FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION DEPARTMENT<\/p>\n
HAYS, Kan. \u2013 Fort Hays State put 14 points on the board in a hurry, then endured a one-hour, 32-minute rain delay before eventually defeating Central Oklahoma 34-20 on Saturday (Sept. 17). The Tigers moved to 2-1, while the Bronchos dropped to 0-3.<\/p>\n
The Tiger offense was red-hot out of the gates putting together 145 yards of total offense on their first two drives of the game, which resulted in touchdowns. Jacob Mezera found Shaquille Cooper on a pass from 30 yards out for the first score, just under five minutes into the game, then found Cooper again on a 21-yard connection at the 7:37 mark of the first quarter. After a UCO drive was halted on downs at the FHSU 38-yard line, a lightning strike from an incoming storm was too close and put the game into delay at 7:25 pm. Steady rain and lightning persisted until about 8:30 pm.<\/p>\n
FHSU did not lose any momentum out of the long break as Mezera hit Layne Bieberle for a 62-yard touchdown strike to make it 21-0 at the 5:09 mark of the first quarter. UCO trimmed the lead down to 24-10 by halftime with a touchdown and field goal in the second quarter and Brandon Brown of FHSU had a field goal in the second quarter from 27 yards out.<\/p>\n
Brown added another field goal at the 11:42 mark of the third quarter to extend the lead to 27-10, but UCO chipped away to pull within one score. UCO had a 42-yard Seth Hiddink field goal at the 9:00 mark of the third quarter and a one-yard Clay McKenzie touchdown run at the 13:08 mark of the fourth quarter to make it 27-20 in favor of the Tigers.<\/p>\n
The Tigers put the game away with a nine-play, 78-yard drive in the fourth quarter, culminating on a 19-yard Mezera touchdown run with 9:12 to play. UCO drove the ball to the FHSU 5-yard line but fumbled near the goal line and FHSU recovered for a touchback. The Tigers then drove 76 yards to run out the clock.<\/p>\n
Mezera had a hand in four touchdowns for the game, three passing and one rushing. He finished with 250 yards passing, completing 14-of-24 attempts with one interception. He also rushed for 53 yards, producing 303 yards of total offense.<\/p>\n
Cooper had 161 all-purpose yards with team highs in both rushing (95) and receiving (66). Kenneth Iheme had a great night rushing too, averaging 7.8 yards per carry with 94 yards. FHSU finished with 475 yards of total offense and held a UCO team averaging over 500 yards of total offense per game to just 383.<\/p>\n
Sie Doe, Jr., had a big night on defense, finishing with a team-high 13 tackles and a sack from his defensive end position. He added a pass break-up and 2.5 tackles for loss. Alex Schmidtberger also reached double figures in tackles with 11.<\/p>\n
T.J. Eckert finished with 246 passing yards for UCO. Jake Gandara had 63 rushing yards and Connor Pulley had a team-high 128 receiving yards for the Bronchos. Riley Galyon led UCO in tackles with 10.<\/p>\n
The Tigers head to Tahlequah, Oklahoma next week to face Northeastern State. Kickoff is set for 1 pm on Saturday (Sept. 24). Northeastern State enters the game at 1-2 after an overtime loss at Pittsburg State.<\/p>\n
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