Bolivar, MO – A valiant effort came up short for the SBU Bearcats on Saturday night, as Bearcats were beaten by Emporia State 35-31 in a wild contest. The Bearcats put themselves in a position to win, but little things such as turnovers and mental mistakes cost the 'Cats. The two teams combined for nearly 900 yards of total offense in the game and 45 second half points.

Emporia State led at halftime 14-7 behind two rushing scores by ElRay Henry. Things started heating up in the second half when SBU's Robert Woodson caught his second score of the night, a 7-yard pass from Robert Clardy, which tied the game.  Just minutes later, the Hornets' Henry scored for the third time, on a 43-yard dash to the endzone, to put the Hornets back on top at 21-14.  At the 6:00 mark in the third, SBU's kicker Ryan Smith connected on a 28 yard field goal, to pull the 'Cats to within four points. After a fumble recovery by SBU's Andrew Whitaker, the Bearcats electrified the home crowd with a 63-yard touchdown pass from Clardy to running back Moine Nicholson, which gave the Bearcats the lead, 24-21. The Bearcats held on Emporia's next possession, when cornerback Lester Shelton sacked ESU quarterback Justin Whitworth. The Bearcats led the Hornets by three points after three quarters of action.

The scoring slowed down a bit in the fourth quarter as the teams exchanged turnovers and missed field goals. Clardy was intercepted by the Hornets' Jeff Hoag early in the fourth, but Jeff Edwards of ESU missed a short 21-yard field goal attempt. The Bearcats gave the ball right back to the Hornets when Clardy's pass attempt for Jeremy Packer deflected off Packer into the arms of ESU's Matt Demicoli. At the 5:31 mark, ESU scored to reclaim the lead at 28-24 on a 9-yard pass from Ben Purkeypile to Jermaine Barnett.

Things looked good for the Bearcat upset when they once again took the lead at 31-28 with just under three minutes remaining, when Clardy hit WR Nick Smart from 17 yards out. Unfortunately the Hornets stormed right back, going 72 yards in three plays, finishing with a 37-yard TD pass from Purkeypile to Barnett. The Bearcats had a chance on their last drive, but a fourth down pass from Clardy to Woodson fell incomplete. The Hornets took over at the SBU 27 yard line and knelt down to run out the clock.

Robert Clardy led the Bearcats, completing 26 of 39 attempts for 365 yards and four touchdowns. Nick Smart had seven catches for 99 yards and one score, while Jeremy Packer also caught seven balls for 68 yards. Robert Woodson had two TD catches and 65 yards receiving and Moine Nicholson caught five passes for 90 yards and one touchdown. Emporia State tallied 493 yards of total offense including 316 on the ground. El Ray Henry gained 138 of those yards on 16 carries and three scores. Ben Purkeypile had 94 yards passing including two strikes to Jermaine Barnett.

Emporia State improved to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in the MIAA while SBU fell to 0-4 and 0-2 in the conference. SBU goes on the road next Saturday to Topeka, Kansas, to take on the Washburn Ichabods in a 1 p.m. kickoff. The Bearcats' next home game will be Homecoming versus MIAA newcomer Fort Hays State on October 7th.