R.J. Cooper
Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008
Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008
Monday, Nov. 17, 2008
Monday, Nov. 17, 2008
Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008
Monday, Nov. 10, 2008
Saturday, Nov. 8, 2008
Saturday, Nov. 8, 2008
Saturday, Nov. 8, 2008
Friday, Nov. 7, 2008
Western O-line eats it up
Friday, Nov. 7, 2008
Friday, Nov. 7, 2008
Monday, Nov. 3, 2008
Monday, Nov. 3, 2008
Monday, Nov. 3, 2008
Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008
Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008
Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008
Friday, Oct. 31, 2008
Friday, Oct. 31, 2008
Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2008
Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2008
Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2008
Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2008
Monday, Oct. 27, 2008
Monday, Oct. 27, 2008
Saturday, Oct. 25, 2008
Saturday, Oct. 25, 2008
Friday, Oct. 24, 2008
Friday, Oct. 24, 2008
Thursday, Oct. 23, 2008
Thursday, Oct. 23, 2008
Monday, Oct. 20, 2008
Monday, Oct. 20, 2008
Monday, Oct. 20, 2008
Sunday, Oct. 19, 2008
Sunday, Oct. 19, 2008
Saturday, Oct. 18, 2008
Saturday, Oct. 18, 2008
Saturday, Oct. 18, 2008
Saturday, Oct. 18, 2008
Friday, Oct. 17, 2008
Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008
Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2008
Monday, Oct. 13, 2008
Monday, Oct. 13, 2008
Monday, Oct. 13, 2008
Saturday, Oct. 11, 2008
Saturday, Oct. 11, 2008
Friday, Oct. 10, 2008
Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008
MIAA football coaches routinely refer to their conference as the best in Division II, and if there is one coach outside the league who can empathize with their weekly grind, it’s Harding’s Ronnie Huckeba.
Huckeba was in Maryville on Tuesday to follow around Northwest’s Mel Tjeerdsma and pick up a few tips to take back to Searcy, Ark., where the Bisons compete in the Gulf South Conference with the likes of Delta State, North Alabama and Valdosta State. All three are ranked in the top 15 of the coaches’ poll, and no conference has more teams in the top 15 (the MIAA has two). Harding went 2-9 this season, losing to No. 4 Delta State in overtime and No. 13 Valdosta, 21-13.
Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008
Northwest football coach Mel Tjeerdsma sits down with the News-Press’ R.J. Cooper to discuss the playoffs past and present, Pittsburg State coming to Maryville and how his team matured this year among other topics.
Boone gives Western women a boostMonday, Nov. 17, 2008
Nikki Boone went from potential redshirt to potential starter in less than two weeks.
The 5-foot-9 junior from Palomar (Calif.) College tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee last February and didn’t have surgery until April. She hadn’t fully recovered when the Missouri Western women began practice last month, and coach Lynn Plett considered redshirting Boone to get her additional time to rehabilitate.
“Two weeks ago it was kind of hit and miss on her as far as being able to play with confidence and aggressiveness,” Plett said. “I told her, ‘You have to prove physically you’re ready to play because neither one of us want to jeopardize your future.’”
Monday, Nov. 17, 2008
Of all the players who transferred into the MIAA this season, Alicia Bell’s switch from Northwest to Western seems pretty minor.
As a freshmen, she averaged just two points and 13.6 minutes for the Bearcats, tore her ACL eight games into the season and watched as Northwest won the MIAA tournament and advanced to the South Central regional semifinals without her.
Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008
MARYVILLE, Mo. — Call this one a clean sweep. When the MIAA announced its postseason football awards on Tuesday, conference champion Northwest Missouri State boasted the offensive player of the year, defensive player of the year, freshman of the year and coach of the year.
The coaches named Northwest quarterback Joel Osborn the league’s top offensive player — one of seven Bearcats to earn first-team status on the All-MIAA team.
Junior safety Myles Burnsides was the conference’s top defensive player, while defensive lineman Josh Lorenson earned the league’s best freshman honor.
Monday, Nov. 10, 2008
Lynn Plett’s two biggest concerns heading into Sunday’s exhibition at Iowa State were turnovers and defensive rebounding.
Those two facets turned into Missouri Western’s most pleasant surprises in an 80-55 loss to the Cyclones, picked to finish third in the Big 12 this season.
“We held our own and were pretty even in both of those categories,” said Plett, whose team matched Iowa State’s nine offensive rebounds and only turned the ball over one more time, 18-17.
