The No. 8 Emporia State football team forced four turnovers to hold off Central Oklahoma 23-16 at Welch Stadium in Emporia on Saturday. The Bronchos led 9-7 at the half after ESU managed just one first down in the entire second quarter. A Victor Chionuma 44-yard rushing touchdown put ESU on the board first, but a high snap on a punt was kicked out of the back of the endzone by ESU punter Jordan Cartwright for a safety. The ‘Chos rolled down the field on the ensuing drive to take a 9-7 lead. Starting middle linebacker Jake Tucker who played in place of Landon Boss, who sat out with a hamstring injury, forced a fumble early in the third quarter that was returned for a score by Carson Sippel to give ESU the lead. Starting quarterback Jamison Sarver was knocked out of the game with an ankle injury in the second half, but Ben Harris returned from his own knee injury to find Corey Turner II on a 44-yard touchdown to put the Hornets in front by two scores. Brandon McCary nailed a 40-yard field goal to put ESU up 23-9 midway through the fourth. The Bronchos scored with just over two minutes to go and got the ball back but failed on a fourth-and-one as the Hornets punctuated the win with a sack. Head coach Garin Higgins said ESU still has a long way to go, but gave credit to his defense for playing tough.
Tucker had another career game with eight tackles, three tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, a blocked kick, and the forced fumble that led to the Hornet defensive score. Tucker was emotional after the win.
The Hornets had three interceptions in the game from Gabe Roland, Clem McCullough, and Tyler Schultze. ESU moves to 7-0 for the first time since 2013 and stays atop the MIAA standings at 5-0. ESU hosts Central Missouri for homecoming next week. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. with pregame coverage at 6:00 p.m. on Mix 104.9.
Edit: The Hornets are 7-0 for the first time since 2013. They started 8-0 in 2012. The final score was also reported incorrectly in the first version of this story.
