The Emporia State football team fell to the Washburn Ichabods on Saturday, 56-35. The match between the inter-state rivals marked the 106^th meeting of the two teams, which currently ranks as the most played active rivalry in NCAA Division II.

The first few possession for the Hornets would prove counterproductive. A punt by sophomore computer science major Tyler Chilson was blocked and then returned for a touchdown by Washburn fullback Brad Haug. On the ensuing kickoff, freshman wide receiver and undecided major Shjuan Richardson fumbled the ball – Washburn recovered and in two plays scored from a touchdown pass from quarterback Dane Simoneau to wide receiver Brad Cole.

The score, however, was not indicative of how the rest of the first half of the game played out. The Hornets would battle back with key offensive efforts by sophomore quarterback and recreation major Sheldon Smith and senior wide receiver and social science major Danny McEvoy. Smith would hook up with McEvoy on a 68-yard juggling touchdown catch that would put the Hornets on the board with seven.

“The first one, I knew they threw a flag so I knew we were going to get something out of it. He (the defensive back) made a hell of a jump on the ball, tried to tip it from my hands and it just kind of bobbled forever,” McEvoy said. “I just caught it and cruised into the endzone.”

The scoring would continue for the Hornets. A 50-yard interception return by senior defensive back and sociology major Shaunquez Powell that set up another McEvoy score, a 23-yard touchdown run by junior running back and physical education major La’Darrian Page and a 4-yard touchdown run by Smith gave the Hornets the share of the lead at 28-all to end the first half.

“The second one (touchdown pass) was a gift from God,” McEvoy said. “I didn’t see it until the very last second.”

Powell took pride in his team’s effort to reduce the Ichabods’ lead.

“We fought back, that’s what I’m proud of the most,” Powell said.

The Hornets’ offensive would become stagnant in the third quarter, which proved to be quite the opposite for the Ichabods as they scored 28 unanswered points to bring the score to 56-28 in favor of Washburn.

“I wish we would have never had halftime,” said head coach Garrin Higgins. “I wish we could have said, ‘Hey look, let’s just line up and play on,’ but you have to have a halftime. We just came out and did not play very well that third quarter. That was a big momentum shifter when they scored…they scored in three plays to start the third quarter. And then we come back and we get a delay of game and then we put ourselves in a long yardage situation and we kind of lose a little gas in the third quarter. I think Sheldon got a little tired…I thought he played well, but he got a little bit tired there in the second half.”

The fourth quarter held the remaining 7 points for the Hornets, which occurred on a 2-yard touchdown run by junior running back and business major Kevin Smart, which was the result of a 13 play, 84-yard drive. The Hornets would successfully attempt an onside kick, but to no avail as time expired.

Powell hopes that next year’s team can learn from the trails and tribulations that the Hornets faced this season.

“Overall as a season I think we learned a lot, we’ve got a lot of young guys,” Powell said. “I hope this is a stepping stone in the foundation that we’ve built so we can learn from those mistakes.”

Smith led the game in passing and rushing for the Hornets, totaling over 312 yards of offense on 7 of 13 passing for 176 and 136 yards on 34 carries, with 4 total touchdowns. McEvoy led in receiving with 3 catches for 128 yards and 2 touchdowns.

McEvoy, who was among nine seniors who played their last game as a member of the Hornets, had some advice for the younger players on the team.

“They have to buy into Coach Higgins’ plan,” McEvoy said. “If they buy into it better than we did this year, they can do really good. There’s a lot of talent on that team, there’s no question. They can win a lot of games next year.”

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Quarterback Andre Sloan-EL is pushed to the sideline by a Missouri Western defender Saturday afternoon at Welch Stadium. Hornets lost 6-29. Kellen Jenkins/The Bulletin.

The Emporia State football team will host the Washburn University Ichabods at 1 p.m. this Saturday at Welch Stadium. The Hornets, who have compiled a record of 2-8, 1-7 in the MIAA, look to avenge last year’s 6-14 loss against Washburn, in which the Hornets committed four turnovers and had a punt blocked.

The Emporia State-Washburn rivalry is the most played active rivalry in NCAA Division II – Saturday’s match will be the 106^th meeting in the series in which ESU leads all-time, 51-48-6. As of late, however, the Ichabods have taken advantage of the series by winning the last five meetings.

