UPDATED WITH PREVIEWS OF ALL 5 OF THURSDAY'S GAMES!


With five games on the MIAA slate Thursday night, the 2011 season gets started in a BIG way.

I'll be in St. Joseph watching Missouri Western host Pittsburg State, but there's plenty of interesting matchups.

Northwest Missouri and Missouri Southern both begin their seasons on the road, and come off VERY emotional seasons, just for very different reasons.

Washburn opens the season on the road against former NAIA powerhouse Sioux Falls and Emporia State heads to Fort Hays State in a battle of my picks for dark horse the last two years.

But let's get started back in St. Joe, where Travis Partridge makes his first start for his dad and coach Jerry Partridge.

First, here's a conversation I had with Ryan Atkinson, who covers Pittsburg State for the Joplin Globe.


Pittsburg State (6-6 in 2010, Mineral Water Bowl Champions) at No. 21 Missouri Western (8-4 in 2010, lost to NW Missouri in first round of playoffs)

Remember this game last year? The Sept. 25 shootout saw the Gorillas run all over Western, but the Griffons exploded for a 42-25 victory.

Both offenses have the weapons to make it another high-flying game, though with Pitt State's quarterback Zac Dickey having the advantage in experience under center, I like the Gorillas to keep it closer this time.

We're obviously going to be watching Dickey and running back Briceton Wilson for the Gorillas, but keep your eyes open for wide receivers Andrew Castaneda and John Brown, both community college transfers who looked good in the preseason.

It's going to be huge for the Gorillas if Dickey can find them for some big plays and not have to rely on this feet. If he can, I can definitely see Pitt State pulling out the mild upset.

For Western, the offense is there. But like most of the conference, we need to see if their new quarterback can fill the shoes left behind by his predecessor.

With running back Mike Hill (a good early choice for the league's top rusher) and six of their top 7 recievers back from a year ago, the Griffons should be able to put up numbers offensively.

The defensive players to watch are a couple preseason All Americans. Defensive end David Bass anchors the Griffon defense while linebacker Nate Dreiling returns for his sophomore season after leading the entire D2 nation in tackles last year as a freshman.

With two capable offenses, it might just come down to one of them making a big play to keep the other team out of the end zone.

Prediction: Missouri Western 44 Pitt State 41

No. 5 Northwest Missouri (12-2, lost in national semi-final at Minnesota Duluth) at Truman State (4-7)

46 straight conference victories, five straight conference titles, seven straight postseason titles... I'm here to tell you, it all means nothing.

After the offseason the Bearcats had, they're damn lucky they have Bearcats written on their jerseys. Otherwise they'd be in some deep trouble. But Northwest is built to deal with adversity, which is what they'll be facing when they head into Kirksville and try to bring home the Hickory Stick for the 15th time in the last 16 tries.

I'm not going to bore you with - okay, yes I am - more talk of Northwest's losing streak in season-openers. which stands at four games. And I did because never during this streak has the season opener meant more.

A loss here snaps that conference win streak, and more importantly could get into the heads of the players who have already had to deal with so much.

But again, this is the Bearcats. Do we really think that could happen (and Bearcats fans are probably saying 'do you really think we can lose to Truman?')?

So anyways, Blake Christopher gets his first start under center, and boy does he have options.

On paper, this game shouldn't really be close, but we have to keep an eye on what happens to see if Northwest is ready to get back into football after losing two coaches in a matter of months.

I'm also interested to see what J.B. Clark can do at quarterback for Truman, but honestly, I'm not too convinced he can keep Truman in this game very long.

Prediction: Northwest Missouri 34 Truman State 13

No. 22 Washburn (8-4, Kanza Bowl champions) at Sioux Falls (13-1, lost to Carroll College in NAIA National Championship game)

Ooh boy, if I could take a road trip this season, this might be it.

Sioux Falls is in their provisional year of Division II membership, which basically means they're out to play bracket buster for all the D2 teams they play. And for the 'Coo,' as they're called, there's no inching into a new level of play - they're diving in head-first with no life jacket.

But fear not oh lifeguards of the Division II football world, this team can swim, and they know it. When I talked with head coach Jed Stugart last week, he was confident his team would come right in and compete at the D2 level, something every new team to the division will tell you, but few can actually hold up.

They have questions at quarterback, and they lose some receivers, but they built their NAIA powerhouse on defense, and they pack a good crowd into Bob Young Field, so I'm thinking Washburn is going to have themselves a game.

