The Southern football team heads to Bolivar, Mo., this weekend as they look to right an early season wrong from last year when the Lions lost to winless Southwest Baptist University on their home field.  A loss that derailed the Lions undefeated start with a combination of stifling defense and a late game touchdown run, but as Southern prepares to travel to Plaster Stadium on Saturday they look forward to the opportunity to simply get out there and play football.

“The message this week is everybody be hungry,” said junior linebacker Dalvin Taylor.  “Last year we were in the same predicament but this week, this game, we are just ready to play.”

A predicament from last year that is eerily similar to the current one.  As both squads enter the game, which occurs in week four yet again, with the same records as the previous year, but following the Lions performance on the ground last week against Lincoln.  The Lions put up 607 rushing yards, breaking the previous school record of 503 that had stood since 1970, it is hard to say these are still the same teams.

Yet, as the Lions prepare for what they presume to be another difficult game, the Lions know they can not make the mistake of overlooking anyone on their schedule, regardless of the record.

“They are gonna come out there and play their hearts out, we got to play our heart out,” said head coach Daryl Daye.  “Our focus right now is not 3-0, 4-0, 5-0; our focus is SBU and only SBU.”

A humble attitude is something that Coach Daye has instilled in his team from the beginning of the year, and with that mindset has come great success thus far.  With a victory last week only cementing what the men in the locker room already seem to know, that the grinding pays off.

“Each day we come out and we put in the work,” said senior JJ Jones, “and we expect good results on Saturday, so it’s nothing that was unexpected.”

Results that the Lions have seen in a big way this season as their offense has run rampant over the MIAA competition culminating in the record-breaking game against Lincoln.  As Southern accounted for 658 total yards, which broke another single-game school record of 646 set in 2002, with a remarkable 607 on the ground, a statistic only 20 yards shy of breaking the MIAA rushing record for yards in a game.

And with running backs like junior Chris Barnwell who had 161 yards, Jones who had 109 yards, sophomore Michael Nelson who had 93, and sophomore Giresse Forchu who had 57 all gouging the defense on the ground Southern seems to have found a powerful offensive identity.

Still as the offense gains the glory the rest of the team continues to do their jobs.  With production coming in the kicking game as well as the defense led by the play of senior Gatlin Ridgway at the linebacker position, who accounted for 14 tackles along with one and a half sacks along with a forced fumble against the Blue Tigers last weekend.  A fact not lost on the man it means the most to.

“We talked about playing in concert and having all three phases play well,” said Daye, “so to have them all three play in concert and play well, you know it usually results in winning.”

And with winning being the only result that is acceptable for the Lions, they realize that the time to focus is now.

“They came out and we overlooked them and they got the best of us,” said Jones of last year.  “On any given Saturday, I feel like any team in this conference can come out and get a win, so we can’t overlook anybody.”

Kickoff is set for 6:00 as the Lions set their sights on 4-0 for the first time since 2002.