Head coach Garrin Higgins said he feels that the magnitude of the “Turnpike Tussle,” as the series is more commonly known, can be motivation enough for his Hornets.

“We know it’s a rival game – usually that in of itself takes care of getting our kids ready to play,” Higgins said. “Now we do have a lot of young football players that probably need to learn a little bit more about the rivalry than what they know about it, as far as the history of it. We’ll prepare like any other normal week, and I would think it being the seniors’ last opportunity and also an opportunity to win a big game, our kids would naturally have a good week of preparation.”

A win would end the season on a positive note for the Hornets, according to sophomore defensive end and elementary education major Daniel Webb.

“For the team, it (a win) would be tremendous,” Webb said. “Having the seniors go out with a win…and to get that final win so it kind of carries over into the off-season workouts.”

The road to the final game of the season for the Hornets wasn’t an easy one. Tough opponents, coupled with the hindrance of midseason injuries and illness have prevented the team from achieving some of their goals.

Webb said the team was well aware of the rough season ahead of them back in August.

“You never go into a season thinking, ‘OK, we’re only going to win two, three games,’” Webb said. “You’re going in this conference, and you know that each team is going to be very good…we’ve played tough teams week in and week out. That was expected that we were going to have to play tough teams, for sure.”

Higgins was incredibly optimistic about the team’s competitive schedule, but also noted that he couldn’t foresee some of the adversity that the Hornets have faced thus far.

“You always have high expectations to start the season, but you know, things like this happen, and what you have to do is just keep working, and our kids have been doing that, they really have been,” Higgins said. “I’m proud of how they’ve practiced each and every week, and we feel like we’re doing the right thing, we just have not been able to get over the hump. We know it’s going to come, and we know that we’re going to get it done – our players believe that, our coaches believe that.

It’s been a very frustrating – it’s been a very different year than probably we expected. Now we knew it was going to be tough, but just the things that have happened to us throughout the course of the year has been a lot of adversity.”

For Webb, the losing season isn’t something he wants to spill over into the off-season. Hard work and determination will aid in that effort, Webb said.

“We have a good group,” Webb said. “Each week we come out and work just as hard. We’re going to work hard this last week and this off-season and push ourselves harder. You don’t want this taste (losing) in your mouth season after the season, so I feel that it’s going to push the team extra hard in the off-season to push harder and go harder than we’ve been.”

Sophomore quarterback and recreation major Sheldon Smith said he is optimistic about Saturday’s game.

“We know that one (a win) is coming soon and this might be the one,” Smith said. “It’s a rivalry game, so you know we’re going to be pumped up for it.”

Higgins hopes to use this season’s experiences as a learning tool for his young team.

“I hope that the losing part of it doesn’t carry over, of course, but I think that what we do is we use it as something to learn from, especially from our younger kids,” Higgins said. “Hopefully we get a win Saturday to go into the off-season on a positive note.”

Shane Wilson/The Bulletin

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Hornet football team hosts Missouri Western for Homecoming

The Emporia State football team will play host to the Missouri Western Griffons for the Homecoming game at 1 p.m. Oct. 31 at Welch Stadium in Emporia. The Hornets look to capitalize on their overtime win over Truman State a week ago, 30-24, against the Griffons, who are currently #3 in the MIAA. The football team is currently 2-7, 1-6 in MIAA play.

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Illness and injury set back the already struggling Emporia State Hornets as they fell to the #5 ranking Northwest Missouri State Bearcats, 45-12. Freshman quarterback and business major Tyler Eckenrode and junior running back and physical education major La’Darrian Page were absent from the game due to a shoulder injury and a hamstring injury, respectively.

Quarterback Sheldon Smith breaks for the side line Saturday afternoon at Welch Stadium. The Hornets lost to the No. 5 ranked Northwest Missouri State University Bearcats 12-45. Kellen Jenkins/The Bulletin

With the absence of Eckenrode, senior quarterback and communication major Andre Sloan-El got the starting nod from head coach Garrin Higgins. Higgins said he was fairly pleased with Sloan-El’s performance.

“I thought (Sloan-El) did okay…he was told he was going to be the starter about an hour before game time,” Higgins said.

The game started off well enough for the Hornets, as they received the kickoff and methodically drove down the field and scored on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Sloan-El to senior wide receiver and social science major Danny McEvoy.

“We had some guys step up and make some plays…it was good,” Higgins said. “It was good for our morale, and I always say that for us, right now, there’s good things that have to happen early and that was a good thing that happened early that got us through that first half.”

Quarterback Andre Sloan-El looks down field for an open receiver Saturday afternoon at Welch Stadium. The Hornets lost to the No. 5 ranked Northwest Missouri State University Bearcats 12-45. Kellen Jenkins/The Bulletin.

Northwest answered and, subsequently, never looked back.

The only bright spot early on for the Hornets, save for the opening drive touchdown, as a 23-yard interception return by senior linebacker and business major Blake Ringwall. Unfortunately for the Hornets, the turnover was not capitalized.

“Whenever we get an opportunity, especially against a team like Northwest, there’s no room for error, no margin for error,” Higgins said. “They tightened up defensively…we had a tough time moving the football on them today, we really did.”

Northwest would almost double the offensive output of the Hornets, 514-268. Katrel Larkins, senior linebacker and business major, thought that the defense should have been able to minimize some of those yards and the big plays. He also emphasized that the team will earn another W soon.

“We prepared for them,” Larkins said. “We knew everything they were running, but they’re the type of team that they don’t care if we know what the plays are that they’re running, they’re just going to come at us. It was just us. We couldn’t make the plays…that’s what always happens – we always give up the big plays… we’re going to win us a game before the season is over.”

Wide Receiver Danny McEvoy sprints for the end zone Saturday afternoon at Welch Stadium. The Hornets lost to the No. 5 ranked Northwest Missouri State University Bearcats 12-45. Kellen Jenkins/The Bulletin.

The last thing on Sloan-El’s mind was the difficulty of playing a nationally ranked powerhouse like Northwest.

“They put their pads on just like us, so you have to come out here and execute,” Sloan-El said. “They did some things that were unexpected, but that’s part of the game.”

McEvoy thought that the Hornets had every chance in the world to defeat the Bearcats at the start of the game, given the right circumstances.

“When we’re all healthy, we’ve got the talent to (play with Northwest),” McEvoy said. “We didn’t have any depth, we have guys sick, we have guys hurt – I saw surgical masks on three players. A lot of injuries, especially this past week just in practice. Yeah, we felt like we could play with them, it’s just they’re a good team; you can’t make any mistakes, ever. We made a few mistakes early and that kind of helped them build their momentum.”

McEvoy had a career game, gaining 142 yards on six receptions, along with two touchdowns. Big plays early helped the Hornets keep the game somewhat even, for the time being.

“We just outplayed them, I guess, those two plays,” McEvoy said. “We didn’t outplay them too much throughout the game…they kind of gave us something we liked, and Dre (Sloan-El) hit me.”

Higgins believes that the Hornets’ fortunes will turn around sooner rather than later.

“The football gods, they’ll turn around and smile on us here sometime,” Higgins said.

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Eckenrode

Freshman quarterback and business major Tyler Eckenrode will get the nod from Emporia State football head coach Garrin Higgins to start this Saturday’s home game at 1 p.m. against MIAA foe Northwest Missouri

“We just felt like there needed to be a change made, we had turned the ball over ten times the last few games and won one game,” Higgins said. “Eckenrode is a young quarterback, and we wanted to give him an opportunity – he deserved the right to have that opportunity.”

Eckenrode realizes that being a young quarterback is a learning experience but embraces the challenge.

“I make plenty of mistakes and still have room to grow, but I feel like I’m getting better every week,” Eckenrode said.  “I think I’ve learned a lot, especially from these past two games and learning what it’s like at the college level.”

When asked if the young quarterback had passed the “Higgin’s Test,” coach Higgins said with a smile, “He’s done a good job.  He’s secured the football and done everything we’ve asked of him.  He’s gotten rid of the ball on time and played well.  He hasn’t played great but he’s played well.”

Whether or not Higgins has a young Tom Brady on his hands is yet to be determined.  Higgins knows that the quarterback still has some steps to make.

“I still think there’s a ways to go with him,” Higgins said.  “He’ll look at last week’s game against Pitt State and see some things that he did, he’ll see some mistakes that he made with just begin a young quarterback.  The more repetitions he gets, the better off he will be.”