If this was one of the new quarterbacks of the conference heading into Coo Country in their first collegiate start, I might be scared. But Dane Simoneau has walked into hostile territory before and will do it again. He and his squad should be able to handle the pressure of an upstart program looking to make some noise as they enter a new level.

The two things to watch for the Ichabods are obvious: Can running back Justin Cooper handle going from the '2' in a 1-2 punch to THE guy in the Washburn backfield, and can the 'Bod secondary make up for the absence left by the transfer of All American Pierre Desir?

I think this is a dogfight and points might be a bit hard to come by.

Prediction: Washburn 20 Sioux Falls 13

Missouri Southern (4-7) at Central Missouri (11-3, lost to NW Missouri in national quarterfinals)

This should be an interesting game for a few reasons.

Missouri Southern can finally get their minds back on football after the things they've been through this offseason after the tornado that just about destroyed their town. (Find out how to help MSSU tornado relief at www.tinyurl.com/joplind2)

While that is the real story here, most will be more concerend with Central Missouri, who gets to test out an entirely new offensive unit. If you've been living under a rock and haven't heard, the Mules have some holes left behind by graduation.

Central QB Tommy Corwin loses the experience battle with Southern play-caller Collin Howard, but Howard isn't exactly on any preseason All America lists. He was the only MIAA quarterback to throw more INTs (14) than touchdowns (11) last year, though his accuracy did improve toward the end of the year.

If you're at this game, there's 3 things you have to do: Buy a Mules and Jennies for Joplin braclet from the UCM Student Athlete Advisory Committee, watch UCM cornerback Marlon Douglas make magic in the backfield, and watch Southern DT Brandon Williams cause havoc for the Mules' offensive linemen.

Listen, I don't have much confidence in the Mules this year, and I'm not going to apologize for it. Losing that much in one offseason is tough, but I will admit, college football is all about rebuilding - it's the nature of the game. If Central can come out and put an old-fashioned Mule-stomping on Southern, then I'm in. But I fear this game will be closer than some would like, because I don't know if the offense will be able to get off the ground.

If Howard can avoid interceptions and Williams makes some plays, watch out. But in the end, I still like Central to pull this one out, but not by much.

Prediction: Central Missouri 23 Missouri Southern 14

Emporia State (5-6) at Fort Hays Sate (3-8)

Even though I picked Northwest to win in a blowout, if I had to pick a 'lock' for this week's MIAA matchups, this would be it. We all know how I love to ride the bandwagons I hop on, and this year's ride relies heavily on the driver, Emporia State quarterback Tyler Eckenrode.

The junior put together a decent record in his sophomore campaign, winning five of the eight games he started and finished, but he never put up any big numbers and struggled with completion percentage. Against most teams in the MIAA, Eckenrode would be in trouble in his first game, but as Hays coverts to a 4-2-5 defense under first-year head coach Chris Brown and first-year defensive coordinator Dion Menely, some growing pains can be expected.

And even if Eckenrode does struggle in the first game of the year, the Emporia running game is going to be something worthy of fear across the conference. Three very-able running backs combined with an experienced offensive line add up to what I believe will be a big day on the ground for the Hornets.

But you've heard me say it before. To be successful in this league, you have to pass the ball. That brings me back to Hays, who still doesn't have a starting quarterback. Blake McAhren, who spent the last couple years backing up Mike Garrison, was thought to be the choice, but Brown told the Hays Daily News he doesn't know who will start in the season opener, but you can expect to see both McAhren and JuCo transfer Anthony Sheppard.

If you're watching this game, keep an eye on the Hays quarterback situation. McAhren is more of a pocket guy, while Sheppard has a little more athleticism. Also watch linebacker Alex Whitehill, who was second in the conference last year in tackles.

And obviously, let's keep a close eye on Eckenrode. Fourth in the league last year in rushing, the Hornets were dead last in 2010 in passing and total offense. If it doesn't get drastically better, I'll be eating my words pretty quick.

I don't think this game will be a blowout, but like I said, it's my 'lock' of the week. The Hornets start off with a W.

Prediction: Emporia State 23 Fort Hays 14

Agree with my predictions? Disagree? Good, now tell me why. Leave a comment below, e-mail me at [email protected], @ me on twitter @miAARONd2 or message me at Facebook.com/apheintz.

I'll preview the Lincoln-Avila game after the dust settles from Thursday's matchups.