2016 Missouri Southern Lions football team

American college football season

2016 Missouri Southern Lions football

Conference	Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association
Record	2–8 (2–8 MIAA)
Head coach	Denver Johnson (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Corey Fipps (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Kenny Evans (2nd season)
Home stadium	Fred G. Hughes Stadium
Seasons← 20152017 →

2016 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 1 NW Missouri State $^	11	–	0	15	–	0
No. 10 Emporia State ^	10	–	1	11	–	2
No. 21 Central Missouri ^	9	–	2	9	–	3
Fort Hays State #	7	–	4	8	–	4
Pittsburg State	7	–	4	7	–	4
Washburn #	7	–	4	7	–	5
Missouri Western	4	–	7	4	–	7
Central Oklahoma	3	–	8	3	–	8
Lindenwood	3	–	8	3	–	8
Missouri Southern	2	–	9	2	–	9
Northeastern State	2	–	9	2	–	9
Nebraska–Kearney	1	–	10	1	–	10

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant # – bowl participant (Wahsburn - Mineral Water Bowl, Fort Hays State - C.H.A.M.P.S. Heart of Texas Bowl) Rankings from AFCA Poll

The 2016 Missouri Southern Lions football team represented Missouri Southern State University in the 2016 NCAA Division II football season. The Lions played their home games in Fred G. Hughes Stadium in Joplin, Missouri, as they have done since 1975. 2016 was the 48th season in school history. The Lions were led by second-year head coach, Denver Johnson. Missouri Southern has been a member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association since 1989.

Preseason

The Lions entered the 2016 season after finishing in 11th place last season with a record of 1–10, under Johnson. On August 2, 2016 at the MIAA Football Media Day, the Lions were chosen to finish in 10th place in the Coaches Poll, and 11th in the Media Poll.

Personnel

Coaching staff

Along with Johnson, there were 9 assistants.

Name	Position	Seasons at MSSU	Alma Mater
Denver Johnson	Head Coach	2	Tulsa (1981)
Kenny Evans	Defensive Coordinator	2	Northeastern State (1982)
Corey Fipps	Offensive Coordinator	2	Harding (2004)
Charles Alexander	Defensive Backs/Recruiting Coordinator	2	Ohio State (2002)
Bill Bleil	Offensive Line	1	NM Highlands (1982)
Rashad Watson	Secondary	4	Alabama A&M (2002)
Bret Story	Wide Receivers	2	Newberry (2003)
Josh Dalton	Running Backs	2	Missouri Southern (2002)
Caleb Lewis	Kickers	2	Missouri Southern (1999)
Darius Hart	Defensive Line	1	Oklahoma State (2011)
Reference:

Roster

2016 Missouri Southern Lions football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
QB	`1`	T.J. Fleeton	Jr
QB	`4`	Brayden Scott	So
WR	`10`	Jordan Morrison	Sr
TE	`11`	Alex Crehan	Fr
WR	`12`	Jeff Shuster	Fr
WR	`17`	Scott Lathrop	Sr
RB	`18`	Jay Hadley	Sr
WR	`19`	Carson Day	So
WR	`21`	Terrell Crawford	Sr
RB	`29`	Del'shaun Higgins	Fr
RB	`32`	Justise Keith	So
RB	`33`	Brice Gahagans	Sr
WR	`34`	Chad Nolan	Sr
RB	`46`	Malcom Nelson, Jr.	Fr
OL	`54`	Jonathan Villanueva	Sr
OL	`59`	Mitch Moore	Sr
OL	`61`	Antonio Carranco	Sr
OL	`63`	David Dzierzega	Jr
OL	`66`	Cristian Mora	Sr
OL	`68`	Jonathan Boos	Sr
OL	`71`	Isaac Wold	Sr
OL	`72`	Seth Peterson	Sr
OL	`73`	Joe Brawner	Sr
OL	`74`	Lars Lindquist	Sr
OL	`75`	Jarrell Jackson	Jr
OL	`76`	Brock Whalen	Sr
WR	`80`	Brandon Martin	Jr
WR	`82`	Jocqui Davis	Sr
WR	`83`	Anthony Cannon	Sr
WR	`89`	Ben Evans	Sr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
CB	`3`	Ricky Green	Sr
CB	`12`	Brian Hanserd	Sr
LB	`15`	E.J. McKenzie	Sr
S	`20`	Chris Goss III	Sr
S	`24`	Idrissa Simpson	Sr
LB	`27`	Justin Legier	So
DB	`30`	Marquez Cohen	Sr
DB	`36`	Ben Belay	Fr
CB	`37`	Grady Howell	Jr
DE	`42`	Roderick Earvin	Sr
LB	`46`	Trevor Plafcan	So
LB	`46`	Devin Williams-Pennick	Jr
S	`47`	Garrick Fausett	So
DE	`53`	Dominique Nunez	Sr
DE	`91`	Chris Williams	Sr
DE	`92`	James Wooten	Sr
DT	`93`	Stephan Randall	Sr
DL	`96`	Jeremy Boykins	Sr
DE	`98`	Travelle Smith	Sr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K	`39`	Brock Renken	Jr
P	`22`	Kye Stoneham	Sr
P	`25`	Stetson Broce	Sr

