By Jim Henry
jhenry@joplinglobe.com
Decisions, decisions, decisions.
And, none concerned McCain or Obama in any way.
Head coaches Bart Tatum of Missouri Southern and Garin Higgins of Emporia State faced several football decisions in the second half of the Lions’ 19-18 victory on Saturday afternoon in Emporia, Kan.
“Do I go for 2, do I not. Do you punt,” Tatum said with a laugh. “There really were (many decisions).”
The Lions, down 15-7 at halftime, pulled within 15-13 on Toderick Hunt's two-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter. The Lions converted twice on fourth down-and-short during the 12-play, 62-yard drive.
After the score, one school of thought is to go ahead and kick the almost automatic extra point — although ESU missed one in the first half — because there are 23 minutes left in the game, and another score at some point is necessary to win.
The Lions went for the two points and the tie, but Adam Hinspeter's pass went incomplete.
“Our defense was playing great,” Tatum said. “If we don’t score (later in the game after making the 2-point conversion), we have overtime. In my mind, that’s what I was thinking. Plus, everybody who I trust down on the sideline was saying go for 2. It was my initial inclination, so I went with my gut.”
Hunt, who rushed for 133 yards, scored his third touchdown in the final minute of the third quarter, making it 19-15. The decision to go for 2 — and a six-point lead — was automatic this time, but the pass again fell incomplete.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Hornets reached the Missouri Southern 2, and in a matter of seconds, both sidelines had decisions to make.
The Lions’ Justin Cowper broke up Emporia State's third-down pass in the end zone. The Hornets were flagged for an illegal formation, and the officials assumed the Lions would accept the penalty. But as one official began to step off the five-yard penalty, the Lion coaches notified the crew they wanted to decline the penalty, setting up fourth down.
“We just wanted to make (Emporia State) make the decision,” Tatum said. “We were confident in our ability to hold them on fourth-and-2. We felt like one shot, do or die, from the 2 was better than two shots from the 7.”
The Hornets’ decision: go for the touchdown and the lead or kick a field goal. They gained at least two yards on seven of the nine plays on the drive, but with more than 10 minutes remaining, Higgins sent Matt Perry in to kick his fourth field goal.
“I thought our defense was playing well,” Higgins said. “We had just moved the football 70 yards, and Zach Rampy (quarterback) had come in and given us spark offensively. We wanted to make sure we get points on the board. I didn't want to take any points off the board, so that's why we took the field goal."
Tatum had one more decision to make, but it came with the complete endorsement of his staff.
Ahead 19-18 with 1:21 remaining, the Lions faced fourth-and-8 from the ESU 10. A field goal would give the Lions a four-point lead, forcing the Hornets to score a touchdown to win the game, but a blocked field goal possibly could be returned to set up a winning score.
The Lions went for the touchdown, but Hinspeter's pass to Isaac Norman was unknowingly broken up by linebacker Blake Ringwall.
"My defensive staff was begging for us to go for the touchdown, begging," Tatum said. "We had Isaac, who crossed right like he was supposed to, and the linebacker just turned, and the ball ricocheted off the back of his shoulder. He wasn't even looking. 'Ike' was open in the back of the end zone, and we just didn't squeeze it into him."
Names and numbers
• The Lions' victory Saturday was their third MIAA road victory in three seasons under Tatum. The first two also were one-pointers — 34-33 over Emporia State in 2006 and 17-16 over Southwest Baptist last season.
• Hinspeter's five-yard completion to Johnny Johnson early in the second quarter pushed Hinspeter's career total past 8,000 passing yards. With 8,076 yards, he ranks third in conference history behind Missouri Western's Kasey Waterman (10,025) and Truman State's Eric Howe (9,097).
• The Lions' defense came up with two takeaways — linebacker Jared Brawner's interception in the second quarter and Terrance Scott's 43-yard fumble return that set up the go-ahead touchdown in the third period. The Hornets had only one turnover in their first four games.
• The Lions were better on fourth-down conversions (2 of 3) than third-down conversions (1 of 11). For the season the Lions have converted 11 of 14 on fourth down and 25 of 73 on third down.
• The Lions (3-2, 1-2 MIAA) play four of their final six games at home, starting with Saturday's 2 p.m. homecoming game against Washburn.
