KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Another week and another matchup for one of the MIAA's nationally-ranked squads against a fellow non-conference foe in the AFCA Division II Top 25.

No. 14 Pittsburg State (1-0, 0-0 MIAA), heads north to face eighth-ranked Chadron (Neb.) State of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Saturday (Sept. 6) for its second road non-conference matchup in as many weeks.

The Gorillas survived turning the ball over five times to win at Central Oklahoma, 16-12, last weekend. The Eagles, who reached the national quarterfinals in NCAA Division II last season, opened with a 37-17 win over Mary (N.D.).

Last week, then-No. 3 Northwest Missouri State (0-1, 0-0 MIAA) fell at home to then No. 8 Abilene Christian (Texas), 44-27. The 12th-ranked Bearcats will be looking to even the table when Southwest Baptist comes to Maryville Saturday.

This will now be a non-conference battle with SBU opting to play an independent schedule starting this season. Part of the agreement allowing this was to have the school play MIAA squads during the first two weeks of each season.

Southwest Baptist is playing just one MIAA team this season, but will play two in each season following. The purple Bearcats put a scare into Southeast Missouri State last week before falling to the Redhawks in overtime, 35-28.

No. 7 Nebraska-Omaha (10-1, 8-0 NCC in '07) makes its debut as an MIAA team when the Mavericks host cross-state rival Nebraska-Kearney from the RMAC in the Victory Bell game Saturday at Al F. Caniglia Field.

It marks the 27th consecutive meeting between the two schools, and fifth year the bell trophy has been at stake. The Mavericks have not lost to the Lopers since the trophy was instituted.

UNK is coming off a 28-12 loss to another instate foe, Wayne (Neb.) State. The game will be available statewide on NET1 (Cable channel 12 in Omaha).

Washburn (1-0, 0-0 MIAA) debuted in the AFCA poll this week at No. 22, and the Ichabods will be getting a major test as they travel to Division I-Football Championship Subdivision Missouri State Thursday (Sept. 4).

This will be WU's first game against a Division I school since a 47-16 loss at Illinois State to open the 1994 season. The Ichabods are coming off a 27-3, lightning-shortened win over Colorado Mines last week. The game was halted with 8:38 remaining in the fourth quarter, and called after an 80-minute wait.

Missouri Western (1-0, 0-0 MIAA) plays its home opener Saturday at Spratt Memorial Stadium against 17th-ranked Minnesota-Duluth of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.

The Griffons used a 21-point third quarter to pull away from NSIC-member Northern (S.D.) State in their opener, and claim a 38-27 road win. The UMD Bulldogs marked their return to the NSIC after a short stay in the North Central Conference with a 40-0 shutout of conference foe Concordia-St. Paul (Minn.) last week.

The Griffons are one of five teams to receive votes in the AFCA poll this week, in addition to the four which were in the Top 25.

The Mules of Central Missouri (1-0, 0-0 MIAA) will host Gulf South Conference member Arkansas Tech Thursday. The Wonder Boys were supposed to open last season at Northwest, but lightning stopped the proceedings in the first quarter.

UCM avenged last season's loss at Minnesota State-Mankato with a 29-9 win over the Mavericks in Warrensburg, after waiting out a two-hour delay due to lightning. ATU opened with a home win over Northeastern (Okla.) State, 22-3.

The Emporia State Hornets (1-0, 0-0 MIAA) are looking for their second sweep of non-conference foes in as many seasons when the NSIC's Augustana (S.D.) Vikings come to Jones Field at Welch Stadium Saturday.

ESU hung a season-opening shutout for the first time since 1989 when the Hornets blanked Western (Colo.) State, 42-0. Augustana earned a hard-fought 13-10 overtime win against St. Cloud (Minn.) State in its opener.

Fort Hays State (1-0, 0-0 MIAA) also posted a shutout in its home opener, blanking New Mexico Highlands, 44-0. This week, the Tigers hit the road to take on the Colorado Mines Orediggers.

It was the first season-opening whitewash for FHSU since a 21-0 shutout of Lincoln (Mo.) in 1984, a game the Tigers later forfeited due to use of an ineligible player.

The Missouri Southern Lions (1-0, 0-0 MIAA), coming off a 45-31 home win over Harding (Ark.) last week, will play NAIA independent Haskell Indian Nations (Kan.) at Hughes Stadium.

