September 12, 2026-In a battle of top 25 programs #24 Emporia State tossed a second half shut out on the way to a 34-20 win over #20 Michigan Tech on Saturday afternoon at Welch Stadium.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
The Hornet defense forced a three and out on the opening drive and the offense went 69 yards on five plays to take a 7-0 lead with 12:20 left in the opening quarter. ESU opened with a 49 yard reverse by
Ondraye Beasley. Then
Jamison Sarver went three of four for 20 yards capped by a three touchdown pass to Beasley. The teams traded punts before the Huskies evened it up with a 22 yard pass from Elliott Larner to Abram Larner with 4:16 left in the period. Emporia State got a 21 yard field goal from
Brandon McCary to end the first quarter to take a 10-7 lead into the second.
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The Huskies retook the lead on a 27 yard rush by Samuel Delgado on their opening drive of the second quarter. Emporia State answered right back with a 22 yard scramble by Sarver to take a 17-14 lead with 6:09 left in the half. The defenses traded three and outs before Michigan Tech took over with 1:45 left. Elliott and Abram Larner hooked up with 29 seconds left for a nine yard touchdown to put the Huskies up 20-17 going into the half when the PAT missed.
Emporia State forced an early turnover when
Gabe Booker intercepted Larner less than two minutes into the half. The Hornets could not capitalize on the turnover with three incomplete passes before a
Jordan Cartwright punt put the Huskies at their own 15 yard line. The defense stiffened again and forced another MTU punt with 10:34 left in the quarter. Emporia State would then go on a 15 play, 58 yard drive capped by a three yard pass from Sarver to
Camden Crooks with 5:59 left to put the Hornets ahead 24-20.
The next five combined drives would come up empty before the Hornets were able to take the first two score lead of the game on an 11 yard touchdown run by Terrell Graves with 8:04 left in the game. Five different Hornets gained yardage on the eight play, 60 yard drive that gave ESU a 31-20 lead. Emporia State's defense stiffened on the ensuing drive, holding Michigan Tech to -14 yards on three plays with
Alphonse Joseph getting a 11 yard tackle for loss on third down. Emporia State went up two touchdowns on 40 yard field goal by McCary with 3:38 remaining. The Huskies last chance ended when
Tyler Schultze broke up a fourth down pass with 2:03 left. Emporia State then ran out the clock on their second straight top 20 win of the season.
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A LOOK AT THE STATS
The Hornets outgained the Huskies 387 to 248 overall with a 182-48 edge in the second half.
Jamison Sarver was 32 of 48 for 219 yards with two touchdowns and added 25 yards and a touchdown on the ground. He connected with seven different receivers on the afternoon led by
Ty Walls with eight catches for 55 yards.Â
Ondraye Beasley had 113 all purpose yards with six catches for 39 yards, one rush for 49 yards and 25 yards on a kick return.
Defensively
Landon Boss had 13 tackles, four tackles for loss, a sack and two quarterback hurries.
Clem McCullough had seven tackles with one for a loss while
Tyler Schultze had six tackles with two pass break ups.
Brandon McCary was four for four on PAT to run his consecutive streak to 40 straight and hit his first two field goals as a Hornet.
Tyler Schultze two pass break ups give him 29 in his career. He is one short of tying Luke Waller (30 from 2001-04) for the Emporia State career record.
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UP NEXT
The Hornets will be back in action next Saturday when they play host to Neb.-Kearney. Kick-off from Blackcreek Field at Welch Stadium is set for 4:00 p.m.
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