2014 PRE-SEASON OUTLOOK erage. Daye also signed Joplin High School product Brock Renken and said Renken could see some time this season. Austin Minor is a transfer from Coffeyville CC that will look to handle the long snap duties this season. “Brock is a player that I’d have loved to redshirt this year, as he looks to be an outstanding prospect for the future,” Daye said. “We’re not sure if we’ll be able to do that this year. Jaski has one year left to play and he is a pretty good prospect. Quinn does a great job with our rugby-style punts and he’s done everything we’ve asked him to do. Austin is a deep snapper with quality experience.” Schedule For the first time in recent memory, MIAA schools will have their entire 11-game schedule comprised solely of MIAA schools. Non-conference games will no longer exist for the foreseeable future within the MIAA. “I don’t think it will be good for some of the teams that have been dominant across the board nationwide because in this conference, any given week, anybody can beat anybody in this league,” Daye said. “You better bring your A game every week because they call this league the SEC of Division II and I think the teams have proven that.” Though, it may be a positive that each team will now be play-ing all the other teams in the league, Daye says there also may <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< be some downfalls to not having the ability to schedule a non-conference game. “I prefer having the ability to schedule non-conference games,” Daye said. “You know last year, we got to take our kids to a place like Mount Rushmore for our game in South Dakota. It was a great trip that some of the kids will never get to do again. They’ll remember that for a lifetime. It just takes away opportunities like those.” The Lions open the season at Emporia State on September 4 at 7 pm for a Thursday night game. The home opener for Southern will be on Thursday, September 11 as the Lions will play host to the defend-ing National Champions in Northwest Missouri inside Fred G. Hughes Stadium. Southern will have home games against Washburn, Central Mis-souri, Northeastern State, Pittsburg State and Missouri Western, while playing on the road at Nebraska-Kearney, Central Oklahoma, Lindenwood and Fort Hays State. Homecoming will be on October 4 against Central Missouri, while the Lions’ home game against North-eastern State on October 18 will be televised as part of the MIAA TV network. The MIAA Northwest Missouri won the 2013 Division II National Champion-ship and the MIAA has won three of the last five national champion-ships 20 2014 Missouri Southern Football mssulions.com missourisouthernlions @mososports with Northwest winning in 2009 as well, and Pittsburg State in 2011. The MIAA had four teams ranked in the top 25 at the end of 2013 and could very well see the same four ranked to start the 2014 season. Winning in what is the toughest Division II football confer-ence in the country is never easy. “The one thing about this league I’ll say is that it’s very-well coached,” Daye said. “Some people from higher levels of football sometimes tend to look down their noses at this level, but they are so wrong. These coaches in this conference are as good of coaches you’ll find anywhere in the country and they prove it every week. “This conference is the toughest in Division II, but if you’re trying to prove that you’re a legitimate national champion or a conference champion, you have to play that type of a schedule. I think our kids have welcomed this type of challenge with open arms.” Senior Defensive Back Breon Matlock
2014 Missouri Southern Football
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