TAHLEQUAH – Dimonic McKinzy had 279 passing yards and three touchdowns but the RiverHawks would fall 47-27 to number-18 Emporia State on Saturday afternoon at Doc Wadley Stadium.

Zac King caught a pair of touchdown passes and had 68 receiving yards, while Antonio King caught eight passes for 104 yards. 

"I thought we had our hard work back, our work ethic there, but you can't just make the mistakes that we did to a team like that," said head coach Rob Robinson.  "The way our kids fought and clawed today, I think our future is bright, we just have to get that mentality…the second half of the season is starting and will be ready to go."

Northeastern State led early in the game and trailed by ten to ESU until a 65-yard interception by the Hornets with 8:44 left in the third quarter split the two teams apart.

The RiverHawks had 316 total passing yards but had 74 yards on 30 carries.  Emporia State threw the ball for 247 in the air and picked up 203 yards on the ground.   Inside the red-zone Northeastern State converted in both of their possessions. 

With the loss NSU will see their overall season and MIAA record go to 1-5, Emporia State will move up to 5-1.

NSU will be on the road next Saturday to face Northwest Missouri State in Maryville, Mo.; kickoff will be at 1:30 p.m.

First Quarter
The RiverHawks fumbled into their own end zone in the opening drive of the game to allow ESU to go up by six with the extra point missing wide.  However, in the perusing drive for NSU's Dimonic McKinzy connected with Antonio King on a 3-and-32 for a 54-yard touchdown to give the RiverHawks the lead.  ESU retook the lead at the 7:54 mark on a 44-yard field goal to go up 9-7, and pulled ahead by nine later in the quarter on a one yard rushing touchdown. 

Northeastern State picked up momentum at the end of the quarter off of a 70-yard punt by the Hornets.  Gary McKnight picked up the ball at the one-yard line and ran 85 yards to setup a short McKinzy pass to Zac King to set the score up at 16-13.

Second Quarter
Following a pair of drives, Emporia State extended their lead by six on a 12-yard rush.  The Hornets continued to pull ahead near the end of the half with a 13-yard rushing TD  with 86 seconds remaining to go up 30-13.  In the next drive, NSU worked quickly and drove the ball 45 yards and McKinzy connected with Rashawn Eubanks to get the RiverHawks back within ten at the halftime horn.

Third Quarter
Emporia State scored first touchdown of the second half on an interception that was returned back for 65 yards.  The Hornets later made the score 40-20 on a 44-yard successful field goal attempt to make up all of the scoring plays of the quarter.

Fourth Quarter
The Hornets returned a 47-yard punt back into the end zone at the 12:10 mark to extend their lead to 47-20.  Later in the quarter Northeastern State worked down the field 68 yards and Blayne Armstrong connected with Zac King for his second touchdown catch of the game.
 

Score by Quarter	1	2	3	4	Score
Emporia State	16	14	10	7	47
Northeastern State	13	7	0	7	27

 
Scoring Summary:
1st 14:34 ESU - Walker,Donovan 0 yd fumble recovery (Morton,Austin kick failed), , ESU 6 - NSU 0
    10:53 NSU - King,Antonio 54 yd pass from McKinzy,Dimonic (Garcia,Eddie kick), 8-74 3:34, ESU 6 - NSU 7
    07:54 ESU - Morton,Austin 44 yd field goal, 7-38 2:59, ESU 9 - NSU 7
    04:56 ESU - Marstall,Braxton 1 yd run (Morton,Austin kick), 5-59 1:43, ESU 16 - NSU 7
    00:11 NSU - King,Zac 12 yd pass from McKinzy,Dimonic (Garcia,Eddie kick blockd), 2-14 0:49, ESU 16 - NSU 13
2nd 06:54 ESU - Lowe,Jaylen 12 yd run (Morton,Austin kick), 6-49 2:33, ESU 23 - NSU 13
    01:26 ESU - Marstall,Braxton 13 yd run (Morton,Austin kick), 4-45 1:20, ESU 30 - NSU 13
    00:42 NSU - Eubanks,Rashawn 25 yd pass from McKinzy,Dimonic (Garcia,Eddie kick), 5-76 0:38, ESU 30 - NSU 20
3rd 08:44 ESU - Schankie,Kole 65 yd interception return (Morton,Austin kick), , ESU 37 - NSU 20
    02:26 ESU - Morton,Austin 44 yd field goal, 9-34 3:43, ESU 40 - NSU 20
4th 12:10 ESU - Lowe,Jaylen 47 yd punt return (Morton,Austin kick), , ESU 47 - NSU 20
    06:20 NSU - King,Zac 9 yd pass from Armstrong,Blayne (Garcia,Eddie kick), 14-68 5:46, ESU 47 - NSU 27