Missouri Southern preps to face Northeastern State in Saturday road matchup

JOPLIN, MO — Missouri Southern football dropped a tough game to Northwest Missouri on Saturday afternoon. Losing 59-0 at home, the Lions are still eyeing their first win on the year.

Looking ahead, head coach Atiba Bradley’s squad will make the road trip to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma to take on Northeastern State on Saturday. In recent years, the Lions have fared well against NSU, winning four of their last five matchups.

Bradley said, despite the recent success, the team will still present challenges for his group.

“They’re going to have some different things to present some challenges for us, and so your fundamentals never lie to you, so it’s very important that our guys are fundamentally sound as we go out on Saturday,” said Bradley.

Redshirt junior defensive lineman David Oplotnik spoke highly of his team’s energy, and praised the young group on the roster.

“The young guys really bring a lot of energy, and they’ll continue to bring it,” said Oplotnik.

“We’re not going to let the beginning of the season let us down as we’re looking forward to our next game.”

MSSU senior offensive lineman Joaquin Tapuosa also spoke highly of the young group on Southern’s roster. Losing star running back Nathan Glades, Tapuosa said he is confident in the group to step up.

“Hopefully we can really get to show our running game,” said Tapuosa.

“Even though we don’t have our veteran running back, we can still show them that we can trust our young ones to step up and make plays.”

MSSU will travel to take on Northeastern State and the Riverhawks on Saturday, September 28 at 3:00 p.m.

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