June 15, 2016-When the football season opens up on September 1, the new Jones Field at Welch Stadium will play host to a top 15 match-up according to Lindy's Sports College Football Preview. Emporia State is ranked #12 in the Lindy's preseason poll and will take on #1 ranked Northwest Missouri in a rematch of the Super Region-3 championship game last fall. It will be the first time the Hornets have opened the season at home in a battle of nationally ranked teams.
Emporia State went 6-0 on Jones Field at Welch Stadium last season on the way to an 11-3 overall mark. The Hornets advanced to the NCAA Division II National Quarterfinals for the first time in school history. Emporia State is set to return 14 starters, seven on offense and seven on defense, along with all of their specialists next year.
Mitchell Foote will lead a talented receiving corps for the Hornets. An all-region selection last season, Foote led the MIAA and was ranked 17th in the nation in touchdown receptions with 12 scoring catches.
He had 79 receptions for 877 yards in 13 games last year. He was ranked third in the MIAA in receptions and fourth in receiving yards. A total of 59 of his 79 catches on the season went for either a first down or a touchdown, with 30 of his 34 catches on third or fourth down resulting in a first down or touchdown.
Kole Shankie was the Hornets leading tackler last season and returns for his senior season. The linebacker had a team high 105 tackles last year with 13.5 tackles for loss and four sacks. He had a season high 14 stops against Missouri Western with 12 against Minnesota State in the first round of the NCAA Playoffs and against Northwest Missouri in the MIAA Championship game.
Among the specialists is Lindy's and Sporting News Preseason All-American kicker Austin Morton. He made 22 of 25 field goal attempts last season to set Emporia State records for makes and accuracy and also converted a school record 56 of 59 extra points. His 22 field goals broke Justin Gray's mark of 20 made in 26 attempts in 2004 while his 56 PATs bettered Eli Kuhns mark of 54 on 56 attempts in 2013. The 22 made field goals are second in MIAA history to former Missouri Western Griffon Greg Zuerlein's 23 makes in 2011. His 122 points scored is an Emporia State school record and ranks third in MIAA single season history behind Northwest Missouri kicker Simon Mathiesen who had 151 points last year and the Bearcats David Purnell who scored 123 points in 1999.
Emporia State is one of four MIAA teams and a total of ten from Super Region-3 in Lindy's Top 25. In addition to top ranked Northwest Missouri and #12 Emporia State, Central Missouri is ranked #22 and Pittsburg State comes in at #25 for Lindy's. Minnesota-Duluth is #7, Sioux Falls is #16, Minnesota State is #17 and Augustana comes in at #19 from the NSIC. Henderson State is ranked #21 out of the GAC and Humboldt State from the GNAC is ranked #23 to start the season.
The Hornets have gone 34-14 over the last four seasons. Emporia State is 23-9 in the last six years on Jones Field at Welch Stadium with four of the losses coming to teams ranked in the top 15 at the time.
The new playing surface will be the site of five home games for Emporia State this fall. The Hornets have advanced to post-season play in three of the last four years, including last season's trip to the regional championship game.
Season tickets are on sale now through the Athletic Ticket Office in the Emporia State Memorial Union. Reserved season tickets are just $66, while adult general admission season tickets are $42 with season tickets for children and people over 65 years old can be picked up for just $26.
Lindy's Sports NCAA Division II Preseason Top 25
1. Northwest Missouri 15-0
2. Shepherd 13-1
3. Ashland 10-1
4. Grand Valley State 12-3
5. West Georgia 12-2
6. Midwestern State 10-2
7. Minnesota-Duluth 8-3
8. Colorado State-Pueblo 12-2
9. Slippery Rock 12-2
10. Tuskegee 10-3
11. North Alabama 9-3
12. EMPORIA STATE 11-3
13. Valdosta State 9-3
14. Assumption 11-2
15. IUP 9-3
16. Sioux Falls 9-2
17. Minnesota State-Mankato 10-2
18. Colorado Mines 8-3
19. Augustana 9-2
20. Ferris State 11-1
21. Henderson State 11-2
22. Central Missouri 8-3
23. Humboldt State 10-2
24. Texas A&M-Commerce 8-4
25. Pittsburg State 6-5
MIAA Teams in Bold
Super Region 3 Teams in Italics
Lindy's Preseason All-American Team
First Team Offense
QB Jeff Ziemba Sr. Shepherd
RB Ja'Quan Gardner Jr. Humboldt State
RB Austin Ekeler Sr. Western State
WR Jameson Parsons Sr. St. Cloud State
WR Matt Williams Sr. Grand Valley State
TE Adam Shaheen Jr. Ashland
OL Jordan Morgan Sr. Kutztown
OL Lavonte Hights Jr. Shepherd
OL Alex Cappa Jr. Humboldt State
OL Antonio Green Sr. Sioux Falls
OL Zach Voytek Sr. New Haven
AP Jesse Zalk Sr. Central Washington
K Austin Morton Jr. Emporia State
First Team Defense
DL Collin Bevins Sr. Northwest Missouri
DL Marcus Martin Jr. Slippery Rock
DL Richard Nase Jr. So. Shippensburg
DL Paulin Miano Sr. Virginia Union
LB Kyle Kitchens Jr. Catawba
LB Jacob Vollstedt Sr. Northwest Missouri
LB Connor Harris Sr. Lindenwood
DB Tracey White Sr. Fort Valley State
DB Kevin Berg Sr. Northwest Missouri
DB Carlo Thomas Jr. Johnson C. Smith
DB Aaron Perry Sr. California (Pa.)
P Zach Cimaglia Sr. Adams State
