Gorillas to face 8th-ranked Chadron State; Lions welcome Haskell Indian Nations

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.).

PITTSBURG STATE
The Gorillas and the Chadron 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.

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).

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.

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.