The Emporia State Hornets are nearing the finish line of the regular season, and it appears they are getting stronger at the end of the race.
The Hornets (4-5, 3-5 MIAA) played their first complete game of the year in last week’s 52-18 win against Truman on Senior Day, and now look to take that momentum on the road when they play Southwest Baptist (6-3) Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in Bolivar, Mo.
“I think we’re playing with a lot of confidence right now,” ESU coach Garin Higgins said. “I think that one of the things that’s caused a problem this year was not playing all four quarters really on both sides of the football. So offensively I think we’ve done that, of course, the last two weeks because we’ve got off to fast starts, and we’ve been able to continue that throughout the game. And that’s been a big plus for us.”
Last week, ESU gained 436 yards of total offense, and for the second week in a row, the ESU running game was hard to stop. Dasor Horton and Adrian Abner both had 68 yards rushing and scored two touchdowns against Truman, and LaDarrian Page rushed for 64 and had 32 yards receiving.
Horton, however, warned that it might not be quiet as easy running against the Bearcats, who have several talented players on defense.
“They got a lot of athletic guys on their side of the ball,” Horton said. “They got some big guys up front. But again, like every other week, we’re not really worried about them. We’re just trying to go out and do what we do best and win the game.”
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