By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
KEARNEY, Neb. – Fort Hays State reached eight wins in a season for the sixth time under head coach Chris Brown on Saturday (Nov. 16) with a 27-20 win at Nebraska-Kearney to close out the 2024 regular season. The Tigers led 24-0 at halftime, but had to hold off a Loper rally in the second half to secure the win. FHSU closed the regular season at 8-3 overall and tied for third in the MIAA standings at 6-3. UNK finished 5-6 overall for the season and 3-6 in MIAA play.
The Tigers did their part in making a case for the NCAA Playoffs with the win, sitting at No. 8 in the NCAA Super Region 3 rankings this week. However, all seven teams in front of the Tigers in the Super Region rankings won on Saturday. The NCAA Selection Show for the playoffs will be on Sunday evening at 5 p.m. Should the Tigers be left out of the playoffs, a bowl game may still be a possibility, but not a guarantee.
Fort Hays State completely controlled the first half, dominating time of possession. The Tigers held the ball nearly 21 minutes compared to just over nine for the Lopers. The Tigers scored the game’s first touchdown on their second possession, going 85 yards over 12 plays and ending on a Caleb Heavner 4-yard touchdown run. Early in the second quarter, Heavner found Jayden Horace for a 28-yard touchdown pass to put the Tigers up 14-0. Later in the quarter, Heavner found Shane Watts for a 16-yard touchdown pass making it 21-0. Then as time expired in the opening half, Carson Arndt booted through a 30-yard field goal to make it 24-0 at the break.
At halftime, the Tigers were outgaining the Lopers 368 to 102. The Tiger defense yielded only four first downs in the first half, while Caleb Heavner had thrown for 269 yards and Ryan Allen had 103 receiving yards to pace the Tiger offense.
The Lopers started to gain momentum after halftime by taking their opening drive 60 yards for a touchdown. A Reagan Jones 9-yard pass to Stephen Lewis got the Lopers on the board. Moments later, the Lopers created another touchdown on special teams when they blocked an FHSU punt and returned it 16 yards for another score. All of the sudden, it was 24-14 and the Lopers had confidence.
Even a few moments after the big special teams play, a fluky bounce off the ball off of a Tiger receiver went right into the hands of a diving Loper defensive back. The Lopers had the ball back again, but this time the Tiger defense put a stop to UNK’s ballooning momentum thanks to a big sack on first down by Gaven Haselhorst. UNK had to eventually punt and neither team scored the remainder of the third quarter. FHSU led by 10 going to the final frame.
The Tiger defense made another big stop early in the fourth quarter on 4th-and-2, stalling out a UNK drive near midfield, but the Lopers kept hanging around and used a 44-yard pass to set up a four-yard Regan Jones touchdown with 6:31 remaining. However, UNK missed the PAT try and sat four points shy of the Tigers at 24-20 instead of three.
The Tigers needed a time-consuming drive, and did just that as Shane Watts was a workhorse on their final drive with eight carries for 57 yards. Eventually the Tigers had to settle for a 33-yard field goal from Arndt, pushing the lead to 27-20 with about a minute to play.
The Lopers made one last push at the Tigers getting all the way down to the FHSU 37 before a holding call stopped a bit of the momentum. UNK had a 21-yard pass to get the ball to the FHSU 26, but then a pair of incomplete passes ended the game. FHSU survived the second-half scare to pick up its 11th win over UNK in the last 12 meetings.
Heavner finished with 294 passing yards, completing 25-of-36 attempts. The Tigers had a pair of 100-yard receivers as Horace finished with 113 and Allen finished with 108. Watts finished with 175 rushing yards on 30 carries, his fourth-straight game going over 100 yards on the ground. Watts had 218 all-purpose yards in the game, adding 43 receiving yards to his rushing total.
Linebackers John Johnson and Makel Williams led the Tiger tackling effort, each with seven. Johnson had a fumble recovery from a force by Benyon Williams. Haselhorst finished with a team-high 1.5 sacks in the game.
Jones threw for 178 yards for UNK, while Isaiah Harris led the Lopers with 63 rushing yards. Shane Dailey Jr. had 92 receiving yards and Anthony Hebert and Devin Guggia shared top tackling honors for UNK with nine each.
Prior to Chris Brown taking over as head coach at Fort Hays State, the program record for wins in a season was eight, reached just six times. The program has now reached that standard six times under Brown in the last nine seasons. The Tigers are hoping for a fifth postseason game appearance under Brown after bowl appearances in 2015 and 2016 and NCAA Playoff appearances in 2017 and 2018.