FINALLY!
Hornets end 7-game losing streak with whirlwind OT win at Truman State
By C.J. Moore
Monday, October 26, 2009
KIRKSVILLE, MO. — Inside the Emporia State locker room, coach Garin Higgins danced with his players as they celebrated their 30-24 overtime win at Truman State.
Outside, the ESU assistants sat exhausted and relieved.
The Hornets needed a 26-yard field goal from basketball player turned kicker Dustin Andrews to send the game to overtime, needed a career day from running back Kevin Smart and relied on third-string quarterback Sheldon Smith to lead them in the fourth quarter and in overtime.
It might not have been the way Higgins and his team imagined it, but the only thing that mattered was the fact that the Hornets ended their seven-game losing streak, and Higgins finally got his first MIAA road win in three seasons.
“I wanted it to come down to whatever. It doesn’t matter, as long as it’s something positive, and that something positive happened to us today,” Higgins said. “It took awhile for that positive to hit, because we went through a lot of adversity today.”
The Hornet placekicker position has been no stranger to adversity this year. Will Maxwell missed a 31-yard field goal in Week 3 against Central Missouri that would have sent the game to overtime, which prompted basketball coach David Moe to suggest Andrews go out for kicker even though he had never played football.
Higgins had not attempted a field goal until Andrews kicked a 22-yard field goal in the first quarter on Saturday. The made field goal was the first of his career; however, he continued to have trouble with his extra points.
The Bulldogs blocked an extra point when ESU had scored a go-ahead touchdown with five seconds left in the first half, and they returned it for a two-point conversion that tied the game at 9.
Andrews’ only extra-point attempt of the second half hit the left upright, which forced Higgins to go for two on Emporia State’s third touchdown.
Higgins hesitated to send Andrews out with 17 seconds left in the fourth quarter to tie the game. Special teams coach Matt Walter was reminding him that the kick would come from the right hash, where Andrews struggles.
But facing a fourth-and-goal from the 9-yard line, Higgins decided to send Andrews onto the field. The Bulldogs called time out, trying to freeze Andrews, but he said the extra time only helped to calm his nerves.
With Truman’s players yelling at Andrews from the sideline, reminding him of his two misses, he made a low, line-drive kick.
“It’s kind of weird, I didn’t really hear anything,” Andrew said. “It’s one of those moments that you always talk about whenever you get a chance like that, you kind of block everything out.
“The thought that was going through my head was, ‘Man, I just missed two extra points, how am I going to be able to put this one through?’”
Andrews got his chance, thanks to several big plays from Smith, who had only taken snaps this season at quarterback in the Hornets’ wildcat formation.
Starting quarterback Tyler Eckenrode moved to backup on Saturday because of a shoulder injury he suffered at practice before the Northwest MIssouri game, and Eckenrode had to relieve Andre Sloan El after Sloan El took a hard hit near the sideline in the fourth quarter and injured his tailbone.
Eckenrode played one series, but he could not throw the ball with any velocity and Higgins decided to insert Smith.
“You talk about patching something together, now,” Higgins said. “... Sheldon is the type of kid that a lot of times he’s a high-repetition guy. He has to get a lot of high reps to execute plays. He didn’t get a lot of high reps this week, but he proved me wrong and did an excellent job, stepped up and made some excellent plays today.”
Higgins had already scrapped the passing game for the most part in favor of an effective running game — the Hornets ran for 375 yards — and he scrapped it entirely with Smith in.
However, facing a third-and-10 at the TSU 16, Higgins was almost forced to call a passing play. Smith rolled out to his right and found freshman tight end Adam Schlitz for a 12-yard gain.
“That was a big play,” Smith said. “I wasn’t warmed up, but I knew if he was open I was going to get it to him.”
Smith again came up big in overtime, picking up a first down on a third-and-9 by diving past the marker. Chris Woods had intercepted Caleb Roberts on Truman’s first possession of overtime, so all the Hornets needed was a score to win the game.
After Smith’s big run, the Hornets predictably went to Smart three straight times. On third-and-1 from the 5-yard line, he ran up the middle and then dove into the end zone for the win.
Smart finished with 206 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries against a Truman defense that knew what was coming.
“The defense was calling power almost every time where they were lining nine guys up in the box, but the O-line opened some big holes,” Smart said. “It was tough inside, but we fought through it.”
After Smart’s game-winning run, the players rushed the field and celebrated in the end zone.
Sixth-year senior Dominic Mirocke, who caught a 41-yard touchdown pass from Sloan El in the third quarter, is one of the few players that was around the last time ESU won a conference road game in 2006.
“To go through the losing streak we’ve been through and fighting through so much with injuries and close calls, it felt good that this was a team win,” Mirocke said. “It wasn’t offense, it wasn’t defense. It was a team win. Everybody had each other’s back, and it was awesome to see a kicker have a big influence on the game.”
Emporia State (2-7, 1-6 MIAA) moved out of a tie for last with Truman (1-8, 0-7) into ninth place in the MIAA. The Hornets will have a tough time getting another win with two home games to finish the season against two of the MIAA’s top teams — second-place Missouri Western and fourth-place Washburn — but for one day at least, they got to celebrate what it felt like to win again.
“I’m just so proud of the football team and the players and the coaching staff,” Higgins said. “They’ve continued to work hard. I’ve always said that these kids have never once not come to work, as far as preparing for a team. Not once have they done that, and I’m proud of them for it. It paid off.”
Saturday at Stokes Stadium
Emporia State 30, Truman State 24
Emporia State 3 6 12 3 6 — 30
Truman State 7 2 7 8 0 — 24
First quarter
ESU — Andrews 22 field goal
TSU — Coker 48 punt return (Masucci kick)
Second quarter
ESU — McEvoy 18 pass from Sloan El (Andrews kick blocked)
TSU — Byrd PAT return
Third quarter
ESU — Mirocke 41 pass from Sloan El (kick failed)
TSU — Emokpae 17 run (Masucci kick)
ESU — Smart 3 run (conversion failed)
Fourth quarter
TSU — Emokpae 2 run (Emokpae rush)
ESU — Andrews 26 field goal
Overtime
ESU — Smart 5 run
GAME STATISTICS
ESU TSU
First downs 27 16
Rushes-yards 60-375 49-223
Passing yards 140 68
Total plays-yards 86-515 68-291
Fumbles-lost 1-1 3-3
Penalties-yards 10-71 8-49
Punts-average 4-38.5 4-43.0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — ESU: Smart 30-206, Sloan El 85, Smith 9-62, Page 7-12, Abner 1-10; TSU: Emokpae 23-117, Davis 9-37, Harvey 3-27, Beranrd 7-25, Roberts 6-12, Ayora 1-5.
Passing — ESU: Sloan El 11-22-0 121, Eckenrode 1-2-0 7, Smith 1-1-0 12, Smart 0-1-0 0; TSU: Davis 7-17-2 68, Roberts 1-2-1 0.
Receiving — ESU: Page 3-14, McEvoy 2-25, Schiltz 2-16, Mirocke 1-41, Richardson 1-27, Smart 1-7, Coursen 1-5, Murphy 1-5, Abner 1-0.
jscott (anonymous) says...
Remember the win was against Truman - another bottom feeder of the MIAA. Upcoming games vs. Western & Washburn should restate the need to replace the coaching staff.
October 26, 2009 at 3:57 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
admireed (anonymous) says...
Mo So beat Western Sat. Hornets can do the same
October 26, 2009 at 4:30 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )