The No. 12 Emporia State football team scored 24 first-quarter points on the way to a 38-0 blowout victory over Northeastern State at Doc Wadley Stadium Saturday night. Hornet special teams helped ESU start fast as Zion Jones returned the opening kickoff 74 yards to the RiverHawk 20-yard line before quarterback Braden Gleason found Jaylen Varner for the first of his three receiving touchdowns of the night. After forcing a three-and-out, Gleason connected with Varner again on a 79-yard touchdown. Gleason did not play the second half and finished 17-for-19 with 206 yards passing and three scores.
Defensively, ESU stifled the RiverHawks who totaled just 166 yards of total offense while playing three quarterbacks. NSU finished just 2-for-14 on third down as Chance Rodriguez led the Hornets with 7 tackles while Zach Dortch Junior collected the ninth E-State interception of the season. Billy Ross Jr. tallied his second straight 100-yard rushing game in a row.
The Hornets moved to 3-0 on the season while NSU dropped to 0-3. Emporia State returns to action next Saturday hosting Central Oklahoma for Family Day at Welch Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. on Mix 104.9.
