Joplin, Mo. – The Missouri Southern football team was driving inside the Emporia State zone, but time expired before the Lions could stop the clock in their comeback attempt, falling 24-21 to the Hornets inside Fred G. Hughes Stadium.
 
Southern (4-4, 4-4 MIAA) had 183 yards rushing and 299 yards of total offense on the day. The wind played havoc with each team today as winds were sustained in the high 20's with gusts hitting 45 mph.
 
The Lions got touchdowns from Nathan Glades and Dwayne Lawson on the ground and Luke Sampson hit Ezekiel Lang for a 21-yard score through the air.
 
Glades had 71 yards on 20 carries, while Ja'Veon Marlow added 45 yards of his own. Lang caught two passes for 47 yards, while Dawson Herl was 8-of-14 for 43 yards and Sampson was 6-of-9 for 73 yards and a score.
 
Nick Williams had six punts for 261 yards and an average of 43.5 yards and a long of 66 with two inside the 20-yard line.
 
Defensively, Solomon Garcia led the Lions with 11 tackles, including a half a tackle for a loss of one yard. Colton Winder had nine stops, including a pass break up and a quarterback hurry, while Romel Readus had seven tackles, including two for a loss of five yards.
 
Southern won the toss and deferred to the second half and the Lions' defense went to work, forcing a three-and-out for the Hornets. Southern took over on its own 45-yard line and Lawson opened the drive with a 24-yard rush to the ESU 31. Herl hit Nick Panella for nine yards to the ESU 22 and the Lions chipped away. A ten-yard run for Glades got the Lions inside the ten-yard line and Lawson finished off the drive with a one-yard score.
 
The Southern defense picked up a turnover on downs in the Hornets' next possession and the quarter ended with the Lions up 7-0.
 
ESU (6-2, 6-2 MIAA) got a 22-yard field goal to get within four (7-3) just inside the start of the second quarter, but the Lions answered back with a long drive that took 18 plays and more than 12 minutes off the clock.
 
Sampson concluded the drive with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Lang in the back of the endzone as Lang made sure to get one foot in.
 
The Hornets answered back and scored to make it 14-10 at the break.
 
Coming out of the halftime break both teams scored in the third quarter as the Hornets got a touchdown pass from Brandon Gleason to Jaylen Varner to temporarily go up 17-14, but the Lions again answered right back.
 
Southern used a nine-play, 55-yard drive that took 4:50 off the clock to lead 21-17 at the end of the third.
 
Backed up deep in its own zone, Southern had to punt and the wind took the punt giving the Hornets the ball at the Lions' 14-yard line. ESU worked quick and went ahead 24-21 with 6:17 left to go.
 
The Lions had two possessions inside those six minutes, with the final drive getting inside the ESU zone, but Southern couldn't down the ball before time expired in the game.
 
The Lions will be back in action next week as Southern travels to Missouri Western. Kickoff from Spratt Memorial Stadium is set for 1 pm.