ESU’s Higgins ready for 1st turnpike tussle as coach
By Jesse Newell
Originally published 03:05 p.m., October 12, 2007
Updated 03:05 p.m., October 12, 2007
Emporia State coach Garin Higgins will tell you that he knows the intensity of the ESU-Washburn rivalry. He’s seen it break a bone.
The injury he saw wasn’t caused by the hard hitting back in his playing days at ESU during the late 1980s — instead, it was caused by the frustration by former ESU coach Larry Kramer in the locker room after the Hornets’ 59-46 loss to their rivals in 1988.
Kramer, after airing out all his anger in a locker-room speech, ended up with a broken toe.
“I remember,” Higgins said, “the magnitude of the game.”
He’ll get to experience it for the first time as a coach on Saturday, as the Hornets face the Ichabods at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Higgins, in his days as a student, remembers how intense the ESU-Washburn basketball game was at White Auditorium. He also remembers driving to watch the basketball games in Topeka.
Still, as important as the rivalry is, he’s quick to point out that this game won’t be a do-or-die contest for his team.
“It’s not one of those deals where I say, ‘If we win this game, it’s going to make our season,’” Higgins said. “I want to win every game we play.”
A victory this Saturday would, nonetheless, help ESU in a lot of ways.
The Hornets, with a win over their rival, could break up a three-game losing streak and also gain some much-needed confidence back.
“It would mean a lot to the team, the community, just our season,” ESU running back Seville Ko said. “It would really turn things around for us.”
Ko has seen the last two games against WU get out of hand quickly.
Two years ago, the Hornets were thumped 42-14 by the Ichabods at Welch Stadium.
Last year, ESU scored the first six points before WU scored 37 unanswered in a 37-6 blowout that wasn’t even as close as the score indicated.
“I think these last couple years, we’ve just had problems keeping our composure,” Ko said. “There’s going to be adversity this weekend — especially with a rivalry game. We’ve just got to keep our cool and cut down on mistakes.”
The Hornets could especially benefit from cutting down on mistakes on offense, as the team has scored just 16.2 points per game this season.
The ESU offense had even more struggles last week against Central Missouri, scoring just once in 14 possessions in its 38-7 loss.
Higgins said the biggest reason for the lack of production was small mistakes by individual players, especially in the red zone.
“We are what we are (on offense). Right now we don’t have the firepower to put up a lot of points,” Higgins said. “When we get those opportunities, we’ve got to take advantage of them.”
Ko had a simple reason he thought ESU would perform better on offense this game — because it’s Washburn week.
“Expectations are high, and I know personally I’ll be ready to go,” Ko said, “and I’m sure the rest of the guys will be too.
“(Coach) hasn’t said much, and I don’t think he has to say much, to be honest. We have a lot of older guys here, and we all know how big this game is.”