119th Turnpike Tussle goes to #25 Emporia State 38-23 over Washburn

October 14, 2023-Braden Gleason was 42 of 49 for 421 yards with four touchdowns and the Hornet defense had five sacks as #25 Emporia State defeated Washburn 38-23 in the 119^th edition of the Turnpike Tussle on Saturday afternoon in Welch Stadium.
 
The Hornets forced a punt by the Ichabods on the opening possession and then drove 70 yards on eight plays before Kingsley Bennett scored from four yards out to put Emporia State up 7-0.  After another three and out ESU put together a ten play, 72 yard drive capped by a 39 yard touchdown pass from Gleason to Tyler Kahmann with 5:22 left in the quarter to go up 14-0.
 
Emporia State went up 21-0 on a 32 yard pass from Gleason to Tommy Zimmerman with 9:08 left in the second quarter. Washburn finally got on the board with a three yard touchdown run by Connor Searcy with 6:47 left in the half.  The Hornets answered with a four play 75 yard drive highlighted by a 58 yard pass from Gleason to Kahmann down to the Ichabod one yard line.  On the next play Gleason hit Jaylon Varner for a one yard touchdown and 28-7 lead with 5:47 remaining in the half. Washburn would score the final points of the half on a 34 yard field goal by Trenton Brehm with 26 seconds left.
 
Penalties on first down on the Hornets first two drives of the second half kept ESU behind the chains and stalled out both drives.  On their first drive of the half Washburn would get a 40 yard field goal from Brehm to cut the lead to 28-13 with 9:43 left in the quarter.  A 69 yard pass from Sam Van Dyne to D.J. Bell was the first touchdown scored in the third quarter against the Hornets this year and cut the deficit to 28-20 with 7:35 left in the period.
 
Caden Dodson hit a 30 yard field goal for the Hornets just 13 seconds into the fourth quarter to again make it a two score game at 31-20. On the ensuing drive ESU forced a three and out and a 16 yard punt set up the Hornet at the Washburn 47 yard line. Eight plays later Gleason connected with Kahmann for a 15 yard touchdown to give Emporia State a 38-20 lead with 10:43 left in the game.  Washburn would score on the next possession but it took 14 plays and over five minutes before Brehm hit a 26 yard field goal to being WU within 38-23 with 5:27 left in the game.
 
The Hornets would punt on their next possession but Ross Brungardt was able to drop a 37 yard punt out of bounds at the Ichabod two yard line.   Three straight incompletions, the last of which came after Rylan Miller almost recorded his fourth sack of the game in the endzone, took only 21 seconds off the clock and gave the ball back to the Hornets with 3:39 left.  Gleason completed a seven yard pass to Zimmerman on third and seven with 1:58 remaining that earned the Hornets a first down and the ability to run out the clock.
 
Gleason finished the game 42 of 49 for 421 yards and four touchdowns while adding seven yards on the ground. It was his second 400 yard passing game of the season for Gleason.  Kahmann finished with 11 catches for a career high 175 yards with two touchdowns.  Varner added 109 yards on a career-high 13 receptions.   DeAndre Thomas Jr. was the leading rusher for the Hornets with 55 yards on 11 carries while Kingsley Bennett had 15 carries for 39 yards and a touchdown. Defensively Rylan Miller had career highs of ten tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.
 
The #25 Hornets will travel to Warrensburg, Mo. on October 21 for a top 25 matchup at #17 Central Missouri.  Kick-off is set for 1:30 p.m.
 
Notes:
Braden Gleason moved past Pittsburg State's Anthony Abenoja (9,419 yards from 2011-14) into sixth place on the MIAA career passing list with 9.663 passing yards.
Braden Gleason moved past Pittsburg State's Neal Philpot (10,168 yards from 2001-4) into fifth place on the MIAA career total offense list with 10,582 yards of total offense.