October 20, 2007-Emporia State surrendered 24 points on four turnovers as Missouri Western took a 52-21 victory in Emporia on Saturday.

The Hornets took the opening kickoff and drove 80 yards on 12 plays to take a 7-0 lead on the opening drive of the game. Andre Sloan El accounted for 32 of the 80 yards with 22 yards rushing and one completion for 10 yards. Six different Hornets had rushes during the drive capped by Sloan El's one yard touchdown plunge.

The Griffons came right back and scored on a 62 yard touchdown pass from Drew Newhart to Cedric Houston on their first play from scrimmage to tie the score at 7-7. MWSU took a 10-7 lead on a Dustin Strickler career long 45 yard field goal following a Sloan El interception.

ESU drove down to the MWSU 36 yard line on their last drive of the first quarter before Sloan El was sacked on fourth down. He injured his knee on the play and missed the remainder of the game.

On ESU's next possession the Hornets drove down to the Griffons 25 yard line before Ben Purkeypile was sacked for a loss of nine on a fourth down play. Western took over on downs and drove 66 yards in eight plays to take a 17-7 lead. On the first play of the ensuing drive Purkeypile fumbled the snap giving the ball to the Griffons on the ESU 38 yard line. Three plays later La'Darrian Page page scored from 32 yards out to give MWSU a 24-7 lead with 5:50 left in the half.

The Hornets held the Griffons to 16 yards on six plays to open the second half and used a Jake Richter 18 yard punt return to set up at the 50 yard line. ESU drove to the MWSU nine yard line before a false start and fumble snap pushed them back to the 15 yard line. After an incomplete pass on second down Purkeypile was intercepted by Seth Hane. Newhart connected with Houston on third down for a 75 yard touchdown pass and a 31-7 lead. ESU came right back with a ten play, 70 yard drive, capped by a ten yard touchdown pass from Purkeypile to Colby Rainey to pull within 31-14 with 3:47 left in the third quarter. Justin Wieser had 21 yards on three carries during the drive.

Ferrell MeGhee returned the kick-off 42 yards to set up the Griffons on the Hornet 48 yard line. Newhart went three for three for 53 yards including a 21 yard touchdown pass to Alvaro Prado and a 38-14 lead. Purkeypile was then picked off on the Hornets next play from scrimmage and three plays later Newhart connected with MeGhee for a 63 yard touchdown pass and a 45-14 lead at the end of the third quarter.

MWSU started the fourth quarter with an 11 play, 65 yard drive to become the first team other than Pittsburg State or Northwest Missouri to score 50 points on ESU since Truman scored 55 points in 1996.

With Eric Runge in at quarterback, the Hornets would take their final drive of the game and go 49 yards in 12 plays for their final score of the game. Runge completed his final three passes including a two yard strike to Michael Fulton for the final points of the game.

Purkeypile ended the game 11 of 23 for 131 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Wieser was the leader on the ground for ESU with 46 yards on eight carries. Blake Ringwall led all tacklers with 14 stops including a half a sack.

Newhart ended the game 12 of 19 for 321 yards and four touchdowns for MWSU. Houston caught two touchdown passes for 137 yards. Page ended with 107 yards on 14 carries and two touchdowns on the ground. Chauncey Mayfield had nine tackles for MWSU while Kendall Davis had a fumble recovery and interception to go with five tackles.

After a three game homestand, the Hornets are back on the road next weekend at Truman. Kick-off from Kirksville, Mo. is set for 2 p.m.

###HORNETS###

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