By Jim Henry
jhenry@joplinglobe.com
As football season reaches the midway point, the injury list has grown dramatically at Missouri Southern as the Lions prepare for Saturday afternoon’s homecoming contest against Washburn.
Lions head coach Bart Tatum listed nine players — six on the defensive side — on the injured list during his midweek press conference on Wednesday.
Outside linebacker Antwan Dyer suffered a broken left leg in last Saturday’s 19-18 victory at Emporia State and likely will miss the rest of the season. Linebacker Marcus Cook is out with torn knee ligaments, and linebacker Rudy Mascaro has not practiced this week because of a back problem.
On the defensive line, tackle David Benham has a shoulder injury, “But his productivity has not changed,” Tatum said.
Clarence Leverette, who missed last week’s game for disciplinary reasons, has an ankle injury; his status will be game-time decision, and Brandon Williams’ status is unknown because of a shoulder injury.
On offense, left guard Raul Sanchez and tailback Toderick Hunt have back spasms, and tight end Korie Henry has a knee injury. Of the three, Hunt, who had 133 yards and three touchdowns rushing last week, is most likely to play.
“At our 7 a.m. lift, Todd had a back spasm, and apparently the strength of that spasm pulled a rib out of place,” Tatum said. “He was in very serious pain. They’ve since gotten the rib back in place. We hope to have him this weekend.”
Despite all the injuries, it’s not a doom and gloom situation around practice this week.
“I think it just comes down to our depth,” junior center Chris Norris said. “I think we have great players who are going to fill the roles, they are going to play hard, and they are going to make plays. When Coach Tatum says all the injury list, it sounds like a lot to you guys, but to us, we hardly don’t even notice because we’re out there playing. The guys coming in are going to do an excellent job.
“It’s probably no different than anybody in America,” Tatum said. “Our status is we’re plugging other people in, and the expectations don’t change. We had a very good practice Tuesday in light of our situation. Hopefully the guys we play this weekend will stay healthy, and we’ll just keep right on going.”
With the injuries, true freshman Richard Williams has been shifted back to defense. Williams, recruited as a linebacker, was moved to fullback after Anthon Aiono suffered a season-ending knee injury during preseason. Williams had two carries for 17 yards in the last game.
The Lions overcame a 15-7 halftime deficit to beat the Hornets and halt a two-game losing streak.
“The defense came up big when we had to have it,” Tatum said. “That’s what Southern has missed in recent years in my mind. We’re better in that phase of the game, which leads me to believe we’ll always have a chance.
“After the game, some guys were disappointed,” Norris said. “And I said ‘we got a win, let’s celebrate.’ It wasn’t pretty, but we found a way to win.”
The victory has brought an additional hop in the step of players at practice this week.
“Any time you get a win, you’re going to be hopping as you prepare for the next week,” defensive back Skyler Vandiver said. “After two tough losses, we all banded together at Emporia. ... The offense trusted us to stop them, so they went for it on fourth (down) instead of kicking a field goal. We trusted them ... it was a big thing for all of us.”
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