Game 11: NW vs MW

Well it’s been a while since I’ve experience some good heckling. The Emporia State student section did a good job of remedying that. I particularly enjoyed the students jingling their keys in the first quarter when they were down 6-0. I don’t think that they necessarily understand what that gesture means. Or the drunk ESU fan who was trying to argue that Bearcats aren’t real – even his fellow students couldn’t convince him otherwise.  My favorite quote of the week has got to be “Sell more tickets” which was in response to one of the students heckling NW fans for being in ‘their’ section.  Which last time I checked the ESU stadium map, the only reserved section was Section B which was reserved for the Emporia Students – which was only partially full. That didn’t stop the Hornet security from trying to move NW fans out of the “Emporia fans section.” I even heard of one gentleman who tried to purchase a reserved seat but the manager of the box office refused to sell him one because he was a NW fan. Oh well, that is their prerogative.

Last Week’s Recap:

Well the Hornets are definitely improved over last year, but so is NW; and their improvement isn’t enough to go against a team with a good defense.

Offensively, NW pretty much did what ever they wanted to do. Their first drive they Emporia State defense was pushed from the NW 19 all the way to the ESU 2. NW obviously has no faith in their FG kicker, because I don’t think that there was ever a doubt in mind that NW was going go for the TD instead of the FG. And rightly so – as Trewyn hit the upright with his first extra point attempt – he ended up getting a pretty good ass chewing about that one. NW’s next series they ended up going 3-out – the only other time that happened was their final possession of the game. Trevor Adams had another great game – going 24-35 for 291 yards and 5 TD’s.  Bolles was tied with Billy Creason as the second leading rusher – 40 yards on 9 carries. I really hope that the NW coaches are doing these single play switches for some type of set up. I really think that Robert Burton in the backfield with Bolles as QB in those situations is much more dangerous for defenses to prepare for. Bobby Burton was again the teams leading rusher with the highest yards per carry – 4.9. The Offensive Line did a great job of opening up holes and giving the QB all the team that they needed. The WR’s, and Reuben Thomas in particular, need to remember to catch the ball, and THEN run.

Defense again was stifling. Honestly the majority of ESU’s yardage came on a handful of plays. Their first TD happened on something that I said NW had to watch out for – Brent Wilson’s escapeability. He somehow was able to sneak out of the pocket after it had surrounded him, and found a wide open WR. But NW adjusted and destroyed them the rest of the year. I really do like Brent Wilson though – I think that he has the potential to set a lot of records in the MIAA.

Special Teams: Punt blocks are awesome. But something needs to be done in the NW kicking game. But Ben Trewyn is not the answer we’ve been looking for. 5 missed extra points is not acceptable. Either let the Great Dane kick all of the extra points, and not worry about FG’s, or pull Alex “Easy Money” Easley’s redshirt. If NW loses a game because of a missed xtra point, that will not sit well with Bearcat Nation

Next Week's Preview:

Prediction: NW 45 MW 17