The Emporia State football team put an emphasis on finishing the 2011 season strong since the end of last year, and so far, so good.
Last year, the Hornets started strong but fell apart down the stretch, losing four consecutive games to end the season. The Hornets took a big step forward in erasing those memories as they began the final four games of the regular season with a blowout win over Lincoln on Saturday.
Saturday’s game also saw the return of ESU’s running game, which had been quiet at times this year. The Hornets rushed for 303 yards, and the running back trio of Dasor Horton, LaDarrian Page and Adrian Abner had big holes to run through most of the day.
“We went into the game wanting to establish the run,” ESU coach Garin Higgins said after Saturday’s game. “And if you look at what we did in the first quarter, we were running the football, and we needed to get some confidence going in the run game. I felt like this was a game where we could utilize the run game better than we had in the past, and then once we get the running game going it opens it up for us for some big plays in our play-action passing game as well. But all three of our backs got involved. All three of them got in a rhythm and they were able to make some plays.”
Horton led the way with 120 yards on just eight carries, Abner had 53 yards on 10 attempts and Page gained 39 yards on nine attempts. All three scored a touchdown, and even Jordan Tice and Derwin Hall got into the mix. Tice had 53 yards on two carries and Hall added 25 yards on four carries.
The return of the running attack also made things easier on ESU’s signal caller Tyler Eckenrode, who threw for 241 yards and two scores and has now moved into fourth place on ESU’s all-time career passing chart with 3,703 yards.
Eckenrode said he wouldn’t mind seeing a little more out of the ESU running attack.
“It’s still there,” he said. “I don’t know what’s been going on the past couple of weeks, but some teams have kind of taken it away from us, and we were having to pass more. But it was good to see us get back on track with our running game.”
Horton is ESU’s leading rusher this year with 417 yards and four TDs on 76 carries, good for 5.5 yards a pop.
Finishing the drive
The Hornets also finished drives on Saturday and converted in the red zone. The Hornets scored on seven of their eight trips inside the LU 20.
“We work red zone every day in practice,” Higgins said. “And when we meet with quarterbacks, we go over with them what we’re actually doing in the red zone so they feel comfortable with it. We executed down there a lot better. We finished drives. We were able to up the tempo and go fast, and Eck did a good job getting us in there and making the right play.”
Need for speed
After getting off to slow starts the previous couple weeks, the ESU offense didn’t waste any time in finding its rhythm on Saturday.
The Hornets scored a touchdown (Abner 2-yard run) on their opening drive of the game, and found the end zone seven times on the day, including a second-effort touchdown by RayRay Davis right before the half.
“We do our best to play fast in order to keep the defense on their heels,” said Davis, who leads the team with 41 catches on the season. “And in order for us to do that we kind of need to play fast.”
While Davis is in his first season at ESU, he earned the trust of Eckenrode quickly.
“He’s kind of been a safety blanket all year,” Eckenrode said. “You put it in his area, he’s going to catch it.”
Letting out a little frustration
ESU’s 3-5 record overall and 2-5 record in the MIAA could easily be better. But while Saturday’s 29-point win allowed the Hornets to let loose a little built-up frustration, there is still more work to do.
“A win is always good, but the frustration won’t be out until we win these next three games,” safety Stephaun Raines said. “We still got three games, and we’ve got a lot of frustration built up because of the five losses. So until we get these next three, we’re still on the hunt.”
The Hornets will take on Truman at 2:08 p.m. on Saturday at Welch Stadium. It will be Senior Day, and the game will be televised on the MIAA network.
Last season, ESU gave up a 10-point fourth-quarter lead and lost to the Bulldogs 37-34. The loss ended ESU’s chances of making a bowl game.
“There’s some animosity towards those guys just because they kept us out of the postseason last year,” Eckenrode said. “It’s been on a lot of our minds here, and we’re going to take it one practice at a time, and we’ll be ready for them.”