The defense also knows that they will have a task on their hands come Saturday – that task will be to control the powerful Northwest Missouri offense.

“It’s a big week for us,” said senior defensive back and sociology major Travis Lee.  “We tend to play better at home, and guys are going to come ready to practice.  We had a bad game at Pitt, but now we’ve got Northwest at home and we’ve got to come prepared to play.  Everyone knows how good they are, there’s probably a lot of talk about how good Northwest is, but we have got to come prepared to play on our side of the ball.  We need to show up and be ready to play, especially at home against an opponent like that.”

The offense hopes to do their part in putting points up on the board to weaken the strong Northwest defense.

“It’s a very even playing field,” Eckenrode said.  “Every team from top to bottom in the MIAA is good – anybody can beat anybody on any given day.  You just have to play smart football, we have to win the turnover margin and have a couple more big plays than they do and come out with a win.”

The team knows the problems they are having and know what they have to do to turn the season around and win the remaining games.

“It’s like what coach has told us these past few games – it’s a saying he says, ‘You’ve got to make your own breaks,’” Lee said.  “We’ve had mental busts and people making errors and things like that, and we’ve been getting the bad end of the stick with some of the calls in games.  The main thing is that we can’t wait for something good to happen – we have to go out and make it happen.  Once something bad happens we’ve got to respond and bounce back – we can’t snowball and get out of control with it.  We’ve got to take it into our hands and stop waiting on things to happen and just make it happen for us.”

Zac Burt/The Bulletin

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La’Darrian Page try’s to outrun the Pittsburg State defense Saturday afternoon as the Hornets faced off against the Gorillas at Pittsburg. ESu was over taken with a final of 14-44. Kellen Jenkins/The Bulletin

On the afternoon of Pittsburg State University’s 1000^th football game, the Emporia State Hornets went down to the MIAA and state of Kansas foe Gorillas, 44-14.            Pitt State set several school records on the day, including most receiving yards in one game (Kendall Fisher – 238) and most passing yards in one game (412). The game marked ESU’s sixth straight loss on the year, having only beaten non-conference opponent Southwestern Oklahoma State.

The game started off well for the Hornets as they kicked off to Pitt State, which was followed by a big hit by senior linebacker and business major Blake Ringwall. Although the team was in high spirits, the momentum didn’t carry over. Large gains eroded the Hornets defense early as the Gorillas jumped to a 17-0 lead after one quarter of play.

“They hurt us with big plays,” said Head Coach Garrin Higgins. “We would hold them on first and second down and still had problems on third down giving up the big plays – we just can’t do that. You can look at everything, but that’s the bottom line – if you can’t get off the field on third down, and we can’t get momentum offensively and keep the chains moving, then we’re going to have problems.”

The start of the second quarter proved to be fruitful for the Hornets. A pass from freshman quarterback and business major Tyler Eckenrode traveled 33 yards and hit freshman wide receiver and undecided major Shjuan Richardson inside the Pitt State 10-yard line. The possession was capped off by a 1-yard touchdown run by junior running back and business major Kevin Smart.

The run game and passing game were in sync on the drive, noted Eckenrode – something other possessions lacked.

“For our offense to work, we need more balance,” Eckenrode said.

The jubilation received by Smart’s touchdown was short lived.

Four punts would come in the following four possessions, while Pittsburg State scored twice more, both on accurately thrown touchdown passes from Gorilla quarterback John McCoy.  Junior defensive lineman and recreation major Harold Ayodele recovered a McCoy fumble late in the second quarter, but to no avail – the drive resulted in the end of the half, with Pitt State leading, 30-7.

Spirits were down for the overmatched Hornets.

“We let it just slip away from us in the first half,” Higgins said.

The second half proved to be just as futile for ESU. Mistakes topped with poor execution on third and fourth downs decided the fate of the already struggling Hornets. A roughing the kicker penalty on ESU’s first possession of the second half was short lived, as a pass from Eckenrode hit freshman tight end Adam Schiltz in the hands and was dropped.

“Schiltz is a great player…he just didn’t have a good day,” Eckenrode said. “People just don’t have good days sometimes, but he’s a great player, and he’ll be a great player next week.”

