Head Coach Garin Higgins surpassed Francis Welch as the winningest coach in Hornet Football on Saturday with a 31-27 win against Central Missouri. Higgins now holds the university record for most wins by a football head coach with 117 career wins.
Central Missouri scored the first ten points of the game, leading 10-0 before the Hornets got on the board with 1:03 left in the first quarter. Running back sophomore Camden Crooks made a one yard run to bring the Hornets within 10-7.
With UCM up 17-7, freshman quarterback Jamison Sarver threw his first career touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Kinglsey Bennett to trim the deficit 17-14 with 5:06 left in the half. The Mules increased their score 24-14 just before the break.
Over 12 plays, the Hornets made a 52 yard drive at the start of the second half that ended with a 19 yard field goal from senior kicker Caden Dodson to make it 24-17. UCM responded with a 25 yard field goal to give the Mules a 27-17 advantage going into the final quarter.
Sarver completed a pass to redshirt junior running back Max Middleton that allowed the Hornets to get within 27-24 in just the second play of the fourth. ESU got the ball back after forcing a three and out and Sarver went three for three on 46 yards in the following drive.
The Hornets would later get their first lead with 9:09 left from redshirt sophomore running back Diego Cearns, who scored from the two. The Mules were forced to punt after gaining only 18 yards on the next six plays.
ESU went on an 11 play drive that covered 41 yards before redshirt freshman kicker Dylan Davidson punted for the Hornets. Davidson’s punt went out of bounds at the 23 with only a 1:28 left in the game.
UCM managed to convert a fourth down with 50 seconds to go, but with just nine seconds left, graduate student defensive back Nehemiah Figueroa broke up another fourth down pass to clinch the victory.
“In the moment, I didn’t think about anything other than how proud I was of our players and coaches…on the bus ride home, I did get the chance to think about what happened,” Higgins said of the win that marked his career milestone. “Emporia State has been playing football since 1893. Coach Fran Welch is a legend. The stadium we play in is named after Coach Welch. It is a tremendous accomplishment, but I personally never threw a pass or scored a touchdown in any of those 117 wins.”
Higgins said the 117 wins are not simply his own, but wins he shares “totally and completely” with the coaches and players who have been a part of ESU Football over his 19 years with the Hornets. Those coaches and players include Kent Weiser, the former athletic director that hired Higgins, and associate head coach Mike LoPorto, who also played for the Hornets during Higgins’ first two years as head coach.
Higgins said those first five years, from 2007-11, “were tough.”
“Honestly, I wasn’t sure that we were going to be able to get things turned around here. We would not be where we are today without my (athletic director), Kent Weiser. I don’t have the words to express how much his support has meant to me and to this football program,” he said.
But looking back at his time at ESU, Higgins shared moments that stood out and shaped his coaching journey. He pointed to a 2013 win against Washburn that advanced the Hornets to the playoffs for the first time, other playoff wins and even the UCM game itself that saw ESU start Sarver, “a true freshman quarterback,” and secure the comeback win.
And it’s the support, not just from Weiser or the coaching staff and players, but also his family who he says have sacrificed a lot for his career, that helped Higgins reach that 117 win milestone.
“When the clock hit zero, I was aware that I was now the winningest head coach in school history. I was able to find my wife and my two daughters on the field pretty quickly. I am so glad that I was able to share the moment with them,” said Higgins. “The family of a college football coach makes a lot of sacrifices. This milestone could not have been reached without their love, support and sacrifices.”