Head coach

Denver Johnson

Coordinators/assistant coaches

See coaching staff

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster
Last update: 2016-08-04

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 1	7:00 pm	at Fort Hays State	Lewis Field Stadium Hays, KS	L 10–22	4,134
September 10	6:00 pm	Missouri Western	Fred G. Hughes Stadium Joplin, MO	L 14–51	4,274
September 17	2:00 pm	at Emporia State	Francis G. Welch Stadium Emporia, KS	L 21–49	5,304
September 24	6:00 pm	No. 1 Northwest Missouri State	Fred G. Hughes Stadium Joplin, MO	L 21–45	5,267
October 1	2:00 pm	at Nebraska–Kearney	Ron & Carol Cope Stadium Kearney, NE	W 24–14	2,005
October 8	3:00 pm	Washburn	Fred G. Hughes Stadium Joplin, MO	L 13–45	5,674
October 15	6:00 pm	Central Missouri	Fred G. Hughes Stadium Joplin, MO	L 7–56	2,526
October 22	2:00 pm	at Central Oklahoma	Wantland Stadium Edmond, OK	L 42–63	1,985
October 29	2:00 pm	Northeastern State	Fred G. Hughes Stadium Joplin, MO	W 45–33	4,236
November 5	1:30 pm	at Lindenwood	Harlen C. Hunter Stadium St. Charles, MO	L 28–42	1,563
November 12	3:30 pm	Pittsburg State	Fred G. Hughes Stadium Joplin, MO (Miner's Bowl)	L 31–45	5,748
Homecoming Rankings from American Football Coaches Association Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Game summaries

Fort Hays State

Missouri Southern at Fort Hays State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Missouri Southern	0	3	7	0	10
• Fort Hays State	7	6	6	3	22

Date: September 1
Location: Lewis Field Stadium, Hays, KS
Game start: 7:00 pm CDT
Elapsed time: 2:54
Game attendance: 4,134
Game weather: Sunny and Breezy, 79 °F (26 °C)
Referee: Lonnie Brickman

Missouri Western

Missouri Western at Missouri Southern

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Missouri Western	7	21	6	17	51
Missouri Southern	0	6	2	6	14

Date: September 10
Location: Hughes Stadium, Joplin, MO
Game start: 6:00 pm CDT
Elapsed time: 2:45
Game attendance: 2,474
Game weather: Overcast, 72 °F (22 °C)
Referee: Dwight Neibling

Emporia State

Missouri Southern at Emporia State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Missouri Southern	0	7	7	7	21
• Emporia State	28	14	7	0	49

Date: September 17
Location: Welch Stadium, Emporia, KS
Game start: 2:00 pm CDT
Elapsed time: 2:57
Game attendance: 5,304
Game weather: Sunny, 77 °F (25 °C)
Referee: John Adams

Northwest Missouri State

Northwest Missouri State at Missouri Southern

	1	2	3	4	Total
• #1 Northwest Missouri State	0	28	7	10	45
Missouri Southern	13	0	8	0	21