On the following defensive stand for the Hornets, a pass was intercepted by junior linebacker and athletic training major Nathan Linsey. The Hornets couldn’t capitalize on the turnover – the following drive resulted in a turnover on downs due to an incomplete pass in the endzone on fourth down. On the bright side, the Hornets escaped the third quarter while only giving up one touchdown. Pitt State led the game heading into the fourth quarter, 37-7

The fourth quarter went by in a blur, as the Gorillas used their powerful, yet underused running attack to thwart off the Hornets and run down the clock. Pittsburg State would score once more, this time on the legs of backup quarterback Jeff Smith on a 15-yard scramble. For ESU, a lone second half score came in the form of a touchdown run by sophomore running back and business major Adrian Abner.

The tale of the tape served as a reminder of the dominance shown by the Pitt State Gorillas, as they gained over 630 yards of offense, next to ESU’s mark of 269. Page noted that time and rhythm are factors that contribute to the Hornets’ recent blunders.

“I think right now we’re still trying to find our rhythm,” Page said. “We’re still trying to get rolling on offense – we still have some pieces to put to the puzzle to move the ball. We just need to get rolling….We just really need to get in a rhythm and make plays and keep the defense off the field. We have to help them (the defense) help us.”

Even though the emotional turmoil was present due to the loss, Higgins found a way to stay somewhat upbeat.

“Let’s look at the positive – we made two extra points today,” Higgins said.

Shane Wilson/The Bulletin

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Rampy

When a football player hears the word “injury” or “concussion,” a chill shoots down their spine. In the case of Emporia State University quarterback Zach Rampy, it is all too real. Rampy, a sophomore elementary education major, suffered a concussion against Central Missouri Sept. 12 that will sideline him for the rest of his life.

“It’s tough,” Rampy said. “I’ve been playing football ever since I was little, and not being able to play now is just hard.”

Rampy will not stray far from the gridiron. In fact, he plans to stay on the team as a student-coach.

“It’s tough because I’m not playing, but the actual job I do is stand out here at practice and signal, talk to the quarterbacks and see what they see out there,” Rampy said. “Basically, I’m just there to help if they need help to give signals.”

Rampy’s younger brother, Lukas, freshman wide receiver, will remain on the team. The sudden change will affect him as well.

“It’s a little different,” Lukas Rampy said. “I thought I was going to be coming here and playing with him, but he’s still on the sidelines, he’s just not in uniform, which is kind of hard to get used to. I’ll just have to get used to it.”

Head coach Garrin Higgins knows that Zach Rampy will still have an impact on the team as a coach.

“He’s a very competitive person and is very intelligent with what we’re doing offensively – he can see things,” Higgins said. “His competitive nature, his tough-mindedness just carries over with the football team.”

Zach Rampy said his family has been supportive in his decision to hang up his jersey.

“If anything, it’s brought us closer together because they’ve been so supportive,” Zach Rampy said. “They’re there for me when I need them, they try to be helpful and try to sympathize what I’m going through.”

Lukas also aides his brother in his time of need.

“It’s hard, but they all understand,” Lukas Rampy said. “It’s just for his safety –

if he keeps playing he is just going to further getting hurt. It’s what’s best for him. He knows that whenever he needs to talk that I’m there the listen. He’s going through a hard time right now, and I’ve got to be there for him.”

Higgins also shows sympathy for Zach Rampy.

“It’s been pretty tough on him – anytime you get something taken away from you very quickly, it’s tough to handle,” Higgins said. “It would have been different if he had decided this after football season, but whenever you have to make a decision this quick, and you know that you have to do it and make the right decision, it was just taken away from him very quickly. I think that’s been the hardest part for him, not being able to finish what he started. I think everyone is disappointed that he’s not playing, but he had to make a decision that was best for him and his family.”

Although Zach Rampy will no longer suit up as a football player, he continues to stay optimistic given his current situation.

“The way I look at it, everything happens for a reason,” Zach Rampy said. “As bad as it is not being able to play, I’m going to take this opportunity, take what God has given me, and run with it – try and make the best of it. The glass is half-full baby, the glass is half full.”

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With only few seconds left, a missed field goal put an L in the record column for the Emporia State football team. The team fought to the very last second, falling just short 24-21 to #12 Central Missouri State. However, the loss put some hope in ESU fans.