The Lions posted a 51-0 road win over the Indians in Lawrence. Haskell lost its 2008 season opener at South Dakota M&T, 62-7.

Truman, which had its game with Missouri S&T postponed due to lightning last week (date of reschedule to be announced), will once again try to open the season when they take on Southern Arkansas from the GSC Saturday.

The game is scheduled to be played at Stokes Stadium, as work continues on the new synthetic turf surface. The SAU Muleriders fell at No. 3 North Alabama, 57-14, last week.

HINSPETER UPDATE: Missouri Southern senior QB Adam Hinspeter's record-setting effort against Harding (Ark.) last Saturday (Aug. 30) allowed him to leap from sixth to third on the MIAA's career passing yardage list.

Hinspeter's school-record 422 passing yards vs. the Bisons give him 7,595 for his career -- leaving the Lions' signal-caller 1,503 yards from moving into second place on the list.

Hinspeter needs just 24 yards of total offense to crack the MIAA's career top 10 in that category.

Team-by-Team Notes

Central Missouri: The Mules and Wonder Boys haven't met on the gridiron since 1982 -- each team has beat the other on the road in the two previous games... Junior WR Seth Mason blocked his second career punt in the MSU game, his first since 2006 vs. Lincoln (Mo.)... The Mules defense held the Mavericks on five of seven fourth-down conversion attempts... Senior WR Edgar Givens had a career-high six catches in the opener for 94 yards and two TDs.

Emporia State: The Hornets will face the Vikings for the first time -- it is the first time they've started a series against a new Division II foe since 1998 (North Dakota State)... Freshman TB/KR Brian Murphy set an ESU record with his 82-yard punt return for a touchdown vs. Western (Colo.) State (the old mark of 75 had stood since 1948)... The Hornets posted their first shutout in 86 games, dating back to the 2000 season.

Fort Hays State: The Tigers have a 14-7 lead in the series with the Orediggers, but FHSU has just two wins in the last seven games after last season's 34-10 victory in Hays... The Tigers held New Mexico Highlands to 3 yards rushing -- the fewest FHSU has allowed since Colorado Mines was held to minus-5 yards in a 1995 game... Fort Hays State is looking to extend its record against RMAC schools to 4-0 since leaving the circuit to join the MIAA.

Missouri Southern: The Lions are playing Haskell for just the second time in school history... Junior WR Mark Henderson, a transfer from Southern (La.), caught nine passes in his MSSU debut for 228 yards and three touchdowns and added a 22-yard run as well... Senior QB Adam Hinspeter's five TDs vs. Harding tied the school record set in 1993 by Matt Cook vs. Truman, and he needs 12 more to pass Cook's career mark of 64.

Missouri Western: The Griffons won last season's meeting with the UMD Bulldogs, 45-27, at Duluth in the only other meeting all-time... Senior SS Sylvester Gibson had two third-quarter interceptions in the win over Northern State, one returned 25 yards for a touchdown as part of the 21-point explosion in the period... Sophomore QB Drew Newhart threw for 221 yards and three TDs (two to senior WR Cedric Houston) in last season's meeting with UMD.

Nebraska-Omaha: The Mavericks hold a 27-8 lead over Nebraska-Kearney in the all-time series, and have won the last two vs. the Lopers at home... UNO has just one non-conference game scheduled in a season for the first time in the program's history... The Sept. 6 start date is the latest for the Mavericks to start a campaign since 1997... UNO has lost just once to Kearney in the last 13 seasons (2002 -- 35-17).

Northwest Missouri State: Northwest has a 17-3 lead in the series with SBU, and has won the last 13 meetings... Northwest held SBU to minus-74 rushing yards in an 86-13 win last season... The Bearcats had a 17-game home win streak (second-longest in the nation) snapped by Abilene Christian last week... It also broke a run of 13 straight wins in home openers and was the Bearcats' first loss to a Lone Star Conference school in eight games.

Pittsburg State: The Gorillas and Eagles will meet on the football field for the first time... Pitt State is 20-10 against teams currently members of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference -- 18 of those wins are split equally between Colorado State-Pueblo and Nebraska-Kearney... PSU held Central Oklahoma to 1-of-13 on third-down conversions last week... Senior TB Caleb Farabi, the MIAA's top returning scorer (11.5 ppg), didn't hit paydirt vs. UCO.

