Emporia State football coach Dave Wiemers never knew how right he would be.
After last Thursday’s practice, the coach told his players the only ones that could beat them come Saturday would be themselves.
His words proved to be prophetic.
Big mistakes doomed ESU on Saturday, as No. 15 Winona State escaped with a 21-18 victory in the Hornets’ season opener at Welch Stadium.
“Emporia State beat Emporia State today,” Wiemers said after the game. “That’s exactly what happened.”
Though many miscues were costly, the most magnified came on the last possession of the game when ESU had a chance to tie or take the lead.
After a punt with 2:34 remaining, the Hornets took over at the WSU 41-yard-line trailing by three. ESU quarterback Ben Purkeypile completed a pair of passes for eight yards, then faced a crucial 3rd-and-2 at the WSU 49.
He dropped back, then fired a pass toward the sideline.
ESU receiver Jermaine Barnett found himself locked up arm-in-arm with corner Shawn Cunningham, who made a late adjustment to intercept the pass and ice the game.
Officials threw a flag but later waved it off, saying the interception had already been made.
Wiemers said the play had been called to go directly at Cunningham, who was sneaking his way closer to the ESU receivers at the line of scrimmage.
“It’s a flip of the coin for an official, and we knew that,” Wiemers said. “We knew they were going to roll (the corner) down, and we were going to run the route right into it. We either catch it, or they call it.”
Neither happened, and ESU could only watch on as Winona ran out the rest of the clock.
“We’ve got to eliminate those things that are beating us,” Wiemers said, “and today they beat us.”
Another game-changing error came at the end of the first half.
After WSU regained the lead with a 71-yard touchdown drive, ESU took over deep in its own end with just over three minutes to go in the half. A Purkeypile incompletion was followed by a Seville Ko fumble, which was scooped up by WSU’s Dan Link and returned to the Hornet 2-yard-line.
Two plays later, quarterback Drew Aber found an open Scott Peters for the third Winona touchdown and a comfortale 21-7 halftime lead.
“They don’t make mistakes, which we need to learn how to do,” ESU cornerback Brandon Stribling said. “We can learn from them. That’s a playoff team, and we can learn from them.”
What might be most disappointing for the Hornets is that the missteps canceled out an otherwise solid effort against the reigning Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Champions.
ESU outgained Winona, 316-292, but fell victim to another important statistic: penalties.
The Hornets had eight markoffs for 87 yards. Add that to the fumble and interception, and ESU found the recipe for losing a game it perhaps could have won.
“All of that combined,” Wiemers said, “we didn’t deserve it.”
Winona State struck first quickly.
After taking the opening kickoff, the Warriors went 69 yards on three plays, scoring on a 23-yard pass from Aber to Peters.
ESU responded with major help from return specialist Ryan Hulings.
The senior returned a first-quarter punt 48 yards up the middle, setting the Hornets in good field position at the WSU 29.
Three plays later, Purkeypile found Barnett on a bootleg for a 22-yard touchdown strike to tie the game at 7.
“We played great,” Hulings said. “No one quit, that was the main thing.”
That was especially the case when Hulings helped give ESU new life late in the fourth quarter.
Trailing 21-10 with 6:44 to play, ESU went on a seven-play, 59-yard scoring drive.
Hulings completed it, reaching behind his body to make a difficult 6-yard touchdown catch from Purkeypile with 4:44 remaining. The two completed a similar route on the next play, adding the two-point conversion to make it 21-18.
ESU’s defense forced a three-and-out on the subsequent possession to give the offense one final chance.
“I think we played just as good,” Hulings said. “The team with the least mistakes today won.”
The game wasn’t without its positives for the Hornets.
Purkeypile looked comfortable in his second start, completing 18-of-33 passes for 192 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
El Ray Henry was the leading rusher with 12 carries for 79 yards, while Barnett (76 yards) and Hulings (68 yards) both pulled in five receptions.
Defensive lineman Junis McDowell also made an impact in his first game back after being reinstated with the team two weeks ago. He contributed a sack on his first possession with the defensive unit and finished with 4 1/2 tackles, 2 1/2 tackles for loss and a pass breakup.
Cade Armstrong paced the ESU defense with nine tackles.
The Hornets dropped to 1-1, but it wasn’t enough to make Wiemers overlook some of the good he saw from Saturday’s game.
“I feel great about our team,” Wiemers said. “I don’t feel good about today. I’m disappointed about today. But I feel really good about our team.”
ESU will play host to Fort Hays State for a 1 p.m. kickoff next Saturday.