“The game gave me hope that they’re going to play hard no matter what and give the fans something to be happy about,” said Robert Keisler, sophomore geology major.

The Hornets travel to Missouri Southern State this Saturday to play a team they lost to by a single point straight point last season. The Hornets feel like they have something to prove and are looking to use this game to catapult them back into the running for a conference championship.

Blake Ringwall, senior business major and linebacker, hopes to help steer the team back in the right direction.

“We’d like to get back on track,” Ringwall said. “We lost to this team by one point last year, and we’d like to come out with the W. We came so close last year, so we’re going to fight hard to get the win on Saturday…We just want to get the win, it doesn’t matter how we get as long as we get it.”

The Hornets haven’t beat Missouri Southern State since 2005 but look to end that streak Saturday in Joplin, Mo. In addition, the two teams generally play a very tight game – the last three of four games have been decided by one point.

Head Coach Garrin Higgins is very confident in his team’s ability to win this football game.

“We’re a good football team,” Higgins said. “We just played with the 13^th ranked team in the country. Our mindset is pretty good going into this week.”

Higgins also understands that there is always room for improvement. The team had 15 penalties for a total of 103 yards in Saturday’s game against CMSU.

“We need to eliminate some of the little mistakes that we’ve made in both our losses,” Higgins said. “For example, jumping off sides and little things like that need to be cleaned up.”

With the game on the line against Central Missouri, the Hornets’ kicker, Will Maxwell, sophomore biology major, missed a 30-yard field goal, leaving two seconds on the clock. The Hornets’ coaching staff still has faith in the young kicker and is looking forward to him making up for the poor game.

Higgins believes that the game could have been different without Maxwell.

“We still have confidence in him and believe in him,” Higgins said. “We know that the next time he gets an opportunity, he’ll make the best of it. I think there were some opportunities for big plays. There are a lot of things that play into a game – like we ran 84 plays on offense and in those 84 plays there were some mistakes made.”

Austin Wagoner/The Bulletin

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Wide receiver Matt Coursen sprints up field Saturday afternoon at Welch Stadium as the Hornets faced the Central Missouri Mules. The Hornets lost 21-24. Kellen Jenkins/The Bulletin.

Despite shaky special teams play and being plagued with penalties all game, the Hornet football team proved they are a team to be reckoned with in the MIAA during their 24-21 loss to Central Missouri.

A blocked field goal late in the first half, a controversial call during an interception in the third quarter and a missed field goal with 2.2 seconds left in the game, along with numerous offensive penalties, crippled the Hornets throughout the game.

Although the team ended the night with a loss in the record column, the Hornets know that they have improved their game play.

Shaunquez Powell, senior sociology major and defensive back, said he hopes to lead the Hornets’ charge for redemption.

“I’m hungry,” Powel said. “We’re going to take it for what it is. We’re not going to take this loss in vein – we’re going to build from it…that’s all we can do at this point. It’s how you handle adversity, we’re going to go headstrong right into it and keep trying to battle.”

The Hornets had 15 penalties for 103 yards in the game, coming at the most inopportune times. Andre Sloan-El, senior communication major and quarterback, realized the lack of concentration the Hornets showed throughout the game.

“We need to stay disciplined; we kind of lost focus a little bit,” Sloan-El said. “We had some mental busts and some penalties down in the red zone, and that will kill you every time as a team. You just have to stay focused, you have to come together as a team and get everybody calmed down inside of the huddle – just relax out there.”

Matt Coursen, sophomore chemistry major and wide receiver, also noticed a lack of focus from the team.

“We need to be a little bit more mentally in it when we get the ball into the red zone,” Coursen said. “By the time we get down there I think we’re a little tired – we’re going to work on that…there’s a lot of little things that we kind of just messed up on, so hopefully we’ll come back and do better next week.”

After a slow first quarter, the Hornet offense seemed to find their groove in moving the ball down the field. Tallying up 166 yards rushing and 312 yards passing, it seemed as though Central Missouri relied on the Hornets stopping themselves.

