Hornets tame Blue Tigers 52-23
ESU wins first road game of the year
By Jeff Deters
Monday, October 24, 2011
JEFFERSON CITY, MO. — Maybe a little life on the road is just what the Emporia State Hornets needed.
The Hornets, playing in their first road game since the second week of the season, demolished the Lincoln Blue Tigers 52-23 in a conference game Saturday at Dwight T. Reed Stadium.
With the win, the Hornets snapped a seven-game road losing skid dating back to last year.
“We needed that,” said quarterback Tyler Eckenrode, who threw for 241 yards and two scores. “And we deserved it. We worked this whole week to make it happen. It’s a credit to our coaching staff preparing us, and we had some guys step up and make plays today.”
The forecast for ending the road-losing streak looked a little cloudy in the second quarter when the two teams were tied at 14. And those clouds later turned darker before the skies eventually cleared.
LU (1-7, 0-7 MIAA) had already taken the opening kick and drove 72 yards for a score. ESU responded with a touchdown drive of its own, as Adrian Abner found the end zone from three yards out.
After stopping the Blue Tigers on fourth-and-one from their own 41, the Hornets took over on downs. Dasor Horton’s 19-yard touchdown run gave ESU a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Good field position again set up the Lincoln offense, but Derek Lohmann’s touchdown-saving interception gave the Hornets the ball back, but they would go three-and-out and have to punt.
LU took advantage of the missed opportunity, and tied it at 14-all early in the second. The Tigers added a field goal late in the half. But sparked by a big return on the kickoff, the Hornets had the ball at the LU 30.
An Eckenrode pass to Shjuan Richardson got the Hornets 15 yards closer, and Eckenrode’s 15-yard TD pass to RayRay Davis, who broke tackles and reached the ball across the goal line, gave ESU a 21-17 lead and momentum at the half.
“I don’t like being brought down by one person,” Davis said. “So I just tried to fight as far as I can.”
From there, it was all ESU (3-5, 2-5 MIAA) in the second half. Zak King kicked a field goal and LaDarrian Page added a 10-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Eckenrode scored on a 6-yard run to start the fourth and later hit Kameron Gee on a 63-yard pass. Backup Craig Gilmore added a 3-yard TD to to Brian Murphy.
“Eck did a good job today,” ESU coach Garin Higgins said. “The pass he threw to Kameron Gee, he checked that. He saw what the defense was going to do, what they were giving us, and those are good things to see.”
The ESU ground game also churned out 303 yards, as Horton led the way with 120 yards on eight attempts.
The ESU defense also was opportunistic as it forced five turnovers. Lohmann finished with two picks, and so did fellow safety Stephaun Raines. ESU also recovered a fumble.
“Those were big,” said Raines, who also had five tackles. “We practice tip drill every day in practice all week. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves for turnovers, so when we do it, it’s a big thing for us.”
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