yards per game).

>> Protecting the quarterback has been a lot easier said than done when facing the MWSU defense this season. The Griffons lead the MIAA with 24 sacks on the year. Their pass rushing efforts have been highlighted by Dakari Streeter, who leads the conference with ten sacks. 

>> Kicker Cody Watson is tied for the MIAA lead with ten made field goals from a league-leading 15 tries. Watson hit a career-best 47-yarder two weeks ago against Northwest Missouri and is one make away from tying his 2022 total of 11.