October 7, 2017-Emporia State outgained Northeastern State by nearly 400 yards in a 44-7 Hornet victory on Jones Field at Welch Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Hornets had six players with a rush of at least ten yards and eight with a reception of at least ten yards as Emporia State rolled up 541 yards of total offense.
After holding the RiverHawks to a three and out on the opening possession, Emporia State went 60 yards in four plays as Justin Brown scored on a 17 yard reception from Braxton Marstall. The PAT was wide left as the Hornets took a 6-0 lead with 12:14 left in the first quarter. Emporia State made it 13-0 with 3:56 left in the quarter on a six yard run by Kai Callins.
Marstall hit Jordan Reed from 26 yards out with 12:41 left in the half to go up 20-0 and took a 27-0 lead with 7:06 remaining on a 14 yard pass from Marstall to Brown. Ricky VanWeezel scored his first touchdown as a Hornet with 2:13 left in the half on a three yard run to give Emporia State a 34-0 lead at the break.
The two teams traded three and outs to start the second half, but there was a bad snap on the RiverHawks punt attempt resulting in NSU punter Tim Davis getting tackled at their own 15 yard line. Four plays later Callins dove into the endzone on a one yard rush to make it 41-0 with 10:40 left in the quarter.
T'Quan Wallace replaced Marstall at quarterback on the final drive of the third quarter and led the Hornets to their final score, a 47 yard field goal by Justin Marcha with 49 seconds left in the period.
The Hornets forced two more three and outs by the RiverHawks to open the fourth quarter before Cade Yaeger found Gary McKnight down the sideline for a 60 touchdown pass with 8:25 left in the game. Â
Braxton Marstall led the Hornet offense going 21 of 30 for 315 yards with three touchdowns in less than three quarters of action. Justin Brown finished with six catches for 100 yards and two touchdowns while Jordan Reed had four receptions for 113 yards and a score. Kai Callins had 72 yards on 19 carries with two touchdowns. Ricky VanWeezel had 32 yards on six carries and a score while Anthony McGee had nine carries for 38 yards. T'Quan Wallace was one of four for minus two yards passing with an 18 yard rush while Pat Briningstool was three for three for 18 yards and had two rushes for 11 yards.
Gary Woods had a team high six tackles with a sack and a pass break up while Gabe Cleveland recorded five tackles and a pass interception. Tre'Vaun Ammons was credited with four tackles, three of them for a loss including his league leading fifth sack of the season. Cody Savage also had an interception as the Hornets forced multiple turnovers for the first time this year.
Emporia State will go back on the road next weekend when they travel to Lindenwood. Kick-off from Hunter Stadium in St. Charles, Mo. is set for 1:00 p.m.
Â
Â
Â
