Maryville, Mo. — A week’s worth of confidence melted away in five plays for the Emporia State football team on Saturday.
ESU knew coming in that it would have to start well to finish well against No. 2 Northwest Missouri State — a team that hadn’t trailed all season.
Any hopes of doing that vanished in just under three minutes.
Quarterback Ben Purkeypile fumbled on the first Hornet possession, starting the snowball that turned into an avalanche as Northwest rolled ESU, 49-17, at Bearcat Stadium in Maryville, Mo.
“We thought if we could get on the board quick and get ahead, we’d have a real good chance,” ESU receiver Ryan Hulings said. “(The fumble) just kind of took some air out.”
What followed was a first quarter to forget for the Hornets.
The Bearcats went on to score in each of their first three possessions, essentially putting the Hornets away with a 21-0 lead after just 14 minutes and six seconds.
“We didn’t think we could win when we showed up,” ESU coach Dave Wiemers said. “We played passive. It was a really, really, really bad effort on our part.”
It all began with the crucial mistake on the first possession of the game.
ESU won the toss and elected to receive, hoping to make a statement against Northwest’s vaunted defense.
After gaining one first down, Purkeypile faced a third-and-2 at his own 38.
On a play-action, the quarterback rolled to his left, then came to a stop to look for an open receiver.
Northwest’s Dallas Flynn closed the gap quickly, burying Purkeypile and jarring the ball loose in the process.
Ike Urum-Eke fell on the fumble at the ESU 25, providing Northwest with the back-breaking turnover.
It was a miscue that Wiemers said could have been avoided.
“The quarterback pulled up, and he’s not supposed to on that play,” Wiemers said. “I don’t know why he did it, but he did. He made the mistake there. He just needed to keep going with it because we’re blocking everything away from it.
“If he keeps running, they don’t touch him. For some reason, he pulled up and fumbled it, and they got off to a great start.”
Northwest needed just four plays to take the lead.
Quarterback Josh Mathews completed 12- and 9-yard passes before running back Xavier Omon finished the drive. On his second rush, he hurdled into the end zone for a two-yard score.
“It was a big deal, putting us in what some people would have said was a bad situation,” ESU cornerback Brandon Stribling said. “But we’re a defense. It’s what we do. We’re supposed to stop an offense, no matter where they put us on the field.”
Purkeypile nearly committed the same mistake on the next possession.
On a third-and-11 from his own 11, he dropped back deep in the pocket when defensive end Sean Paddock wrapped him up at the 1.
As he was being dragged backwards, Purkeypile fumbled again, and linebacker Thomas Smith scooped it up in the end zone for an apparent touchdown.
Officials instead blew the play dead, saying Purkeypile’s forward progress had been stopped and that he was down at the 1.
After a Johnny Torres punt in the shadow of the goal post, Northwest drove it 26 yards on five plays for its second score.
Omon finished the drive with a one-yard TD leap, and Tommy Frevert’s extra point made it 14-0.
“They just tipped us over and manhandled us,” Wiemers said. “We didn’t do anything about it.”
The shell-shock would last through the end of the first quarter. After 15 minutes, ESU had eight rushes go for a combined negative-12 yards. The 12 total plays in the first quarter also added up to negative-one yard.
“It was nothing really different than what we’ve seen in practice,” Hulings said. “We just weren’t able to execute.”
ESU did have to go most of the game without its top two offensive weapons.
Running back El Ray Henry played on the first possession but sat out the rest of the contest with back spasms. He finished with one carry for three yards.
Receiver Jermaine Barnett — who leads the conference in touchdown catches — was also a no-go because of a high-ankle injury.
The Hornets’ offense started to find some success in the third quarter when it drove for a pair of touchdowns.
Justin Wieser finished off the first TD drive, scoring on a seven-yard run to the left side that made it 28-10 with Jeff Edwards’ point after.
The rushing touchdown was ESU’s first against Northwest since the 1998 season when Brian Shay accomplished the feat.
ESU drove 77 yards on 11 plays on its next possession, as Purkeypile completed a 20-yard touchdown strike over the middle to Hulings.
The Hornets still couldn’t get any closer on the scoreboard, as Northwest answered each touchdown with a scoring drive of its own.
Wiemers implemented a 3-3 defense for the game — the same one that had worked wonders against the Bearcats last season in Northwest’s 14-0 victory at Welch Stadium.
This time, however, NWMSU was prepared.
“We got caught in a bad scheme, I think,” Wiemers said, “which is our fault.”
Part of the switch was forced, as ESU has struggled to keep enough defensive linemen healthy to play the standard 4-2 defense.
Hulings led the ESU offense, catching three passes for 66 yards and adding a touchdown.
Stribling added a team-high nine tackles.
Omon, meanwhile, ended his day with 108 yards and four touchdowns for the Bearcats.
After a heartbreaking 59-57 loss against No. 13 Pittsburg State last week, ESU players looked as if they might have still had some hangover from the previous matchup.
“Some people might have carried that over into this game, which they shouldn’t have,” Stribling said. “If they did, that might have proved why we started out flat.”
With the victory, Northwest notched its 12th straight win over ESU.
The Hornets will return home Saturday, playing host to Truman on Homecoming.
Wiemers said he was confident his team would rebound from the disappointing effort.
“We’re not going to go the wrong direction, I can guarantee you,” Wiemers said. “We have a good team... we just weren’t today.”