Emporia State Football Rallies for 31-27 Win at Central Missouri

October 25, 2025-It was the start of a new era and the continuation of a legendary one in Emporia State's 31-27 win at Central Missouri. True freshman quarterback Jamison Sarver was seven of seven for 98 yards in the fourth quarter to rally the Hornets to the comeback and with the win Garin Higgins passed Fran Welch for the most wins in school history with 117 victories.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Mules scored the first ten points of the game on a 26 yard field goal by Will Peacock and a two yard touchdown run by Keyon Butler.  The Hornets got on the board with a one yard run by Camden Crroks with 1:03 left in the first quarter to make it 10-7.
Donovyn Omolo hit Marlon Lindsey from three yards out to put UCM back up 17-7 before Sarver threw his first career touchdown pass, a 12 yarder to Kingsley Bennett with 5:06 left in the half to get ESU within 17-14.  A one yard run by Omolo with 34 seconds left sent the Mules to the locker room with a 24-14 lead at the break.
The Hornets went on a 12 play, 52 yard drive to open the second half that ended with a 19 yard field goal from Caden Dodson with 10:32 left in the third quarter.  Peacock answered with a 25 yard field goal with 3:45 left to give the Mules a 27-17 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Sarver connected with Max Middleton for an 11 yard touchdown on the second play of the fourth quarter to pull the Hornets within 27-24.  Emporia State's defense forced a three and out and the Hornets got the ball back with 13:04 left at their own 36 yard line.  Sarver went three for three for 46 yards, connecting with three different players, during the ensuing drive.  Facing third and six from the UCM ten yard line, he scrambled for eight yards and on the next play Diego Cearns scored from the two to give the Hornets their first lead with 9:09 left in the game.
The Mules would only gain 18 yards on six plays on their next drive and were forced to punt with 6:59 left.  Emporia State ate up 5:31 on an 11 play drive that covered 41 yards before Dylan Davidson came on to punt. His punt went out of bounds at the 23 with 1:28 remaining.  Central converted on a fourth down play with 50 seconds left but Nehemiah Figueroa broke up another fourth down attempt with nine seconds left to seal the victory.
 
A LOOK AT THE STATS
In his first start as a true freshman Jamison Sarver went 25 of 41 for 288 yards and two touchdowns while adding ten yards on the ground. He connected with seven different receivers led by Kingsley Bennett with five catches for 71 yards and a touchdown while Malik O'Atis had eight catches for 69 yards. Ondraye Beasley had a team high 74 yards on three receptions.  Diego Cearns had 87 yards on 19 carries and a touchdown while Camden Crooks added 59 rushing yards, 27 receiving yards and 58 yards on kick returns. Landon Boss had ten tackles while Tyler Schultze added nine stops and two pass break ups.
 
OTHER NOTES
Sarver's 288 passing yards are the most by a true freshman quarter back in his first action in the Division II era.
Sarver is just the second true freshman to start at quarterback in Coach Garin Higgins 18 seasons, joining Braxton Marstall who was the winner against Missouri Western in 2014.
Garin Higgins moved past ESU stadium namesake Fran Welch to become the winningest coach in Hornet football history with 117 wins.
The win was the first fourth quarter comeback for the Hornets since a 42-35 win against Neb.-Kearney last season.

UP NEXT
The Hornets return to Welch Stadium on Saturday, November 1 to take on #16 Northwest Missouri.  Kick-off for the Hornets Homecoming game is set for 2:00 p.m.