Emporia State senior running back Adrian Abner has been waiting a whole year for Saturday’s game against Truman, and he has good reason.
Last year against the Bulldogs, Abner’s fourth-quarter touchdown gave the Hornets a 10-point lead, and the Hornets seemed well on their way to a bowl game. But disaster struck as the Bulldogs rallied to beat the Hornets and end their postseason dreams.
So when the two teams play at 2:08 p.m. Saturday on Senior Day at Welch Stadium, Abner vowed to be ready.
“I’ve been thinking about this game every day since last year,” he said. “I fumbled in that game, and I think that was one of the reasons we lost. So I think about that game every day. We most definitely have to get some revenge on them.”
ESU (3-5, 2-5 MIAA) enters the game coming off a 52-23 win last week at Lincoln. The Bulldogs (2-6, 1-6 MIAA) enter the game coming off a 46-7 loss to Missouri Western.
Offensively, the Bulldogs are led by quarterback J.B. Clark, who is 141 of 279 for 1,686 yards and 10 touchdowns to go with 13 interceptions, and Anthony Brown, who has 45 catches for 632 yards and three touchdowns.
The Bulldogs are the only team in the MIAA that doesn’t average 100 yards a game on the ground.
“They look to do boots and three-step drops when they’re under center,” ESU senior defensive back Wayne Burgess said. “They also like to run the ball, and then out of the shotgun they like to spread us out to get the ball around and get their passing game going.”
The ESU offense rolled up 563 total yards last week, including 303 on the ground.
“It feels good to see the running game like that because they always stress on us how good of backs we have,” Abner said. “So running the ball like that feels good. Once you get the running game going it opens up the passing game, too.”
Senior wide receiver Brian Murphy, who caught a touchdown pass last week, said he was looking forward to ending the home schedule on a high note.
“When you get into the weekend routines, the weeks just seem to fly by,” Murphy said. “Now we’re on to Senior Day, our last home game. It’s going to be pretty special out there. This is a big game, especially because last year they knocked us out of the playoffs. So we need to get a win this week.”
ESU coach Garin Higgins remembers last year’s loss vividly.
“Truman’s a team that is sitting in the same spot they were last year at this time, and they came in here and beat us on our Homecoming, and it cost us a shot at the postseason,” Higgins said. “How different would it be if we would have won that game last year? What would our confidence have been coming into this year having played in a bowl game? That game was a big game for us last year.”
Many of Higgins’ seniors have been with the program since his arrival, and their efforts have not gone unnoticed.
“It’s been a special group of guys,” Higgins said. “A lot of those guys have been here for four or five years, especially during my duration here. A lot of these guys were part of my first recruiting class. They’ve put in a lot of hard work. I just appreciate them. Even though we’re 3-5 right now it’s still fun to come to practice and they’ve had a lot to do with that.”