Emporia State Hoping for Breakout Season

By David Boyce

As much as football coaches enjoy practice, they like getting into a routine even more.

For that reason Emporia State football coach Garin Higgins was happy to see Wednesday arrive. Classes started, and that meant in the morning his players would be in school and in the afternoon they would be on the field.

"I'm very excited, especially starting regular season and preparing for our opponent coming up," Emporia State senior quarterback Andre Sloan El said.

Training camp officially ended Tuesday for the Hornets, and now much of their focus is geared towards their first game on Aug. 27 at home against Southwestern Oklahoma St.

"I'm ready to get into game week and ready to get our players healthy and ready for Southwestern Oklahoma," said Garin Higgins, who is in his third season as head coach at Emporia State.

Other than a few injuries, Higgins liked what he saw from his players during training camp when a football playbook ruled over a textbook.

"Practices have gone really well," Higgins said. "I'm proud how they have worked through camp. It has been a real competitive camp on both sides of the football. We have done a lot of things to put ourselves in competitive situations. I'm pleased with their effort.

"We have had guys in this program, with this staff for two years now. They understand how we do things. I think there is a sense of comfort of just knowing where to be at and what is expected of them and what is expected of us as coaches."

Emporia State is one of five teams trying to climb out of the bottom half of the MIAA. The Hornets finished 4-7 overall and 2-7 in the MIAA (tied for ninth) a year ago.

According to the MIAA preseason coaches' poll, not much change is expected from Emporia State. The Hornets were picked to finish eighth.

Emporia State enters this season young, but with more experience. Higgins played 22 freshmen last year.

"Hopefully, they play better than they did last year and they play with some experience," Higgins said.

Sloan El could be the difference in lifting the Hornets into the upper half.

"Early on, he's had a good camp, not a great camp," Higgins said. "But at the same time, he didn't go through spring football. Repetition is really important in our offense. He didn't get the repetition in the spring. He came back a little rusty, but in the past three or four practices he has done a great job."

Sloan El understands the role he must play to help the Hornets win games and he believes they will have success.

"I'm just trying to take a leadership role and getting everybody on the same path and let everybody know this could be our year if we stay mentally prepared," Sloan El said.

"I think we are going to have a very successful season. We have a lot of things going for us. I think our season should go very well for us.

"We have to play a complete game. We can't let up at the end. We have to fight throughout the entire game."

Higgins is fully aware of how difficult the MIAA is.

"I don't think you ever grasp it until you see it on Saturday and you got to be ready each and every Saturday," Higgins said. "It's a conference schedule in which you try to maintain your health. Depth is very important in trying to survive it and move up to the top of it."

Still, Higgins feels good about his team. Sure, he knows a few things must break in the Hornets' favor to have a winning season.

But just about every season there is a surprise team in the MIAA.

"I got a lot of confidence in this team," Higgins said. "I feel good about this team. But there are a lot of things that got to happen, a lot of things got to fall into place.

"You got to have some consistency from your quarterback play. You got to stay healthy and you got to have a little bit of luck. If we can do those three things then I think we could be a surprise team."

Offensive player to watch: Senior quarterback Andre Sloan El must continue to be a threat running and throwing the ball and improve on last season for the Hornets to win more than four games this season. Last year Sloan El rushed for 439 yards and six touchdowns and passed for 1,416 yards and threw for 10 touchdowns. He also tossed 10 interceptions.

Defensive player to watch: Sophomore defensive back Chris Poston had one interception which he returned 38 yards for a touchdown. As a freshman he earned All-MIAA Honorable Mention.

Key game: Emporia State opens conference play at home on Sept. 12 against Central Missouri. The Hornets can gain a lot of confidence if they can knock off a team picked to finish third.

On Thursday: Truman football preview.