Date: September 24
Location: Hughes Stadium, Joplin, MO
Game start: 6:00 pm CDT
Elapsed time: 2:58
Game attendance: 5,267
Game weather: Partly Cloudy, 85 °F (29 °C)
Referee: Danny Harris

Nebraska–Kearney

Missouri Southern at Nebraska–Kearney

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Missouri Southern	14	0	3	7	24
Nebraska–Kearney	0	7	0	7	14

Date: October 1
Location: Ron & Carol Cope Stadium, Kearney, NE
Game start: 2:00 pm CDT
Elapsed time: 3:10
Game attendance: 2,005
Game weather: Clear, 75 °F (24 °C)
Referee: John Steiger

Washburn

Washburn at Missouri Southern

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Washburn	3	7	14	21	45
Missouri Southern	0	0	0	13	13

Date: October 8
Location: Hughes Stadium, Joplin, MO
Game start: 3:00 pm CDT
Elapsed time: 3:09
Game attendance: 5,674
Game weather: Clear, 71 °F (22 °C)
Referee: Dwight Neibling

Central Missouri

Central Missouri at Missouri Southern

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Central Missouri	14	28	7	7	56
Missouri Southern	7	0	0	0	7

Date: October 15
Location: Hughes Stadium, Joplin, MO
Game start: 6:00 pm CDT
Elapsed time: 2:52
Game attendance: 2,526
Game weather: Partly Cloudy, 77 °F (25 °C)
Referee: Craig Helser

Central Oklahoma

Missouri Southern at Central Oklahoma

	1	2	3	4	Total
Missouri Southern	0	14	7	21	42
• Central Oklahoma	14	21	7	21	63

Date: October 22
Location: Wantland Stadium, Edmond, OK
Game start: 2:00 pm CDT
Elapsed time: 3:10
Game attendance: 1,985
Game weather: Sunny, 79 °F (26 °C)
Referee: Brian Moore

Northeastern State

Northeastern State at Missouri Southern

	1	2	3	4	Total
Northeastern State	10	3	0	20	33
• Missouri Southern	7	14	10	14	45

Date: October 29
Location: Hughes Stadium, Joplin, MO
Game start: 2:00 pm CDT
Elapsed time: 3:24
Game attendance: 4,236
Game weather: Mostly sunny, 80 °F (27 °C)
Referee: Sean Johnston

Lindenwood

Missouri Southern at Lindenwood

	1	2	3	4	Total
Missouri Southern	7	0	7	14	28
• Lindenwood	0	21	7	14	42

Date: November 5
Location: Harlen C. Hunter Stadium, St. Charles, MO
Game start: 1:30 pm CDT
Elapsed time: 2:57
Game attendance: 1,563
Game weather: Partly cloudy, 63 °F (17 °C)
Referee: John Steiger

Pittsburg State

Pittsburg State at Missouri Southern

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Pittsburg State	14	3	14	14	45
Missouri Southern	0	7	14	10	31

Date: November 12
Location: Hughes Stadium, Joplin, MO
Game start: 3:30 pm CST
Elapsed time: 3:11
Game attendance: 5,748
Game weather: Clear, 63 °F (17 °C)
Referee: Lonnie Brickman

References

"Fred G. Hughes Stadium". Retrieved August 4, 2016.
"Missouri Southern Lions Football 2015 Media Guide" (PDF). October 4, 2015. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
Schremmer, Mark (March 31, 2015). "Lions to hire former Tulsa assistant as head coach | Local Sports". joplinglobe.com. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
"The Fort Scott Tribune - Google News Archive Search". Retrieved August 4, 2016.
"Southern Football Picked 10th/11th in MIAA Preseason Football Poll". Retrieved August 5, 2016.
"NWMSU Tops Football Polls". Retrieved August 5, 2016.
"Missouri Southern State Athletics – 2016 Football Coaching Staff". Retrieved August 4, 2015.
"Missouri Southern State Athletics - 2016 Football Schedule". Retrieved August 4, 2016.

v t e Missouri Southern Lions football
Venues	Fred G. Hughes Stadium (1975–present)
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold

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