FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
WARRENSBURG, Mo. – A sluggish start by Fort Hays State led to a 34-17 loss at No. 16 Central Missouri on Thursday evening (Sept. 8). The Mules grabbed a 14-0 lead in a hurry and never trailed to stay unbeaten on the season, while the Tigers moved to 1-1 overall.
Central Missouri set the tone for the game with a 58-yard touchdown pass from Garrett Fugate to Jaylen Zachery at the 12:05 mark of the first quarter. Just a minute and 18 seconds later, the two connected once again on a 13-yard touchdown pass giving UCM a 14-0 lead early.
The FHSU offense found no rhythm early and struggled throughout the night. The Tigers went without a first down on their first three drives of the game which netted -4 yards. But the defense forced punts on UCM’s third and fourth drives of the game to slow down the momentum.
A little luck helped the Tigers produce their first touchdown of the night. On their first productive drive of the night, Malik Thomas fumbled the ball at the UCM 29-yard line that was recovered by UCM at the 20-yard line. The UCM player began to return the ball and then he fumbled and FHSU regained control of the ball at the 24-yard line, all on the same play. That led to Malik Thomas eventually scoring a touchdown on a 3-yard run, cutting the UCM lead in half at 14-7.
The Mules drove the ball deep on their next drive and settled for a 23-yard field goal to push their lead to 17-7, the eventual halftime margin. It could have been more, but the Tiger defense forced and recovered a fumble at the FHSU 3-yard line to keep the Mules from scoring a second time in the second quarter. Tanner Hoekman also had an interception with under two minutes to play in the opening half, but a penalty stalled out a potential scoring drive by the Tigers. FHSU had just 112 yards of total offense at the break.
The Tiger defense caused the Mules to turn the ball over on downs on the first drive of the second half, but much like the first half, the Tiger offense sputtered when given the opportunity to apply pressure. The Mules went on to score touchdowns on two of the next three drives and led 31-7 heading to the fourth quarter. FHSU netted just 20 yards of offense in the third quarter.
The offense finally made progress early in the fourth quarter, slashing into the big lead. A 40-yard field goal by Brandon Brown with 12:20 to go and a TJ Thomas 7-yard touchdown run with 8:20 to go made it 31-17. But UCM picked up a critical first down on 3rd-and-10, then methodically marched down the field chewing up a chunk of the clock. The Mules capped a drive that took 7:17 with a 26-yard field goal, leaving less than a minute on the clock.
Jacob Mezera finished with 141 yards passing, while Shaquille Cooper led rushers with 63 yards and Tyler Bacon had a team-best six catches for 57 yards. The Tigers finished with just 223 yards of total offense (141 passing, 82 rushing).
The UCM offense racked up 514 yards with 306 passing and 208 rushing. Fugate threw for all 306 yards. Zachery had a team-best six catches for 106 yards. Xavier Washpun led the Mules in rushing with 117 yards.
Alex Schmidtberger led the Tigers with 17 tackles and has a team-leading 30 for the young season. Jose Delgado had 14 tackles for the second straight game and Connor Shedeed and Justin McPhail each had 10.
The Tigers return to action at home next Saturday (Sept. 17) against Central Oklahoma. Game time is set for 7 pm at Lewis Field Stadium.