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Shawnee Heights senior Camden Granado (6) UKC Player of the Year.

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Silver Lake's Kylie Hanni Shawnee County Player of the Year.

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Ichabod football looking to end 2025 season on high note at Missouri Southern

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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

There's no doubt that the 2025 season has been a tough one for the Washburn University football team, with the 2-8 Ichabods suffering four one-possession losses, including a pair of three-point defeats and an overtime heartbreaker.

JordanFinnesyESU2024Senior Jordan Finnesy (1) is one of 15 Washburn seniors who will play their final collegiate game for the Ichabods Saturday at Missouri Southern. [File photo/TSN]

But Washburn will have the opportunity to finish off the season on a high note in Saturday's 1 p.m. MIAA contest at Missouri Southern. 

"We want to do whatever we can this week to get that win,'' said Washburn standout senior safety Jordan Finnesy. "Not just for the seniors but for the guys who will be going through the offseason. It just leaves a better taste in your mouth and gives you a little bit of momentum going into the offseason and then into next season.

"So it would be big to get a win this week and go out that way.''   

The Ichabods, 1-7 in the MIAA, are coming off a 45-17 loss to Emporia State while Missouri Southern is 3-7 overall and has a matching 1-7 record in the conference after a 44-17 loss at Central Oklahoma last Saturday in Edmond.
 
Sophomore JC Heim leads the MIAA and is second in the national rankings in tackles per game with 12.9 per contest while L.J. Minner Jr. is third in the conference with 9.9 tackles per game, ranking 16th in the NCAA D-II national rankings.
 
Heim's 6.6 solo tackles per game also leads the MIAA and is second nationally. Heim's 130 tackles this season ranks fifth on the Ichabod single-season chart, trailing Derrick McGreevy (131), Grant Bruner (137), current Washburn coach Zach Watkins (143) and Bill Guidetti (152).

Finnesy's 253 career tackles rank 15th on the NCAA D-II active chart and he is 15th on the D-II active solo tackles chart with 158 and 15th on the Ichabod career tackles chart.

Senior Jake Zeller is fifth on the NCAA D-II active punting average chart at 42.2 and he is seventh in total punt yards (7,047). Zeller is second in the MIAA and ninth in the national rankings in punting average at 43.5. Zeller is second on the Ichabod all-time punting average chart at 42.2 and ninth in total yards at 7,047.
 
Nathan Glades leads Missouri Southern in rushing at 43.7 yards per game with three touchdowns, averaging 3.4 yards per carry.
 
Lions quarterback Tillman Martin has thrown for 16 touchdowns passes and is averaging 228.3 yards per game while Draper Parkers leads the team with 43 catches for 534 yards and five touchdowns.
 
Defensively, Zach Bergmann has 93 tackles and 5.5 tackles for loss with two interceptions for Southern.

Washburn rolled to a 42-21 win over Missouri Southern last season in Yager Stadium and the Ichabods lead the all-time series with the Lions 29-22-1 and have won eight of the last nine in the series.
 
The Ichabods are 15-11 in games played in Joplin.

Washburn will open the 2026 season on the road at Truman on Aug. 29 before opening its home schedule with Colorado School of Mines on Sept. 5 in Yager Stadium.

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