FHSU SPORTS INFOMATION DEPARTMENT
EMPORIA, Kan. – Fort Hays State fell by a score of 24-16 to No. 10 ranked Emporia State on Saturday (Oct. 29). The Tigers struggled to put points on the board until the fourth quarter, but outscoring the Hornets 13-10 in the final quarter was not enough. FHSU fell to 6-3, while ESU improved to 8-1.
The Tigers produced their second-lowest amount of total yards in a game this season with 317, but still held the Hornets to 356. FHSU had just 99 yards as a team rushing, but produced 218 in passing. But that snapped a three-game streak of throwing for over 300 yards.
Emporia State grabbed the upper hand early, capitalizing on an interception thrown by Jacob Mezera on Fort Hays State’s first drive of the game. ESU started its drive at the FHSU 43 yard line and eventually reached the endzone on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Braxton Marstall to Louis Dailey to take a 7-0 lead.
Fort Hays State moved the ball 54 yards on its second drive of the game and settled for a Brandon Brown 37-yard field goal to cut the Hornet lead to 7-3. From that point, both offenses struggled to get anything going and the game remained 7-3 at halftime.
Emporia State finally broke the stalemate at the 6:32 mark of the third quarter when Marstall connected with Mitchell Foote for a 65-yard touchdown, making it 14-3.
The Tigers ended their scoring troubles early in the fourth quarter when Shaquille Cooper finished a 58-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown. The Tigers went for two, trying to get within three, but the conversion failed leaving the score at 14-9.
The Hornets pushed their lead to 12 with 11:27 remaining when Marstall threw his third touchdown pass of the day to Morris Williams, a 38-yard connection. They tacked on a 42-yard field goal with 5:13 remaining in the game to take a 24-9 lead.
A late 36-yard touchdown pass from Mezera to Layne Bieberle brought the Tigers within eight points at 24-16 with 17 seconds to play, but the Hornets recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock.
Mezera finished with 218 yards passing, completing 27-of-43 attempts. He entered the game with just three interceptions on the season and threw two. Bieberle led the Tigers in receiving with 116 yards on eight catches. Cooper led the team in rushing with 79 yards on 17 attempts.
Jose Delgado and Alex Schmidtberger reached double figures in tackles, Delgado with 16 and Schmidtberger with 13. Sie Doe, Jr. recorded one sack and brought his season total to 13, breaking the single-season school record. Raheeme Dumas had one interception.
Marstall finished with 202 passing yards for the Hornets. Mitchell Foote led ESU in receiving with 83 yards and Landon Nault was its top rusher with 65 yards.
Fort Hays State plays its final home game of the season next week as it welcomes the defending national champion and current No. 1 ranked team in the nation, Northwest Missouri State, on November 5. The annual Senior Day game begins at 2 pm.