Storm Fall to Emporia State in the Heritage Bowl
Hornets’ solid offense trips up Storm in Corsicana in their first-ever post season appearance in DII history.
Julia Schwake, Director of Athletics Communications & Advertising
CORSICANA, Texas — Southern Nazarene's historic post-season appearance did not end the way they had hoped on Saturday, falling to Emporia State, 55-24.
Following their most successful regular season in Division II history, the Storm (6-6, 6-5 GAC) were awarded their first-ever Bowl Game matchup, taking on the Hornets (9-3, 7-3 MIAA) from Emporia State in the Fun Town RV Heritage Bowl. Emporia's comfortability shined Saturday afternoon in the win, being a team that has earned postseason action for now their third consecutive season. The Hornets surpassed 500 yards of total offense and scored touchdowns in every quarter, making their offense difficult for the Storm to contain.
All three of SNU's scores came from veteran quarterback and Harlon Hill finalist
Gage Porter, who led the Storm offensively totaling well-over 300 yards of offense with over 250 on the ground alone. The passing-game appeared to work wonders for the Hornets as fellow Harlon Hill finalist and starting quarterback Braden Gleason recorded over 400 passing yards and six passing touchdowns, even sneaking in one rushing touchdown to total over 450 yards of total offense.
Southern Nazarene wasted no time attacking the Hornets in their first drive of the contest with
Gage Porter leading the front with two huge rushes of 45 and 24 yards. Porter's 24-yard run capped off a six-play, 80-yard drive that resulted in the game's first score at 7-0.
After ESU's first drive of the contest resulted in a punt, the Storm quickly handed back over the possession from a fumble at the SNU19. With eight minutes left in the opening quarter, the Hornets quickly tied the ballgame as Gleason found an open Billy Ross Jr. for the 13-yard touchdown pass.
SNU began their march down the field in the next possession as Porter ignited the offense with a huge 59-yard rush to the ESU20.
Jarvis Davis put the Storm inside the red zone with a pass to
Asa Robertson for 14 yards and soon allowed the Storm to settle for a field goal with his four-yard run to bring up 4th & 6.
Adam Atwell sent one through the uprights and SNU was back on top at 10-7 with four minutes remaining on the clock in the first quarter.
From their own 36-yard line, ESU went to work and responded with quick plays that took no time bringing in a touchdown. Gleason's two completions rang up 26 yards and Kinglsey Bennett's 38-yard rush was all it took to steal the lead from the Storm, and ESU was back in front 10-14 with a little over three minutes left in quarter one.
The Hornets were able to sneak in a field goal with the time remaining after SNU's offense grew cold in the possession before and Emporia State was out on top 17-10 after the first 15 minutes.
SNU's drive to open the second quarter was halted by the Hornets and a false start penalty turned possession over to ESU who turned that into another touchdown. The Hornets organized eight plays for 84 yards that ended with Gleason squeezing through the left side of the SNU defense for the score, extending their lead to 24-10 with just under 11 minutes left in the half.
It was SNU's turn to reclaim the momentum and Porter was quick to do so, getting rush after rush until he broke out a 44 yard run on 3rd & 11 all the way to the ESU end zone. Atwell split the uprights once more and SNU was behind by a single score at 24-17.
The teams traded punts in the next two possessions, but ESU's offense delivered once more in their last possession of the half as Gleason completed three of his four passing attempts, one a 37-yard launch that ultimately set up his connection with Tommy Zimmerman for the score. Not enough time was left for SNU in the next possession and the Storm headed into halftime with the 17-31 trail.
Emporia State could not be stopped on the offensive end, putting up another march down the field that brought in another score to start the third quarter. Gleason led the 10-play, 68-yard drive and delivered another touchdown pass, this time, to Trenden Collins and the Hornets were now ahead 38-17 with 11:37 on the clock.
The Crimson Storm felt the gap growing and decided to cut the deficit with another Porter score. Porter excited the Storm side of the bleachers with a huge 52-yard completion to
Joah Flores, good for a first down on the ESU24. Porter capped that with a rush up the right side for his third touchdown of the day, bringing SNU within two touchdowns of the Hornets at 38-24.
Unfortunately, that was the last time the Storm would find themselves in the end zone, leaving Emporia State to take the rest of the scoring. With 9:50 remaining in the third, the Hornets put together six plays for 52 yards, full of Gleason connecting with open receivers until he eventually found one open for the short two-yard score, running up their lead to 45-24. SNU's offense was stagnant in the next possession and they returned the ball back to ESU who strung together another march down the field.
Fortunately for the Storm, SNU's defense held tight and warded off another Hornet score by forcing 3rd & 15 at the SNU25. ESU was in field goal territory and Caden Dodson's kick attempt awarded the Hornets three more points for the 48-24 advantage.
With four minutes left in the third, Southern Nazarene looked to cut the deficit, piecing together a hefty 17 plays for 67 yards that carried over into the start of the final quarter. The Storm found themselves at the ESU8 and looked to advance the changes on 4th & 8, but Porter's pass as incomplete to
Aaron Fellows and the Hornets received the ball back on their own eight-yard line.
The next two possessions featured a punt by ESU and a fumble by the Storm, which was recovered by Emporia State at the SNU45. With seven minutes left on the clock, Gleason fired a pass to an open Tyler Kahmann in the end zone of the touchdown, extending their lead to 55-24.
SNU could not erase the damage in the final possessions, leaving the Hornets to pick up the final 55-24 victory in Corsicana.
This marks the end of an incredible season for Southern Nazarene who rewrote the history books with their best-ever regular season record and their first-ever post season appearance since joining Division II. Head Coach
Dustin Hada and his staff have a lot to be proud of looking back on the year and look forward to building upon this season's success.
