Thursday’s small-college football games

MIAA

No. 1 Northwest Missouri at No. 24 Emporia State, 7 p.m.

Welch Stadium’s new artificial turf gets a treat, the first time in stadium history an ESU opener has been between two ranked teams. The down side is that Emporia State is 2-29 against the top-ranked Bearcats and no victory since 1994. ESU’s last game was a 38-17 loss at Northwest in the NCAA Division II quarterfinals. Emporia sophomore Braxton Marstall won the quarterback job after redshirting last season.

Thursday’s other MIAA openers

Northeastern St. at Washburn, 6 p.m.

No. 20 Central Missouri at Pittsburg St., 7 p.m.

Missouri Southern at Fort Hays St., 7 p.m.

KCAC

Thursday’s opener

Southwestern at Missouri St., 6 p.m.

This story was originally published August 30, 2016 at 1:42 PM with the headline "Thursday’s small-college football games."