Saturday, Nov. 8, 2008
Right now the Missouri Western Griffons probably feel pretty good about themselves. After coming up just shy so often early in the season, the Griffons finally won back-to-back games in the final seconds. They finished the regular season on a four-game winning streak, and their season continues for four more weeks, long after most Division II programs have hung up their helmets and called it a year.
And they can point to a couple of plays against Pittsburg State and Washburn that separated them from the second playoff berth in the program’s history.
Saturday, Nov. 8, 2008
The coin toss set the tone for the first half Saturday at Spratt Stadium.
An unseasonably warm football season took a chilly, windy turn on the final week of the MIAA schedule.
A 22-mph wind out of the northwest made temperatures hovering in the mid-30s feel even colder at Spratt Stadium. Missouri Western won the toss and took the wind in the first and fourth quarters.
Saturday, Nov. 8, 2008
Truman State forced Missouri Western to settle for the Mineral Water Bowl in 2007. Two days shy of a year later, the Griffons parried another Bulldog upset bid to partially salvage a season and almost certainly earn another postseason trip to Excelsior Springs, Mo.
For the second straight week, Western kicker Dustin Strickler made the game-winning field goal in the final 10 seconds, hitting a 22-yarder with 3 seconds remaining Saturday to lift the Griffons to a 33-32 victory against Truman at Spratt Stadium.
“It felt great. That one was the perfect ending,” said the Griffons senior kicker, who also hit a career-long 50-yard field goal in the first quarter with a little help from a 22-mph wind. “That’s what’s supposed to happen on senior day. I just chipped it up in the air, and the wind took it.”
Friday, Nov. 7, 2008
A breakdown of today's game between Missouri Western and Truman State
Western O-line eats it up
Friday, Nov. 7, 2008
Fans show up by the thousands to watch Missouri Western play football on Saturdays. Thursday’s crowd is much smaller — a handful of interested observers — but they seem no less impressed or intrigued with these Griffons’ performances.
Thursday’s playing field is three tables pushed together in a corner of Applebee’s. The Griffons’ offense line meets here every week for 30-cent chicken wings in a ritual that still draws wonder from the wait staff four years later.
“You’re going to eat all of them yourself?” the waitress replies after right guard Roger Allen orders 40 wings. “I have to see this.”
Friday, Nov. 7, 2008
With all due respect to the many seniors wrapping up their college careers this weekend and the coaches building for next season, there is only one MIAA game that really matters this weekend — Nebraska-Omaha at Washburn.
Best and the rest: Final rankings of 2008Monday, Nov. 3, 2008
The 2008 season was a restoration of the old guard in some ways. Pittsburg State, after a couple of ho-hum years by its high standards, re-established itself as an elite team. Northwest re-asserted its dominance over everyone.
Monday, Nov. 3, 2008
For the first time in two years, Tom Smith is losing his voice from yelling in practice again. And he hasn’t felt this good in quite a while.
The Missouri Western men’s basketball team begins the 2008-09 season Nov. 21 with historically low expectations for Smith’s 21st year with the program. But the first weeks of practice have Smith downright giddy with his team — from the Griffons’ unselfishness, to their work ethic, to their chemistry.
“It’s been two years since I’ve really enjoyed my team,” Smith said Monday at the Griffon Luncheon. “Everyone who has ever followed me and my teams knows that my relationship with my players is what has made us successful.
Monday, Nov. 3, 2008
With five seconds remaining Saturday, a Missouri Western assistant screamed at defensive end Brad Davidson, “He can’t block you.”
And sure enough, Davidson flew around the Central Missouri tackle to sack quarterback Eric Czerniewski, ending the Griffons’ 42-41 upset of the Mules at Walton Stadium.
Western’s pass rush, combined with a stingy showing from the secondary, helped the Griffons’ defense turn in its best performance against the pass this season. Czerniewski had thrown for 650 yards and six touchdowns the two weeks prior, leading the MIAA’s top pass offense. Western, meanwhile, couldn’t stop Minnesota-Duluth’s Ted Schlafke or Northwest’s Joel Osborn earlier in the season. Both quarterbacks completed more than 70 percent of their passes for at least 270 yards in early season wins over Western.
Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008
WARRENSBURG, Mo. — Dustin Strickler dreamed it, Jerry Partridge predicted it and Saturday it finally happened. Strickler, Missouri Western’s senior kicker, hit a 30-yard field goal with 6 seconds left to lift the Griffons to their six straight victory over Central Missouri, 42-41, at Walton Stadium.
It was Strickler’s first game-winning kick in a stellar career, though he and coach Partridge had entertained the thought for the past three years.
Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008
I'm fairly confident Jay Eilers is certifiably insane. As evidence, I submit the Western offensive line coach headbutting a player, who happened to be wearing a helmet at the time, last season after beating Central Missouri. After this year's win over the Mules, Eilers was his same crazy self, highstepping onto the field, screaming, shaking his head at the sky and tossing his child a good few feet in the air in celebration.
But through the insanity, Eilers pretty much summed up the Griffons' season, yelling, “This is how it was supposed to go down.”
Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008
Hunter Henry, role player?
Hunter Henry led the Northwest men’s basketball team in scoring last season, and the Bearcats return just three other players, who combined for 8.6 points a game, from last year’s 24-8 team.
Friday, Oct. 31, 2008
Four of the five MIAA games this weekend hold playoff implications with the Missouri Southern-Truman game looming as the lone exception. I’m not sure who is going to win in Kirksville, but I do know it won’t be a thing of beauty.
Missouri Western-Central Missouri scouting reportFriday, Oct. 31, 2008
Missouri Western (4-5, 3-4) at Central Missouri (6-3, 4-3), 1:30 p.m., Walton Stadium
MIAA Basketball Luncheon: Steinmeyer’s take on Emporia and Washburn’s dominanceTuesday, Oct. 28, 2008
Washburn and Emporia State have won nine of the past 11 MIAA regular season women’s basketball championships — 10 if you take away Western’s tainted title from 2006-07. On Tuesday, the conference’s coaches picked that duo to finish 1-2 yet again, a sign the landscape in the conference isn’t really changing.
The always-candid Gene Steinmeyer broke down why that is.
Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2008
KANSAS CITY — Tuesday provided a first for Southwest Baptist, and men’s basketball coach Jeff Guiot wasn’t thrilled with the recent recognition.
“I really appreciate the bull’s-eye you put on our backs,” Guiot quipped at the MIAA’s basketball luncheon after his peers picked the Bearcats No. 1 in their annual preseason poll for the first time in the school’s history.
Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2008
KANSAS CITY — The question usually isn’t which two schools will come in at the top of the coaches’ annual preseason poll. It’s the order.
The Washburn and Emporia State women’s basketball teams have been the toast of the MIAA for most of this decade, and Tuesday the conference’s coaches tabbed that duo to finish 1-2 for the sixth consecutive year with Washburn taking the top honor this time.
Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2008
Your latest regional rankings are out, and the difference between the playoffs and the Mineral Water Bowl is apparently 43 yards.
GRIFFON NOTES: Western defense shows signs of maturationMonday, Oct. 27, 2008
For the first time in 2008, Missouri Western outscored its opponent in the fourth quarter Saturday, and, not surprisingly, the Griffons posted their largest margin of victory this season — 17-3 over Missouri Southern.
Prior to Saturday, opponents were outscoring Western 121-29 in the final frame and had shut out the Griffons three times in the last 15 minutes.
Monday, Oct. 27, 2008
The scene was reminiscent of classic sports movies — the injured athlete in his hospital bed hanging on every word of the radio broadcast.
In “Remember the Titans,” a car crash was responsible. In Hoosiers, it was alcoholism. Reality, in this case, is much less dramatic but every bit as serious.
Missouri Western punter Jamie Hanson spent last Saturday at Heartland Regional Medical Center, listening to the Griffons’ 17-3 victory at Missouri Southern on the radio. Eight days ago, Hanson thought he just had an ingrown hair on his right foot. By Friday, his foot had doubled in size, and he was hospitalized with a MRSA infection.
Saturday, Oct. 25, 2008
Dustin Strickler’s job description most Saturdays is “place kicker.”
Against Missouri Southern, Strickler became simply a kicker.
Saturday, Oct. 25, 2008
JOPLIN, Mo. — Forget gaudy passing numbers, shootouts and last-second drama.
Traditional Missouri Western football is much more mundane — pound opponents with a bruising running attack and play sound defense. The Griffons found that ole familiar formula for the first time all season Saturday, beating Missouri Southern in a 17-3 victory at Hughes Stadium.
Friday, Oct. 24, 2008
When WESTERN has the ball
Southern entered last week with the nation’s second-ranked pass defense, a bad sign for a Griffons squad that has struggled to run the football. But Central Missouri torched the Lions’ secondary for 361 yards and five passing touchdowns. Southern coach Bart Tatum said of his defense’s performance, “The biggest thing (Central) did that recent teams hadn’t done is throw three premier athletes on the perimeter against us, and Western has guys who are every bit that good.”
