EMPORIA, Kan. – Northeastern State's offense was limited to eight first downs and had difficulty putting together a strong drive at Emporia State falling 44-7 on Saturday afternoon at Welch Stadium.

The RiverHawks' longest drive came in the opening quarter with seven plays ran and they would turn over the ball on 15 straight drives to Emporia State.   Northeastern State's offense had only 145 yards against Emporia State with 60 of those coming in a fourth quarter touchdown pass.  

Northeastern State punted the ball 12 times and they were 2-for-17 on third down. 

"The effort was there…we just didn't make the [offensive] plays you got to make to compete in this conference," said head coach Rob Robinson.  "Our defensive effort was there and if we give them something to spark offensively, they got something to work with.  I thought that defense battled well against an offense that leads the conference."

The RiverHawks' defense was on the field for over 33 minutes which was the most since the season opener against Washburn.

Trailing 6-0 to Emporia State midway through the first quarter, the Northeastern State defense halted the Hornets at midfield.  However, the RiverHawks' offense couldn't capture any momentum, and had only 52 yards in the first half.  The Hornets would put up 21 points in the second quarter and finished off the half scoring a touchdown off of an interception where they would need only two plays to reach the end zone.

On the opening drive of the second half, NSU would be forced to punt and a missed snap allowed Emporia State to get the ball on the RiverHawks' 12-yard line.  The Hornets needed only four rushes to cross into the end zone to go up 41-0 on Northeastern State. 

Northeastern State would only allow a field goal in the remaining time with the lone highlight coming in a 60 yard pass to Gary McKnight Jr. in the fourth quarter.  The pass from Cade Yeager would be the longest allowed by the Emporia State defense this season.

Yeager was 11-for-34 in first career road start and had 122 yards in the air; C.J. Shavers had 15 carries for 47 yards on the ground.

La'More Wise had 12 tackles to lead the NSU defense, Coleby Evans had 11 with three tackles for a loss.

Emporia State who leads the MIAA in passing heading into Saturday's contest had 331 yards in the air with two receivers with over 100 yards.  The Hornets would have 210 yards on the ground on 48 carries.

Saturday's loss sends the RiverHawks to 0-6 overall and in MIAA play, Emporia State is now 3-3 overall.

Northeastern State will return home in week seven to host top-ranked Northwest Missouri State on Oct. 14 at 2 p.m.