Bowl Champs: Emporia State dispatches Southern Nazarene 55-24

December 2, 2023-Playing in his final game as a Hornet Harlon Hill Trophy finalist Braden Gleason threw for 405 yards and six touchdowns with a rushing touchdown as Emporia State defeated Southern Nazarene 55-24 in the Fun Town RV Heritage Bowl in Corsicana, Texas.
 
The Crimson Storm struck first as fellow Harlon Hill finalist Gage Porter put SNU on the board on their opening drive with a 24 yard touchdown run.  After a punt on their first offensive possession, the Hornets forced a fumble and took over on their own 19 yard line.  Two plays later Gleason hit Billy Ross Jr in the flat for 13 yard touchdown to knot the score at 7-7 with 8:19 left in the first quarter. The Hornet defense would hold SNU to a field goal on their next possession as they took a 10-7 lead 4:04 left in the quarter.  IT took three plays for Emporia State to retake the lead for good as they went 64 yards in 38 seconds to with Gleason hitting Ethan Schultze for a 19 yard touchdown with 3:23 remaining.  After another three and out the Hornets were able to get a 36 yard field goal from Caden Dodson to go up 17-10 at the end of the first quarter.
 
Emporia State forced another three and out to start the second quarter. After an Adam Atwell punt took a good bounce and traveled 70 yards, the Hornets answered with an eight play, 84 yard drive capped by a four yard scramble by Gleason to make it 24-10 with 10:56 left in the half.  Porter carried the ball six times for 64 yards on the next drive and scored on a 44 yard run with 5:54 left to get the Crimson Storm back within a touchdown at 24-17.  Emporia State got the ball back with 1:05 left and went down the field quickly to score with eight seconds left on pass from Gleason to Tommy Zimmerman form three yards out to take a 31-17 lead into halftime.
 
The Hornets marched down the field to start the second half and Gleason hit Trenden Collins for a seven yard touchdown to go up 38-17 with 11:37 left in the third. Porter scored again for Southern Nazarene with 9:59 left to again make it a two score game at 38-24.  Jack Petz had an 18 yard return on short kickoff to set the Hornets up at their own 48 yard line.  Six plays later Gleason and Kahmann hooked up from two yards out to put the Hornets back up 45-24 with 8:05 left.  Dodson hit another field goal, this one from 32 yards out with 4:07 left to double up the score at 48-24 as the teams headed to the final quarter.
 
The defense set up the final score for the Hornets. Lavon Jones got a strip sack for a loss of 15 yards and recovered the ball to set the Hornets up at the 45 yard line. Two plays later Gleason and Kahmann connected for the final time, this time from 35 yards out, to give Emporia State a 55-24 lead with 6:25 remaining.
 
In his final game as a Hornet Braden Gleason went 36 of 49 for 417 yards with six touchdown passes and added 18 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Tyler Kahman had 118 yards on 11 catches with two touchdowns. Trenden Collins, Billy Ross Jr, Tommy Zimmerman and Ethan Schultze all had touchdown catches as well. Ross was the leading rusher with 57 yards on 11 carries. 
The Hornets finished the season 9-3 on the year, their second straight nine win season.
 
 NOTES
With two touchdown catches Tyler Kahmann now has 34 in his career and broke Lester McCoy's ESU record of 33 set from 1996-2000.
Gleason moved into second on the MIAA career passing list with 11,530 yards
Gleason set the Heritage Bowl record with 417 passing yards, 435 yards of total offense and six touchdown passes.
Porter set the Heritage Bowl record with 248 yards on the ground