Little goes right for ESU in 52-21 loss
By Jesse Newell
Originally published 03:09 p.m., October 22, 2007
Updated 03:09 p.m., October 22, 2007
By the start of the fourth quarter, the Emporia State students in the east bleachers were nearly outnumbered by the signs and thundersticks others had left behind.
A sad sight no doubt for the ESU football team, which could only stay competitive for a quarter in Saturday’s 52-21 Homecoming loss to Missouri Western.
“That hurts,” ESU cornerback Travis Lee said, “to see our fans leaving.”
The loss ended up stinging for another reason: First-year coach Garin Higgins was welcoming back his former teammates on the 1989 Hornet football team, which was added to the ESU’s Hall of Fame.
Even former NFL star Leon Lett made his way to the ESU sideline to watch the game.
“We really didn’t want to show this,” ESU safety Jake Richter said. “We’re a better football team than what happened today.”
The game actually had a promising beginning for ESU.
The Hornets started with a near-perfect first drive, going 80 yards on 12 plays for a game-opening touchdown.
Andre Sloan El capped the possession with a 1-yard touchdown run, helping ESU to a 7-0 advantage.
The lead would last all of nine seconds.
Western wasted no time picking on the Hornets’ beat-up secondary, as Drew Newhart completed a 62-yard TD pass to Cedric Houston on the Griffons’ first play from scrimmage.
ESU (3-5, 1-5 MIAA) had very little go right from there.
Sloan El threw an interception on the next possession, then injured his knee on the ensuing drive.
The game was delayed 10 minutes as the sophomore was taken off the field on a stretcher. More on his status will be known early this week.
“Andre ... that’s a tough loss for us,” Higgins said. “The reason I say that is because honestly that kid has been playing better and has been getting confident. I think the guys around him were getting confident.”
His replacement, Ben Purkeypile, was ineffective off the bench, fumbling on his second possession.
The turnover led to Western’s fourth score in four possessions, as La’Darrian Page ran for a 32-yard touchdown that made it 24-7 with 5:50 left in the first half.
ESU’s bad half was made worse with 11 seconds left, as Sean Partridge suffered a concussion on a Hail Mary pass with 4 seconds left in the second quarter.
He also was taken off the field with a stretcher.
“We don’t have the most playmakers on offense, so when those two guys go down, that (play) call sheet gets even a little bit smaller and smaller,” Higgins said.
Things turned ugly for the Hornets in the second half.
Purkeypile misfired on two interceptions, and Western scored on passes of 75, 21 and 63 in the third quarter alone to take a 45-14 lead.
By then, most of the 5,289 fans had already cleared out of Welch Stadium.
Newhart had a nearly flawless day against the ESU defense, completing 12 of 19 passes for 321 yards and four touchdowns before being replaced in the fourth quarter.
Western (6-2, 4-2 MIAA) scored on eight of its first 12 possessions. Overall, the Griffons amassed 567 total yards and 9.4 yards per play. They also averaged 24.2 yards per completion.
Blake Ringwall led ESU with 14 tackles.
The Hornets have dropped five straight.
“It was a tough loss, but I think you’ve got to go through some tough times before you get to where you want to be,” Higgins said. “With this job, nobody told me it was going to be easy.”
Saturday at Welch Stadium
Missouri Western 52, Emporia State 21
Missouri Western 10 14 21 7 — 52
Emporia State 7 0 7 7 — 21
First Quarter
ESU — Andre Sloan El 1 run (Johnny Torres kick), 9:45
MWSU — Cedric Houston 62 pass from Drew Newhart (Dustin Stickler kick), 9:36
MWSU — Stickler 45 field goal, 6:00
Second Quarter
MWSU — La’Darrian Page 10 run (Stickler kick), 7:31
MWSU — Page 32 run (Stickler kick), 5:50
Third Quarter
MWSU — Houston 75 pass from Newhart (Stickler kick), 7:46
ESU — Colby Rainey 10 pass from Ben Purkeypile (Torres kick), 3:47
MWSU — Alvaro Prado 21 pass from Newhart (Stickler kick), 2:13
MWSU — Ferrell MeGhee 63 pass from Newhart (Stickler kick), :20
Fourth Quarter
MWSU — Anthony Morgan 6 run (Stickler kick), 9:15
ESU — Michael Fulton 2 pass from Eric Runge (Torres kick), 2:41
GAME STATISTICS
MWSU ESU
First downs 20 21
Rushes-yards 37-179 44-149
Comp-att-int 16-23-0 16-31-3
Passing yards 388 188
Total plays-yards 60-567 75-337
Fumbles-lost 2-0 4-1
Penalties-yards 9-83 10-79
Punts-average 5-32.6 4-35.0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — MWSU: La’Darrian Page 14-107, Drew Newhart 3-28, Anthony Morgan 7-25, Thomas Hodges 10-16, Ferrell MeGhee 1-2, Barron Bradshaw 2-1; ESU: Justin Wieser 8-46, Andre Sloan El 10-29, Paul Nichols 7-25, Eric Runge 4-22, Seville Ko 8-22, Andre Maupin 2-12, Colby Rainey 1-4, Ben Purkeypile 4-(-11).
Passing — MWSU: Drew Newhart 12-19-0 321, Barron Bradshaw 4-4-0 67; ESU: Ben Purkeypile 11-23-2 131, Eric Runge 3-4-0 32, Andre Sloan El 2-4-1 25.
Receiving — MWSU: Ferrell MeGhee 3-84, Cedric Houston 2-137, Eric Anderson 2-38, Zach Sharp 2-35, Billy Babcock 2-32, Andrew Mead 2-30, Alvaro Prado 1-21, Joey Harris 1-8, Travis Kinkade 1-3; ESU: Andre Maupin 5-53, Sean Partridge 2-42, Seville Ko 2-23, Jarad Biggs 2-20, Paul Nichols 1-23, Justin Wieser 1-14, Colby Rainey 1-10, Michael Fulton 1-2, Lucas Sullivan 1-1.
Punting — MWSU: Jamie Hanson 5-32.6; ESU: Johnny Torres 4-35.0.
Time — 3:18. Att — 5,289.
Records — MWSU (6-2, 4-2 MIAA); ESU (3-5, 1-5 MIAA).
gregorymed (anonymous) says...
Hang in there ESU coaches....if you think the mo werstern loss was tough you have Pitt State and Northwest Mo. on the way and that could get real ugly. Recruiting is the key and cash is king. good luck.
October 23, 2007 at 10:50 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )