Ichabods Win On Last Second Field Goal

The first Mineral Water Bowl at Tiger Stadium may have been the best ever. Northern State rallied for 30 second half points to tie the game 33-33 with 1:41 left in the fourth quarter. But Washburn senior quarterback Tyler Schuerman went 3 of 6 for 46 yards and added a 13 yard run as the Ichabods drove from their own 20 to the Northern State 15. With 4 seconds left sophomore kicker, Conner Sabel, drilled a 32 yard field goal to give Washburn a 36-33 win.

It was a game of big plays and big numbers as three Mineral Water Bowl records were shattered and two were tied. Northern State sophomore quarterback Toby Korrodi broke two records with 33 completions and 422 passing yards while throwing touchdown passes of 49, 42 and 19 yards in the Wolves second half comeback. Ichabod quarterback Schuerman tied a record with four touchdown passes and surpassed the previous record with 400 passing yards. Washburn junior wideout Sam Sissom shattered the previous receiving record with 216 yards and tied the old record with 11 receptions.

Washburn owned the first half 20-3 as the Wolves offense sputtered and the Ichabods were able to mount three touchdown drives. Schuerman threw touchdown passes of 11 yards to Sissom, 53 yards to Mike Odupitan and 19 yards to Jarod Tetuan while Northern State could manage only a 25 yard field goal from Clinton Arial.

Northern State went 69 yards on three plays to open the second half as Korrodi and tight end Chuck Driscoll connected for a 42 yard catch and run to make the score 20-10 early in the third quarter. Korrodi got the Wolves to within three on an 11 play 80 yard drive scoring drive late in the quarter as Rudy Jones scored on a 2 yard run.

Washburn scored twice on long drives of 93 and 95 yards early in the fourth and led by 16, 33-17 with 7:29 left. But the Wolves responded with a quick 9 play, 76 yard drive and two point conversion to trail by only eight. The Northern defense held Wasburn to a three and out then the offense went 71 yards in 35 seconds as Korrodi and senior Matt Pinto connected from 49 yards out. A two point pass to Travis Heitmann tied it at 33 before the game winning Washburn scoring drive.

The Offensive M.V.P. was Sam Sissom for his record breaking performance and the Defensive M.V.P. was Washburn defensive back Calvin Stuckey who had two interceptions. Attendance was estimated at about 4,000, the largest in the new era of the bowl since 1992.

2004 Mineral Water Bowl Final Stats