Truman: The Bulldogs have never faced SAU in football... Truman and Missouri S&T endured two power outages and additional delays due to lightning before calling their game last week... The game may be played at the end of the regular season if allowed by NCAA rules and if neither school qualifies for the playoffs... The Bulldogs are 0-6 against current Gulf South Conference schools, last facing one in 1996 (l. at Valdosta [Ga.] State, 49-35).

Washburn: The Ichabods have not defeated the Bears in the last five meetings (0-4-1), trailing in the series, 2-4-1... The last time MSU lost to an MIAA school in football was 1997, when Pitt State -- with current WU head coach Craig Schurig on the Gorillas sideline as an assistant along with current Ichabods assistant David Trupp -- handed the Bears a 9-8 setback in Springfield... Sophomore QB Jake Iverson threw for 277 yards and three TDs in his first collegiate start vs. Colorado Mines.

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MIAA Football Players of the Week

For the week of play ending Aug. 31

OFFENSE:
Drew Newhart, QB
Missouri Western State University

Newhart, a 6-foot-0, 200-pound sophomore from Cameron, Mo., misfired on just three of 22 pass attempts, throwing for 304 yards and three touchdowns as the Griffons claimed a 38-27 road victory at Northern (S.D.) State Thursday night (Aug. 28).

He connected on his first six passes, and was 7-of-8 over Western's first two possessions -- both ending in touchdowns.

Two of his TD passes came in a 21-point third-quarter outburst, including an 86-yard hook-up with Cedric Houston to open the second-half scoring and break a 14-14 tie.

He connected with eight different receivers against the Wolves, including one to himself on a batted pass which cost him 8 yards.

Newhart, the 2007 MIAA Freshman of the Year, is a graduate of Cameron High School.

Others Nominated: Edgar Givens, WR, UCM; Adam Hinspeter, QB, MSSU; Jake Iverson, QB, WU; Joel Osborn, QB, NWMSU; Andre Sloan El, QB, ESU.

DEFENSE:
Michael Krajicek, LB, Washburn University &
Katrel Larkins, LB, Emporia State University

Krajicek (pronounced KRY-chek), a 6-foot-0, 220-pound junior from Gretna, Neb., had 10 tackles and a blocked put to set up a touchdown drive in the Ichabods' 27-3 home win over Colorado Mines Thursday (Aug. 28).

Seven of his tackles were solo stops, and he was credited with one tackle for loss.

He blocked a CSM punt with 1:54 left in the first quarter to give the Ichabods the ball at the Orediggers' 23, and two plays later Washburn cashed in for a 21-0 lead.

WU held Colorado Mines to 225 total yards, including just 68 on the ground.

Krajicek is a graduate of Gretna High School.

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Larkins, a 6-1, 228-pound junior from Aurora, Colo., led all Hornets with 12 tackles as ESU posted its first shutout in 86 games, 42-0, Saturday night (Aug. 30) over Western (Colo.) State.

Six of his tackles were solos, and he shared a tackle for loss. The dozen tackles were a career high, as the Hornets held the Mountaineers to just 169 yards of offense.

ESU also held Western State to just eight first downs -- the fifth time since 2000 it had held a foe to fewer than 10 first downs.

Larkins is a graduate of Denver (Colo.)-Montbello High School.

Others Nominated: David Benham, DL, MSSU; Sylvester Gibson, SS, MWSU; C.J. Lovett, DB, FHSU; Rusty Morgan, LB, PSU; Adrian Singletary, LB, UCM.

SPECIAL TEAMS:
Bryan Haynes, WR/KR
Fort Hays State University

Haynes, a 5-foot-10, 170-pound senior from Peoria, Ariz., return the opening kickoff of the second half 97 yards for a touchdown in the Tigers' 44-0 win over New Mexico Highlands Thursday (Aug. 28).

It was his second career kickoff return of longer than 90 yards -- he had a 93-yard gallop in 2007 -- and it tied for the fourth-longest return in school history. The return gave Fort Hays State a 21-0 lead.

He also scored from his receiver spot on a 71-yard connection from Mike Garrison later in the third quarter. Haynes ended the night with three grabs for 90 yards and 187 all-purpose yards.

Hayens, the 2008 NCAA Division II indoor champion in the 200 meters, is a graduate of Centennial High School and transferred to FHSU from the University of Massachusetts.

Others Nominated: Seth Mason, WR, UCM; Brian Murphy, KR/TB, ESU; Michael Stadler, P, NWMSU; Dustin Strickler, K, MWSU.

-- MIAA --