BY: RANDY GONZALES
HAYS, Kan. — Former Tiger placekicker Drew O’Brien, the all-time leading scorer in Fort Hays State football history, has signed to play the 2017 season with the Salina Liberty, a member of Champions Indoor Football, a 16-team professional league. A Hays native and graduate of Thomas More Prep-Marian High School, O’Brien will reunite with former Tiger teammates linebacker Brock Long and running back Edward Smith, returnees from the Liberty’s inaugural season this past spring.
O’Brien, a four-year starter for the Tigers, broke FHSU’s 49-year-old school scoring record in the eighth game of his senior season. He finished his career with 244 total points and is on the top 10 list of numerous kicking and punting categories at FHSU. In 2015, O’Brien and Long were members of a record-setting Tiger team that qualified for postseason action for the first time in 20 years. Fort Hays State finished 8-4 to tie the school record for most wins in a season.
After setting single-season records of 171 tackles and 21.5 tackles for loss at FHSU last fall, Long went on to lead the CIF in tackles per game during the Liberty’s indoor spring season. Smith last played for the Tigers in 2014, when he led the team in rushing. In his first season with the Liberty, Smith was fourth in yards per catch among CIF players.
The CIF represents an area that stretches across the mid-United States from Michigan to New Mexico and from North Dakota to Texas. The Liberty is a member of the Central Division along with the Dodge City Law, the Wichita Force and the Duke City Gladiators out of Albuquerque, N.M.
The CIF schedule runs from March through June.