By Jim Henry
jhenry@joplinglobe.com
EMPORIA, Kan. — Despite yielding 318 yards, Missouri Southern’s defense came up with key stops throughout the game as the Lions rallied past Emporia State 19-18 Saturday afternoon at Welch Stadium.
Tailback Toderick Hunt rushed for 133 yards and three touchdowns as the Lions (3-2, 1-2 MIAA) erased a 15-7 halftime deficit and snapped a two-game losing streak.
But it was the Lion defense — beginning with its first series of the game — that set the stage for the comeback.
Emporia State (3-2, 1-2) covered 127 yards on its first three possessions, but the Hornets settled each time for Matt Perry field goals of 36, 29 and 39 yards. Perry, a freshman from Jenks, Okla., had only one field goal attempt in the first four games.
“We could not ask for any better,” Lions head coach Bart Tatum said. “We gave them two or three short fields, and our defense held them to field goals every time. We had the one 69-yard play that we gave up (for a touchdown on a reverse by Sean Partridge). That kid is really a good player. He made a great play.”
“We knew we were in the game,” said Lions linebacker Jared Brawner, who made 11 of his game-high 16 tackles in the first half plus an interception and forced fumble. “They had a couple of trick plays, but we knew we were right in the thick of things. Everybody had their heads up high. It wasn’t like that last week.”
Brawner’s forced fumble came on perhaps the game’s biggest play.
Emporia State, leading 15-13 in the last minute of the third period, faced third down-and-2 from its 38. Seville Ko, who had 90 yards rushing in the first quarter and 109 for the game, went off the right side, but Brawner’s hit knocked the ball loose.
Defensive back Terrance Scott picked up the ball at the 45, and escorted by a Lion convoy down the left sideline, reached the 2-yard line where quarterback Andre Sloan El knocked him out of bounds.
Sloan El, however, re-injured his left ankle on the play, and he watched the fourth quarter from the sideline on crutches with his ankle on ice.
Hunt, who scored on an 18-yard run early in the second quarter and 2-yard run midway through the third period, plunged up the middle for his third touchdown. Adam Hinspeter’s conversion pass went incomplete, leaving the Lions ahead 19-15 — their first lead in three conference games.
Early in the fourth quarter the Hornets reached the MSSU 2. On third down Zach Rampy’s pass in the left side of the end zone was broken up by Justin Cowper, and Perry’s 19-yard field goal — tying the school’s single-season record — pulled the Hornets within 19-18 with 10:19 remaining.
Cowper, who made four tackles for minus-26 yards among his 11 tackles, stopped ESU’s next drive with a seven-yard loss on third down.
With three minutes left, on fourth-and-1 from the 36, the Hornets attempted a quick snap and quarterback sneak. While there was movement on both lines before the ball was hiked, no flag was thrown, and Rampy was stopped short.
Then in the last minute, the Hornets’ last play ended with a quarterback sack by Alex Ouji and Nick Teer.
Hunt, after gaining 55 yards in the first half, netted 52 in the third quarter to spark the Lions on their two scoring drives. The Lions finished with 153 rushing yards and 86 passing yards.
“We had the great offensive line,” Hunt said. “I call them brawlers because they go out there, and they fight. They opened up a lot of big holes. We just blocked to the whistle, and the running game worked out.”
Considering the Lions ran 13 fewer plays and gained 105 fewer yards, they were fortunate to trail just 15-7 at halftime.
“We had our opportunities to put this football game away the first half, and we didn’t do it,” Hornets head coach Garin Higgins said. “I felt we left two touchdowns out there. We turned the football over twice, one inside the 30, and the big turnover that gave them one of their touchdowns. We put ourselves in this situation.
“I told the kids there would be five or six plays over the course of this game that would decide it. We had to make sure we were on the positive side of most of them, and today we weren’t.”