Friday, Oct. 24, 2008
Thunderstorms hastened Andrew Mead’s return to the gym this week.
And in two more weeks, he’ll be a regular in Looney Complex as the junior attempts to become Missouri Western’s first athlete to play football and basketball in at least two decades.
Mead, a 6-foot-5 wide receiver, spent the past four seasons on the football team, redshirting in 2005 and catching a combined 94 passes for 1,193 yards and 12 touchdowns from 2006 through the first eight games of the current campaign.
With three games left in the 2008 season, Mead’s immediate goal is to help Western win out and salve at least a little of the disappointment of its current 3-5 record. The Griffons face Missouri Southern this afternoon in Joplin, and Mead, in spite of spraining a tendon in his right knee last Saturday, will play.
Thursday, Oct. 23, 2008
Western wide receiver Andrew Mead injured his right knee in the first quarter against Emporia State last Saturday and didn’t return.
Week 9 Pick ’emThursday, Oct. 23, 2008
Looking at my office window, I was considering beginning construction on an ark. I’ve opted to postpone those plans to make this week’s picks.
Western's upcoming foe faces some offensive issuesMonday, Oct. 20, 2008
Only MIAA two quarterbacks have passed for more yards than Missouri Southern’s Adam Hinspeter — Truman State’s Eric Howe and Missouri Western’s Kasey Waterman.
And the Griffons might not have to worry about defending Waterman’s status as the conference’s top all-time passer when they take on the Lions this Saturday in Joplin, Mo.
Southern coach Bart Tatum benched Hinspeter during the Lions’ 47-14 loss to Central Missouri last week in favor of freshman Collin Howard. Hinspeter, who is 1,626 yards behind Waterman and 698 behind Howe, was just 3-of-8 for 29 yards against the Mules. However, Tatum told the News-Press the switch had less to do with Hinspeter’s performance than the offense’s overall lack of productivity.
Monday, Oct. 20, 2008
Seeing her mother losing weight, her hair and her teeth jarred Tiffany Mastin out of her complacency.
Mastin sat in a hospital room, forced to wear a surgical mask because her mother’s immune system was so frail, and realized breast cancer was no longer a statistic or stranger’s name.
“It’s very shocking, the whole process,” said Mastin, the head volleyball coach for Missouri Western. “You can cruise through life, and life is great. And then one day, you’re like (crap).”
Monday, Oct. 20, 2008
With three weeks remaining in the season, I’ve finally settled on what I think is a pretty accurate ranking of the conference. Six teams stayed in the same place this week, and no one moved more than one spot.
While a Western win at Southern or an Omaha victory at Pitt (see final comment below) could shake these up a little bit, the final rankings should look more or less like this with one elite team, three upper-tier teams, four wannabes and two bottom feeders.
Sunday, Oct. 19, 2008
Regardless how Lynn Plett’s 10 new players and six returners mesh, one thing is certain this season: the Griffons’ bench won’t be empty.
Plett’s first season at Missouri Western was far from ideal. After a prolonged search for Josh Keister’s successor, the Griffons finally offered the job to Plett in mid-June, and when he arrived on campus, Western had just 10 players — six of whom were freshman.
Sunday, Oct. 19, 2008
Missouri Western’s latest rebuilding effort — part four — at least will feature some familiar faces to local hoops fans.
Two city players — Lafayette’s Dominqiue Thuston and Central’s Colby Smith — have a chance to start for men’s coach Tom Smith, while East Buchanan’s Andrew Mead and Central’s Brandon Beck and Luke Anderson should figure in as role players.
In addition, a couple of other Griffons grew up only a few postal codes away from the MWSU Fieldhouse. Junior forward James Bush is from Wyandotte, Kan., while senior guard Leonard Parker hails from Leavenworth, Kan.
Saturday, Oct. 18, 2008
The overall tone of our Missouri Western coverage has been understandably negative this season for a 3-5 team I think is underachieving. With a struggling team, the last thing I want to do as a sports writer is demean one of those rare victories. After all, programs like Emporia and Fort Hays — Western’s last two wins — would be thrilled with any MIAA victory they can get at this point, no matter the manner.
But I feel that if Western is satisfied with Saturday’s result — a game the Griffons dominated for 33-plus minutes before folding up shop — then this program should be associated with the Emporias, Fort Hays and Southerns of the conference. And I don’t get the feeling that the Griffons — after winning 27 games the past three years — believe they belong in that company. This is a team that was on the doorstep of hosting a playoff game last year. Those types of programs and players aren’t satisfied with a victory like this.
Saturday, Oct. 18, 2008
There is a youth movement afoot at Missouri Western.
