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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The stakes were high for the #8 Emporia State Hornets as they hosted the #7 Washburn Lady Blues last Friday night. The Hornets walked away with a pivotal victory in five sets, 3-2.

Middle Hitter Brianne Boner blocks a spike by Washburn’s Hillary Hughes Friday night at White Auditorium. The Hornets won the “Turnpike Tussle” taking down the No. 7 ranked Lady Blues 3-2 (25-23, 25-21, 18-25, 26-28, 15-13). Kellen Jenkins/The Bulletin

The significance of the match was well known by the over 2,000 fans in attendance, along with freshman setter and undecided major Katelyn Schmidtberger.

“I knew this game coming in was going to be a great one for our team to win just to keep us in the running for the MIAA, and my team did a great job,” Schmidtberger said. “I have to fill in to just play the position, and they’re behind me 100 percent, so I have to have confidence in myself.”

Upon learning that Washburn leaped ESU in the AVCA poll, senior outside hitter and marketing major Arica Shepard felt that the team had some business to take care of.

“We always try not to look at the rankings, but when we did see them above us we were kind of just like, ‘OK, we have to do something about this.’…this game meant a lot to us,’” Shepard said.

The first two sets proved to be great successes for the Hornets, winning 25-23 and 25-21.

The last three were a bit more challenging. Already high in spirits due to the fast start, the Hornets saw two straight sets taken by Washburn because of defensive breakdowns and a general lack of focus.

“Washburn is a tough team,” said Head Coach Bing Xu. “Nationally, they’re one spot ahead of us, and at the start of the third game we could tell they wanted to bring their game back, so we kind of backed off a little bit and started questioning our ability a little bit instead of hanging with them…we lost our composure.”

After Washburn captured the fourth set, Shepard said that she started having recollections of losses during the current season.

Outside Hitter Arica Shepard spikes the ball past Washburn’s Kate Hampson Friday night at White Auditorium. The Hornets won the “Turnpike Tussle” taking down the No. 7 ranked Lady Blues 3-2 (25-23, 25-21, 18-25, 26-28, 15-13). Kellen Jenkins/The Bulletin.

“I don’t know if we got too comfortable or we maybe thought we had it or something,” Shepard said. “I kind of had a flashback to West Texas A&M right after we lost that fourth game, I was like, ‘Oh no, we can’t do this again.’”

In the potential midst of another loss to a top 10 opponent, the Hornets tightened up their defense and minimized errors to win the final set, 15-13. Xu noted what the importance of a win against rival Washburn meant for his program and the rest of the season.

“This game will really keep our confidence up and our momentum going to carry to the postseason,” Xu said. “We need to kind of learn from it and bring this momentum and go to the next game.”

Junior right side hitter and nursing major Brittney Miller noted the games high and low points and the importance of finishing.

“I think we played hard,” Miller said. “We need to still do a little better, win the first two sets, come out and win the third, so we’re going to continue to work at that. Big net game, big defense…It was definitely a big one to finish – we knew we needed to do it. We still need to work to go a little harder and not let that halftime give us a little downtime. We’ll continue to work. I think we played well.”

A point of surprising significance at the game was the crowd – more than once did the noise created by the fans affect on the opposing team’s server.

“This game’s huge,” Shepard said. “The outcome here, I think that helped so much – I’ve never seen it so filled.”

Schmidtberger shared the sentiment.

“The crowd was great,” Schmidtberger said. “I’m glad everyone came out and supported (the team).”

Setter Ting Liu and Middle Hitter Brianne Boner jump to block a spike by Washburn’s Jessica Kopp Friday night at White Auditorium. The Hornets won the “Turnpike Tussle” taking down the No. 7 ranked Lady Blues 3-2 (25-23, 25-21, 18-25, 26-28, 15-13). Kellen Jenkins/The Bulletin.

Miller led the team with 20 kills, followed closely by Shepard with 17. Junior setter and business major Ting Lui added 54 sets.

Shepard, in her senior season, was happy to defeat Washburn, not only for the team’s interest, but for her own, special interest as well. Shepard’s twin sister, Ashley, plays for the Lady Blues.

“Winning this game feels awesome,” Shepard said. “Hopefully we’ll continue this success.”

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