Sloan-El led the Hornet rushing attack, gaining 53 yards on 10 carries, while sophomore running back Adrian Abner and junior running back La’Darrian Page each had nine carries for 41 and 35 yards, respectively. Junior running back Kevin Smart carried the ball eight times gaining a total of 32 yards with the lone rushing touchdown for the Hornets on the day. Freshman wide receiver Shjaun Richardson carried the ball once for a four yard gain.

Sloan-El also led the Hornets through the air, completing 19 of his 29 passing attempts for 267 yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore quarterback Zach Rampy completed three of his seven attempts for 45 yards before being sidelined in the second quarter due to injury.

Coursen led the Hornets in receiving, catching four passes for 99 yards, one of them for a 71 yard touchdown that seemed to spark the crowd, as well as the team. Senior wide receiver Danny McEvoy and junior wide receiver Andre Jones each hauled in four receptions for 57, 38 and 36 yards respectively. McEvoy also brought in a touchdown catch from 14 yards out. Page and freshman tight end Adam Schiltz each had two receptions for 45 yards and 25 yards, respectively.

The Hornet defense held stout while containing the Central Missouri offense, only giving up one distinct drive late in the first half.

Senior linebackers Blake Ringwall and Katrel Larkins had six tackles apiece, while Ringwall added a sack. Senior defensive back Travis Lee and Powell each recorded five tackles – Powell also made the lone interception for the Hornet defense.

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Running Back Adrian Abner blocks a defender Friday night at Welch stadium when the Hornets faced the Southwestern Oklahoma State Bulldogs. The Hornets beat the Bulldogs is their season opener 48-17. Kellen Jenkins/The Bulletin. ESU students cheer on the Hornets Friday night at Welch stadium as they face the Southwestern Oklahoma State Bulldogs in their season opener. Jonathan Elliott/The Bulletin

Fans and players let out both a cheer and sigh of relief as “Silent Joe,” ESU Football’s 154 year-old victory bell, sounded

with approval as Emporia State trounced Southwestern Oklahoma State University 48-17 last Thursday night.

The Hornets, although satisfied with the big win, know that they still have the entire season ahead of them. The team stands behind their motto “Something To Prove,” yet feel as though a statement like that can’t be made after just the first game.

“I never like to talk about ‘making statements’, I just know it was a good win for our football team,” said Head Coach Garrin Higgins. “I thought we played well tonight on both sides of the ball. I was really pleased with how both our offensive line and defensive line played. It’s easy to see the athletes in the back making the plays, but those plays wouldn’t happen if those guys up front weren’t doing their job.”

The Hornet offense seemed nearly unstoppable, posting 494 total yards of production, 399 of those rushing. Junior running back La’Darrian Page led the team in rushing with 153 yards on 16 carries with three touchdowns, followed closely by sophomore running back Adrian Abner, who had 109 yards rushing on 16 carries with a touchdown of his own.

Sophomore quarterback Zach Rampy had 78 yards rushing on eight carries, while senior quarterback Andre Sloan-El had 26 yards on eight carries.

Despite only playing one series, junior running back Kevin Smart tallied 22 yards on four carries and a touchdown. Sophomore wide receiver Brian Murphy and sophomore quarterback Sheldon Smith also contributed to the cause, rushing for 14 and three yards, respectively. Freshman wide receiver Shjaun Richardson was held up behind the line on his lone carry for a loss of four, while two kneel downs gave up two more yards for the Hornets.

Sloan-El led the attack through the air for the Hornets, completing six of his 11 attempts for 57 yards and a touchdown. Rampy wasn’t far behind, completing five of eight attempts for 38 yards and a touchdown, only getting intercepted once.

Richardson led the team in receiving, catching four passes for 47 yards, 22 of which came on his touchdown reception from Sloan-El. Murphy caught two passes for 12 yards. Sophomore Matt Cousen had a single reception for 16 yards, while freshman tight end Adam Schiltz and Abner both had one catch for six yards. Smith had one snag for a five yard gain, and junior tight end Tracy Hageman had a three yard touchdown reception from Rampy.

The Hornet defense stood their ground against the Bulldog offense, giving up only 221 total yards.

Senior linebacker Blake Ringwall led the Hornets with eight total tackles. Junior linebacker Nathan Lindsey and senior linebacker Katrel Larkins both had seven tackles a piece. Larkins also posted a sack and forced a fumble in the game. Sophomore linebacker Vince Harris and junior defensive lineman Daniel Webb each had five tackles, while D. Webb had two sacks.

