The gist
- Final: Northwest Missouri 59, Emporia State 14. No. 8 Emporia State's unbeaten run ends on the road at No. 11 Northwest Missouri on Halloween.
- Turnovers decided it. Four Hornet giveaways, three returned the other way for touchdowns. Twenty-one Bearcat points came off ESU turnovers.
- 7.28 yards a snap. Northwest averaged 7.28 yards per play to ESU's 4.76 and ran it 46 times for 321 yards.
- Hornets fall to 8-1. Washburn visits Welch Stadium for the regular-season finale on Nov. 7.
A night that got away in the second quarter
Eighth-ranked Emporia State traveled to No. 11 Northwest Missouri on Oct. 31 with a share of the MIAA title on the table. The Hornets came home 8-1, their first loss of 2026 and the end of a run that started with that 58-38 Homecoming win over Central Missouri a week earlier.
The first quarter was close. Mo Alwaely opened the scoring with a 40-yard field goal, then Ethan Schultze fumbled a short completion at the ESU goal line and Cody Simoncic scooped it for a touchdown. ESU answered on the next possession with an 8-play, 93-yard drive capped by a 44-yard scoring strike from Jamison Sarver to Trenden Collins. Quarter one closed 10-7 Bearcats.
Then the roof came down. Northwest put 21 unanswered in the second. Quincy Torry punched in a 12-yard touchdown run. Schultze lost a second ball at midfield, and that one went back for a touchdown too. Starter Zechariah Owens broke a 35-yard touchdown run to make it 31-7 at the break.
The second half opened with Sarver stepping into a fourth-and-5 at the NWM 37 and watching David Jacquez cut the throw off and run it back the other way for a pick-six. 38-7. Backup Mason Shorb then ripped off a 65-yard touchdown run of his own, and later in the fourth hit Trevor Spady on a 51-yard touchdown throw to put the final at 59-14. Schultze did get a 13-yard touchdown catch in the third to make it 45-14 for a minute, but by then the game was over.
What the box said
| Team stats | Emporia State | Northwest Missouri |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 17 | 24 |
| Total yards | 376 | 502 |
| Yards per play | 4.76 | 7.28 |
| Rushing (att-yds) | 28-135 | 46-321 |
| Passing (C-A-I) | 31-51-2 | 11-23-2 |
| Third down | 4-16 | 6-14 |
| Turnovers lost | 4 | 2 |
| Time of possession | 28:09 | 31:51 |
Sarver finished 30 of 47 for 240 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Collins pulled in 10 catches for 95 yards and the first-quarter score. Vudrico Roberson led the ground game with 66 yards on seven carries, 42 on his longest. The defense was not short on effort. Chance Clements had nine tackles, Elias Jones added an interception and a solo tackle for loss, Clem McCullough picked off Owens inside the Bearcat 5 to end a Northwest drive in the third, and Jake Tucker got home for a sack. Two takeaways against Northwest's starting quarterback. The Hornets just could not stop the splash plays.
Northwest's run game is where it hurt. 46 carries, 321 yards. Torry (13 for 106, two touchdowns), Shorb (two carries, 63 yards, a 65-yard touchdown), and Owens (35-yard touchdown run) all broke it open. Shorb, the backup, finished with 149 yards from scrimmage and a hand in two touchdowns in his snaps.
What people are saying
Emporia State's athletics department did not spin it. The official recap, Turnovers Hurt Hornet Football in Loss at Northwest Missouri, led with the four giveaways and the three that went back for scores. Across the week leading in, MIAA fans on d2football had been circling this game as the one that would answer the "is ESU for real?" question after wins over Central Oklahoma and Central Missouri. The answer the Bearcats gave is going to live on message boards until the bracket comes out.
Our take
Here is the honest read. Two scoop-and-scores on fumbles by the same receiver inside your own territory is not variance. That is a protect-the-ball issue, and it decided the first half before the defense had any chance to settle in. Even without the pick-six, the Hornets were chasing 31 points on a night they went 4 of 16 on third down and 0 of 3 on fourth. Northwest built the lead by scoring without their offense having to work for it, and then their offense piled on when it had a 24-point cushion.
Three turnover touchdowns against a team you still lose the takeaway battle to by only two. The Hornets lost by 45. The gap is about three plays wide, not six touchdowns.
The other honest thing: the Bearcat run game broke the Hornet front, and it was Northwest's backup quarterback doing it as much as the starter. Shorb's 65-yard touchdown run and his 51-yard touchdown throw to Spady are the exact kind of explosive plays this ESU defense had been avoiding all year. Allowing a season-high in points by 21 is the number that goes in the notebook, not the final.
Here is where it is still worth being an eight-and-one Emporia State fan. Super Region 4 takes eight teams and gives out four automatic bids. The MIAA auto bid is almost certainly Northwest's now, but ESU is squarely on the at-large side of that math with a road loss to a top-15 team. Beat Washburn and this group is nearly a lock to be playing in the regional. That is the thing to want next week.
Next up
Washburn comes to Welch Stadium on Nov. 7 for the regular-season finale. Win it and the Hornets finish 9-1 with their only loss coming to a team that will probably be the top seed in the region. Lose it and the bracket conversation gets a lot more interesting. The regional math every Emporia State fan is going to be running next week starts with Washburn.
Hold the ball, win the turnover battle, and stack one more. If you'd rather back your read on the finale than just shout it, that's literally the game.