Injuries and suspensions thrust receivers Eric Anderson and Adam Clausen into the Griffons’ 28-21 victory over Emporia State on Saturday. Previously, that pair had four total catches this season.
But they filled in admirably Saturday. Anderson, syncing up with high school teammate quarterback Drew Newhart, caught two passes for 20 yards. Clausen, a freshman from Kansas City, caught four passes for 52 yards, including a second-quarter touchdown.
Saturday, Oct. 18, 2008
A Missouri Western blowout was a short run away Saturday. Instead, Cedric Houston opted to trot the final few yards to the end zone.
It was the difference between a confidence-building victory, and a win that, in spite of the scoreboard, resurrected old themes and deficiencies. The Griffons settled for the latter in a 28-21 victory over Emporia State at Spratt Stadium.
On the Griffons’ first drive of the second half, quarterback Drew Newhart hit Houston behind Emporia State’s defense for a 39-yard gain. Western needed 40. Houston, thinking the touchdown was a foregone conclusion, slowed up inside the 10 only to have Hornets’ safety Tyler Mikkelson blind-side him and jar the ball loose at the goal line.
Saturday, Oct. 18, 2008
The overall tone of our Missouri Western coverage has been understandably negative this season for a 3-5 team I think is underachieving. With a struggling team, the last thing I want to do as a sports writer is demean one of those rare victories.
Friday, Oct. 17, 2008
Emporia State (3-4, 1-4)
at
Missouri Western (2-5. 1-4)
1:30 p.m., Spratt Stadium
Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008
MIAA schools hold five of the 10 slots in the latest regional rankings, and if the regular season ended last Saturday, three of the six playoff spots from Region 4 would belong to the MIAA — Northwest, Pittsburg and Central Missouri.
Central Washington looks like a lock to grab one of those bids, leaving five for the MIAA and Lone Star Conference to divide up. The LSC’s A&M Kingsville and Tarleton State sit at seven and eight, respectively, and easily could replace Pitt or Central if either of those schools stumble.
Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2008
The release of the Madden video game each year has turned into a national holiday of sorts. But if Madden’s release is Christmas for sports gamers, I prefer Hanukkah.
Whiters quietly displays tough-guy quality through painMonday, Oct. 13, 2008
Sean Whiters quietly listened to coach Jerry Partridge’s halftime speech — just like his teammates.
The difference between Whiters and his fellow Griffons was a 90-degree angle. The senior linebacker dislocated his left index finger in the first half against Nebraska-Omaha on Saturday. When Whiters took off his glove, his finger was bent back 90 degrees and had broken the skin.
Monday, Oct. 13, 2008
Four pieces of Missouri Western’s 2007 rushing attack are gone, and the Griffons have yet to put the puzzle back together during the current campaign.
Monday, Oct. 13, 2008
No one-play what ifs, referees mistakes or statistical anomalies for the Griffons to lean on in this contest. This was 60-minutes of domination that could've been even uglier on the scoreboard had Nebraska-Omaha not stunted its attack with turnovers.
WESTERN GAME NOTES: Hanson impresses againSaturday, Oct. 11, 2008
Missouri Western punter Jamie Hanson struggled through a couple of games this season — a surprising development for one of the Griffons’ pro prospect.
But even as his teammates faltered all around him, Hanson shined as the Griffons’ top performer during Saturday’s game at Nebraska-Omaha. Of course, when a punter is a team’s best player, that usually spells a loss — like it did for Western, 42-14.
Saturday, Oct. 11, 2008
OMAHA, Neb. — Daniel Atkinson summoned enough fight to slap away a Nebraska-Omaha Maverick who held onto his jersey after a whistle in the closing moments Saturday.
But the Missouri Western tackle, and the rest of his defensive teammates provided little other resistance to stem the powerful tide of Brian McNeill and the Omaha rushing attack in the fourth quarter of the Mavericks’ 42-14 victory at Al Caniglia Field.
Friday, Oct. 10, 2008
Missouri Western at Nebraska-Omaha
When WESTERN has the ball
The Mavericks rank eighth in scoring defense (26 points a game) in the MIAA this season, but that number is deceiving considering Omaha’s offense has given opponents 28 points via defensive touchdowns the past two weeks. Subtract those scores, and the Mavericks are allowing a very respectable 17 points a game. Omaha isn’t great against the run, ranking eighth in the MIAA at 132 yards a game, but Western’s running backs and banged up offensive line have generated just 188 yards rushing the past two weeks, making the battle along the line somewhat of a draw.
