RiverHawks Accept Mineral Water Bowl Invite
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. --- Northeastern State University has accepted an invitation to participate in the 46th Mineral Water Bowl, according to Director of Athletics/Chief Athletics Officer, Tony Duckworth. The NCAA Division II event will be held in Excelsior Springs, Mo., where the RiverHawks will take on Minnesota State University, Mankato, at noon on Saturday, Dec. 3.
"After starting the season 1-3, it is impressive that our program will enjoy participation in the 2011 Mineral Water Bowl," said Duckworth. "This will be a great experience for our student-athletes, while serving as a building block for our move into the MIAA."
NSU is a NCAA Division II Independent this year and will join the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) in 2012. The RiverHawks finished the regular season at 7-4 and nearly upset Lone Star Conference champion and Super Region 4, No. 1 seed Midwestern State on Saturday, Nov. 12. The Mustangs, who may move into the top spot in the AFCA and D2Football.com polls this week, scored a touchdown with :36 to play to post a 37-34 win and remain unbeaten at 10-0 on the year.
Minnesota State will represent the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) in the Mineral Water Bowl. The Mavericks are 8-3 on the year after falling to Minnesota-Duluth, 31-19, on Nov. 12, and narrowly missed earning a berth in the D-II playoffs in Super Region 3. MSU won the NSIC South Division title and a share of the NSIC regular season championship this year.
"We are extremely honored to represent Northeastern State in the Mineral Water Bowl," said head coach Kenny Evans. "One of our goals at the beginning of the year was to be playing in December. To say you are one of only 28 NCAA Division II teams to be offered a postseason opportunity says a lot about our program and it is an exciting reward for all we have accomplished."
This will be the fifth bowl game, and second Mineral Water Bowl, for Northeastern State in its storied football history. NSU played St. Benedict's in the 1956 Mineral Water Bowl and lost, 14-13, in head coach Harold "Tuffy" Stratton's inaugural season. Stratton led the Redmen to the 1958 NAIA national championship two years later in the Holiday Bowl with a 19-13 victory over Arizona State College.
Northeastern State's first postseason event was in 1952 where it lost a 41-20 decision to Sam Houston State in the annual Shrimp Bowl. In 1963, NSU capped a perfect 11-0 campaign with a 59-12 victory over Slippery Rock in the All Sports Bowl under head coach Tracy Norwood.
NSU won its second national championship in 1994 under head coach Tom Eckert with a 13-12 victory at Arkansas-Pine Bluff. This game was not officially a "bowl game" under the NAIA playoff system at that time. Northeastern State appeared in two other NAIA championship games, finishing as runner-up to Elon, 17-10, in 1980 and to Central State (Ohio), 37-7, in 1995.
The RiverHawks have not qualified for postseason play since 2000. In 1999, after just two seasons of active membership in the NCAA, NSU made a remarkable run in the Division II playoffs where it beat Western Washington (27-24 in overtime) in the first round, edged UC-Davis (19-14) in the quarterfinals, then bowed out at Carson-Newman in the semifinals. A year later, the then-Redmen lost to Mesa State in the opening round of the Division II playoffs.
Evans, who was hired prior to the 2008 season, has meticulously rebuilt the Northeastern State football program. After enduring a 1-10 record in 2008 and a 2-9 mark in 2009, he has led the RiverHawks to winning seasons in back-to-back years with a 6-5 mark in 2009 and a 7-4 campaign to date. From 2001 through 2009, NSU's football record was 24-69, further validating its return to regional and national prominence.
The Mineral Water Bowl began in 1947 and was run as a high school event until 1951. The Missouri High School Athletic Association disallowed postseason events that were non-sanctioned at that time and the game went on hiatus until 1954 when it was revived as a small-college game.
In 1957, it became one of 11 NCAA sanctioned bowl games and continued that way until 1975. In 1992 bowl organizers brought it back as a National Junior College Association bowl game, then in 1999 it reclassified as an NCAA Bowl game again on the Division II level.
Information regarding ticket sales for the Mineral Water Bowl will be released shortly.
