A Division II college in northwest Missouri has found a football pipeline right here in the KCII listening area. Missouri Western State University has been the public institution of St Joseph, Missouri since 1969 and has roughly 5,660 students enrolled in classes this semester.

The Griffon football team has found success under head coach Jerry Partridge, who will enter his 19th season with Missouri Western and is the school’s all-time leader in wins (139). Partridge says he first entrusted his recruiting in the state of Iowa to a former friend with ties to southeast corner of the state. “One of my very dearest friends in life Doug Smith, who southeast Iowans will remember the name Pearl Smith who was the coach at Fairfield for forever, Doug was an all-state quarterback for him.” Partridge said, “I have been partial to the (Southeast Iowa) area, we have always flirted with it when it comes to recruiting when Smitty (Doug Smith) was on my staff so we let him go recruit up there.”

Now the job of recruiting southeast Iowa has been given to offensive coordinator Todd Throckmorton, who has been on the Missouri Western coaching staff since 2008. Throckmorton has been successful at convincing several student athletes from Washington and Mount Pleasant High School’s to join the Griffon Football team. Since the 2010 National Signing Day, three Washington Demon and three Mount Pleasant Panther football players have signed scholarship letters to play for the Griffons. Prior to this season Washington alum’s Nic Williams (2010) and Brock Kimball (2011) and Mount Pleasant alum’s Lenord Wester (2010) Blake Vandenburg (2011), and Emmett Wester (2012) have signed to play football for the Griffons. Partridge has been very impressed at the student athletes he has from southeast Iowa. “(They are) really good kids,” Partridge said, “They are all humble, they all have good work ethic, and they are very unassuming. They don’t expect you to give them anything and they bust their tails to prove they belong and want to belong.”

Of the 23 Griffon 2015 football signee, Washington senior Thomas Bump is the only player from the state of Iowa to commit to the Griffons. Partridge says Bump has the perfect name of a linebacker. “When Trock (Throckmorton) first said his name, I chuckled; a linebacker named Bump,” Partridge said, “Bump and linebacker goes together and you are watching Thomas’s highlight tape and I was amazing at how much he around a fumble. Whether he is the one causing it or a guy drops the ball and he is there, it was just an amazing video to watch.”

You can hear an in-depth interview with Partridge about his recruiting ties to the KCII listening area, and learn more about the Missouri Western football program this evening on the PM Sports Page, beginning at 6 p.m. on AM and FM KCII and KCIIRadio.com.