Sophomore defensive back Kameron Gee, junior defensive lineman Casey Finlayson, freshman defensive lineman Tyrone Weaver, and junior defensive lineman Harold “Train” Ayodele all posted four tackles, while Gee had a forced fumble, and Finlayson had a fumble recovery. Senior defensive lineman Angelo Webb and sophomore defensive back Chris Poston each had three tackles, while Poston got the ball back for the Hornets via an interception.

Freshman defensive back Julian Dozier, senior defensive back Shaunquez Powell, and sophomore defensive back Quincy Williams each had two tackles for the night, while Powell also had fumble recovery on the night. Freshman defensive back Travon Brooks, sophomore defensive lineman Kevin Matthews, sophomore linebacker Jarryd Horn, and senior defensive back Travis Lee all had a tackle, while Brooks also had an interception.

Page, like most of the team, knows that the decisive victory is just one step closer to reaching the postseason.

“We don’t want to judge by the first game,” said Page. We definitely want to do these things when it comes to the conference play, but this is a great start for us, I think.”

Abner hopes to use the experience and put it to good use later on in the season.

“It’s tremendous, it’s good. Hopefully we can put that towards our regular conference games,” said Abner. “It was good tonight, but hopefully we can do a little bit better.”

“We try to get better every week,” Abner said. “I don’t want to say we did great tonight, we did decent.”

The Hornets will be back in action at 1 p.m. Sept. 5, this time traveling to Sioux Falls, S.D., to take on the Augustana College Vikings.

Game Fast Facts

- ESU’s 399 yards rushing is the most by the Hornets since gaining 446 against Truman on Oct. 28, 2000

- Page’s three touchdowns are the most by a Hornet in a single game since ElRay Henry scored three TD’s in ESU’s 59-57 four overtime loss to Pittsburg State on Sept. 30, 2006.

- ESU has now won nine straight season openers.

- This was the first time ESU has had two running backs over 100 yards since Justin Weiser (127) and Seville Ko (106) pulled the trick against Truman on Oct. 27, 2007.

- ESU forced four turnovers with just one of their own.

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The football team kicks off the season tonight against Southwestern Oklahoma State University. The excitement is in the air and the questions are on the table. With an impressive start but blundering finish the past two seasons, can the ESU faithful expect déjà vu or something to root for?

Head Coach Garrin Higgins is thrilled for his players to show what they can do and how they can perform.

“I think the players have had a great pre-season camp and I know they are excited about going out and performing in front of the home crowd on Thursday night,” Higgins said.

Andre SloanEl, senior communications major, entered the season as the Hornets’ leading rusher, scorer and passer just a year ago. SloanEl rushed for an impressive 439 yards and six touchdowns as a quarterback and he also passed for 1,416 yards and 10 touchdowns.

In order for SloanEl to utilize his dual-threat abilities, pressure will have to be taken off of him through the use of an effective ground game. SloanEl is confident in his new rushing crew.

“We have three good running backs that we can rotate in and out so I won’t have to run as much as last year,” SloanEl said.

ESU’s air game had a similar effect on defenses last season as the rushing attack. SloanEl completed just over 60 percent of his passes.

However, he threw as many interceptions as he did touchdowns. SloanEl, along with the rest of the ESU football team, is working hard to focus more and prepare more for games using film.

“I’m studying more in the film room and preparing more for my opponent,” SloanEl said. “I’m not going to second guess myself and will know where I want to go with the ball.”

Defensively, experience and skill lead the way, with seven players having experience starting at least one game last year. In addition, the Hornets return seven of their top ten tacklers.

Katrel Larkins, senior business major, looks to spearhead a solid group of linebackers, along with the rest of the determined defensive squad. Larkins led the team in tackles with 80 total, 4.5 for loss and 2.5 sacks. A humble Larkins doesn’t think about statistics the way the fans do.

“Personally, I don’t care how many tackles I have as long as we win,” Larkins said. “I just have to cut down on my missed tackles because I had a lot last year too.”

The Hornets will face off against the Bulldogs at 7 p.m., tonight at Welch Stadium. The team encourages all fans, students and community members alike, to come out and cheer on the home team.

Austin Wagoner/The Bulletin

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