1999 MULES' FOOTBALL FACT SHEET - GAME 2

The Game: Winona State University at CMSU, Sept. 4, 1 p.m.; CMSU's Audrey J. Walton Stadium/Vernon Kennedy Field (10,000 - natural grass), Warrensburg, Mo.; opening game of the season for WSU, first home game of the season for CMSU.

The Mules (1-0-0): They beat Quincy University 60-13 last Saturday in their season opener at Quincy, Ill. The 60 points were the Mules' highest point total under Willie Fritz and most since they scored 63 points against Southwestern College (Kan.) in 1996. Kevin Nickerson returned the game's first punt 35 yards for a touchdown to claim the MIAA career record for punt returns for touchdowns with three. Dexter Ford raced 79 yards for a touchdown on the Mules' first play from scrimmage and finished the game with 125 yards and three touchdowns in just six carries. Ford now has exactly 1,000 rushing yards in his CMSU career. The Mules had 10 different players carry the ball with Jason Graham and Kevin Jones each rushing for two touchdowns. The Mules scored nine of the first 10 times they had the ball and played all 56 players who were suited up for the game. On defense, the Mules limited Quincy to just 44 yards in total offense, forced seven turnovers, had six sacks and produced a touchdown on Lamont Truitt's 32-yard interception return. Truitt also had one other interception and five tackles. RheQuan Robinson led the Mules with six tackles. Andy Sims and newcomer Brandon Stoker also had five tackles each, while newcomer Colston Weatherington had two sacks. Punter Lee DuBois averaged 44.8 yards on four punts, including a career-best 69-yarder. The Mules tied the MIAA record and set a CMSU mark for most penalties in a game as they were flagged 19 times for 175 yards. Newcomer John Holmes started at quarterback and completed six of nine passes for 47 yards. He was one of four quarterbacks the Mules used in the game.

The Warriors (9-2-0 in 1998): They've gone 9-2-0 and won back-to-back Northern Sun Conference titles with 6-0-0 records the past two seasons. The Warriors are led by senior All-American Carson Walch. Last season he had 585 yards rushing, 322 yards receiving, 1,055 yards in kickoff and punt returns, and 220 yards passing with five touchdown passes. He also led the team in scoring with 68 points. The Warriors also return last year's leading rusher, Trevor Narum, who had 590 yards, and Ryan Walch (Carson's younger brother), who had 517 yards. Last year's leading receiver, Matt Juaire, who caught 32 for 775 yards and 11 touchdowns, also is back. Defensively, WSU returns four of last year's top five tacklers, led by safety Travis Welch, who had 137 tackles and eight interceptions. End Derek Chance had 73 tackles and a team-leading 12 sacks. The Warriors also feature a strong kicking game with place-kicker Derek Johnson, who scored 64 points last season, and punter Ryan Schneider, who led the Northern Sun Conference with a 39.5 yard average last year.

The Coaches: Willie Fritz is in his third season at Central Missouri with a record of 14-9-0. The Mules were 8-3-0 last season after going 5-6-0 in 1997. Fritz came to Central Missouri after four years as head coach at Blinn College (Texas), where he compiled a 39-5-1 record. His last two teams at Blinn each went 12-0-0 and won the junior college national championship each year (1995, 1996). Mules' assistant coach Dave Bassore was the head coach at Winona State from 1987 through 1989. Tom Sawyer is in his fourth season at WSU with a 21-12-0 career record.

The Series: First football meeting between the two schools.

Fritz on the Mules: We tried to get all the kinks out of our game against Quincy. It's hard to be disappointed when you win 60-13, but I definitely was disappointed in our lack of composure with all the penalties and we were not as sharp and crisp in our execution as I thought we would be. We did see a lot of good things Saturday and it's certainly better to learn from a win than from a loss, but we have to play a lot better if we want to accomplish our goals this season.

Fritz on the Warriors: Winona State is a good football team. I'm sure they are wanting to show they are as good as the top teams in other Division II conferences. Carson Walch is very quick and very fast. They try to get him the ball in a lot of different ways. We'll have to be really good in our kicking game and kick coverage against him. We can't have the breakdowns like we did Saturday and expect to keep him contained.

Mules' Injuries: The Mules did not have any serious injuries in the Quincy game.

Mules on Radio: KLRQ-FM (96.1) in Clinton will broadcast the game live with Bob Jackson and Chris Shaeffer calling the game. Air time will be 12:45 p.m. The broadcast also will be available on the TEAMLINE telephone service by calling (800) 846-4700, then entering 3946 and following the instructions for credit card billing. KLRQ also will have the broadcast available on its Web site at http://www.klrq.com.

Next Game: The Mules have an open date next weekend, then play their MIAA opener on Saturday, Sept.18, at Emporia State University. Game time will be 7 p.m. Winona State plays at home against the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse next Saturday at 1 p.m.