The Emporia State football team used a strong defensive effort to set the tone and took advantage of the big play to pick up their first win of the season 38-7 over Northeastern State.
Coach Garin Higgins called it a good season-opening win.
The defense held the Riverhawks to 22 offensive yards in the 1st half and only 2 first downs. The offense would score on two big plays, a 70 touchdown pass from Braden Gleason to Cole Schumacher and a 30-yard scoring pass to Jaylen Varner. Cannan Brooks added an 18-yard touchdown run. Gleason also connected with Varner on a 2-yard scoring toss to take a 28-0 lead at halftime.
In the 2nd half, Sam Dobbins kicked a 34-yard field goal to give the Hornets a 31-0 lead going to the 4th quarter.
The lone Northeastern score came on a 7 yard run by Darius Hopkins.
Emporia State closed out the scoring on a 62-yard pass play from Jack Diamond to Deontei Braggs.
For the game, the Hornets rolled dup 527 yards of offense. Braden Gleason completed 28 passes for 322 yards and 3 touchdowns.
The Hornet defense held Northeastern to 159 yards of total offense. Senior Linebacker Jace McDown finished with 6 tackles.
Up next for Emporia State will be their home opener when they host Central Oklahoma on September 11th.
