The eight-hour bus trip back from Winona, Minn., last season is one Zach Teske hasn’t been able to forget.
“It’s probably the longest ride I’ve ever had,” the Emporia State senior H-back said. “We went up there pretty confident after a big win over Hays the week before. We went up there thinking we would take care of business and didn’t.
“It sure made for a long bus ride, a long week.”
ESU’s 40-21 loss last season hasn’t left the minds of many Hornets, making this week’s home opener against the No. 15-ranked Winona State Warriors at 1 p.m. Saturday a little more significant.
“It’s their turn,” Teske said. “It’s their turn to have that feeling.”
Although the Hornets haven’t forgotten about last year — or 2003 when the Warriors took a 10-3 victory in the NCAA playoffs — they certainly know it won’t be easy on Saturday.
Winona State was 8-3 and co-champion of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference last season. The Warriors also defeated Truman 24-13 last week to enter the Saturday’s game 1-0.
ESU coach Dave Wiemers calls Winona State the best-coached team his squad will see all season, which is quite a compliment considering the Hornets still have dates with Northwest Missouri State, Pittsburg State and Washburn.
“They just don’t beat themselves very often,” Wiemers said. “It’s something we’re ready for, and we’ve got to try to do the same thing.”
Teske knows the circumstances are all too familiar from a year ago. ESU enters after handing out another blowout to start the season — this time a 69-6 shellacking of Oklahoma Panhandle State.
“There’s a lot of similarities from last year,” Teske said. “I’ve thought about that, and hope that our team has matured enough that we won’t follow the same course that we did last year.”
Indeed, this could be a landmark victory if the Hornets are able to pull it off.
Though Wiemers said it was too early for it to be a make-or-break game, he said it wasn’t too early for the Hornets to jump start their season and send a statement across the region and also the nation.
“We have a chance to prove a lot of things,” Wiemers said, “if we decide we want to come and play.”
The matchup has added significance for ESU running back Seville Ko as well. The sophomore injured his knee in the first quarter of last year’s game against Winona.
“I definitely have them circled on my map. ... I got knocked out that game,” Ko said. “Everybody has them in our targets right now because they’ve beat us the past two years.”
Running back Alex Wiese led the Warriors a week ago, rushing for 106 yards on 22 carries and earning NSIC Offensive Player of the Week honors.
Quarterback Drew Aber was 15-of-27 for 175 yards and touchdown.
The Warriors moved up two spots from No. 17 to No. 15 in the American Football Coaches Association poll after their opening-week victory.
“If we want to be able to get to the postseason,” ESU H-back Lucas Sullivan said, “we’ve got to prove we can beat these upper-tier teams.”
The Hornets enter the matchup nearly injury-free. Defensive lineman A.J. Franklin is banged up but should play, while safety Aaron Stubblefield is out for the season with a torn ACL.
Wiemers has won all five of his home openers as Hornet coach. ESU has won 17 of its last 20 home openers overall.
For Teske, this one would be a little more special — especially with those memories of the longest bus trip still on his mind.
“Hopefully, it’s a different story this time,” Teske said, “and we can set the tone for the rest of our season.”