Hypothetical tie
On Emporia State’s first drive of the fourth quarter, trailing 28-7, Andre Sloan El had a pass go through the hands of a MWSU defensive back and Xavier Smith slid and appeared to catch the ball at the goal line, but the pass was ruled incomplete.
“I thought he caught the football,” ESU coach Garin Higgins said, “but I’ve got to make the offensive calls and the officials have got to make their calls.”
The catch would have given the Hornets the ball at the goal line and had they scored the touchdown, the game would have been tied when Sloan El threw a touchdown to Danny McEvoy with 4:12 left in the game. Instead, McEvoy’s touchdown pulled the Hornets to within one score and they never got the ball back.
Washburn hangover
Higgins said Emporia State’s first half performance — at least for the offense — may have been a hangover from the Washburn loss the previous week.
The ESU offense had its worst performance of the season against the Ichabods — scoring only six points — and they probably had their worst half in the first half against the Griffons.
“My message at halftime was we were at a crossroads and I saw a little bit of guys losing confidence, kind of feeling sorry for themselves a little bit and I told them that you’ve just got to go out there and play,” Higgins said. “You can’t worry about getting yelled at. You can’t worry about a previous play if you make a mistake. You’ve got to play the next play, and then I said we’ve got to have some guys make a play. That’s it. Make a play, make a catch, make a run.”
Fastbreak offense
Higgins had his offense pick up the pace in the second half, and the Hornets’ fast pace seemed to keep the Griffons on their heels.
The Hornets always run a no-huddle offense, but sometimes don’t really run the hurry-up, which is what they did for the most part in the second half.
“I just think we came out and we got into a rhythm,” Sloan El said. “The main thing was we played kind of went up tempo in the second half and a lot of people stepped up, executed and I think that was the big thing in the second half. “
Higgins said he might quicken the tempo earlier next week to help get his offense in a rhythm.
Third down inefficiency
When the ESU offense opened the third quarter with a three and out, the Hornets had gone 0-for-6 on third down conversions and were three for their last 38 until Sloan El completed a 13-yard pass to Sean Partridge on 3rd and 8 to give the Hornets their first third down conversion of the game.
Rampy the receiver
Backup quarterback Zach Rampy, who was questionable to play because of a hip injury, made an appearance in Saturday’s game at receiver.
Rampy caught one pass for six yards near the end of the second quarter. Higgins was forced to put Rampy in the game because of injuries to several receivers, including Matt Coursen and Partridge, who later returned to the game.
Freshman Bryant Linsey also received playing time because of injuries and caught the first two passes of his career for 12 yards.
Next up
Emporia State (3-5, 1-5) is back at home after a three-game road swing for homecoming against Truman (3-4, 2-4). Truman lost on Saturday at home to Washburn, 31-17. Saturday’s kickoff is at 1 p.m.