Hornets Give Coach Higgins Record Setting Win 31-24 Over Missouri Southern

October 11, 2025-Emporia State got out to an early 28-7 lead and held on to give head coach Garin Higgins his 116^th career win and tie Fran Welch for the most wins in Hornet Football history.
 
HOW DID IT HAPPEN
The Lions struck first with a 75 yard touchdown pass from Tillman Martin to Huston Rotich on their opening possession. The Hornets answered with a nine play, 75 yard drive of their own capped by a 26 yard pass from Ben Harris to Malik O'Atis to make it 7-7 with 10:40 left in the opening quarter. Emporia State took advantage of a 26 yard punt to take the lead on a 19 yard touchdown run by Diego Cearns with 3:48 left in the first.
Emporia State's Kaden Fields blocked a 34 yard field goal attempt on Southern's first drive of the second quarter.  Cearns scored his second touchdown of the game 11 plays later on an eight yard run to make it 21-7 with 8:14 left in the half.  The Lions missed a 54 yard field goal as time expired in the half as the Hornets took a 14 point lead to the locker room.
Landon Boss intercepted Martin with 4:54 left in the third and seven plays later Harris called his own number on a quarterback draw from nine yards out to give the Hornets a 28-7 lead.
The Lions scored on their opening drive of the fourth quarter to get within 28-14 with 12:32 left.  Clem McCullough intercepted Martin and returned it 29 yards to the Southern 41 yard line.  Emporia State got to the MSSU 19 yard line but a false start set them back as they settled for a 41 yard field goal from Caden Dodson to make it 31-14 with 10:16 remaining.  The Lions then ate up 6:35 off the clock in a 14 play, 75 yard drive capped by a one yard run by Victor Chionuma with 3:39 left to make it 31-14.
Southern recovered the onside kick at midfield and got to the Emporia State two yard line when they elected to take the field goal with 1:04 left to make it a one score game.  This time Emporia State's Kingsley Bennett was able to recover the onside attempt. Three runs by Camden Crooks produced 11 yards to give the Hornets a first down with 48 seconds left and allowed them to kneel out the clock.
 
A LOOK AT THE STATS
For the second straight game the Hornets held their opponent to under 50 yards rushing, thanks in part ot Landon Boss' school record tying four sacks. He recorded 11 total tackles a forced fumble, an interception and a quarterback hurry.
Offensively Ben Harris went 28 of 39 for 273 yards and a touchdown while adding 32 yards on seven carries with a score on the ground. He connected with 11 different receivers led by Kingsley Bennet with seven catches for 91 yards while Malik O'Atis had three receptions for 46 yards and a touchdown.  Diego Cearns had 46 yards on six carries with two touchdowns while Camden Crooks added 43 yards on 15 rushes.
 
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING
Garin Higgins tied stadium namesake Fran Welch for the Emporia State career wins record with his 116^th victory.
Landon Boss tied Pat Cook (1995 vs Truman) and Gerard Clemons (1997 vs NWMSU) for the most sacks in a game in the NCAA Division II era for ESU
 
UP NEXT
The Hornets are back on the road to Central Oklahoma on Saturday, October 18.  Kick off in Edmond, Oklahoma is set for 6 pm