FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
Fort Hays State looks for a perfect record at home on Saturday (Nov. 5) in Hays but has the nation’s top-ranked team standing in its way in Northwest Missouri State. The defending national champ Bearcats are a perfect 9-0 on the season, while FHSU enters at 6-3 overall. Game time for Senior Day at Lewis Field Stadium is set for 2 pm.
The Tigers are looking to snap a 12-game losing streak to Northwest Missouri State. Ten of those 12 losses have been since the Tigers joined the MIAA in 2006. But in that span, Northwest Missouri State has won three national championships (2009, 2013, 2015). The last win for FHSU in the all-time series occurred in 1978 in Maryville by a score of 36-22. The last win for FHSU over NWMSU in Hays occurred in 1968 by a score of 14-3. Fort Hays State has never defeated a No. 1 nationally ranked team.
Fort Hays State is also looking for its first win over a nationally ranked team this year, going 0-2 so far. The Tigers lost to Emporia State (No. 10 at the time) last week and Central Missouri (No. 16 at the time) earlier in the season. ESU is now ranked No. 9, while UCM is ranked No. 25.
Saturday serves as Senior Day at Lewis Field Stadium. The Tigers are Raheeme Dumas, Rashad Dunnigan, Sie Doe, Jr., DeAndre James, Alex Schmidtberger, Cory Ellis, Justin McPhail, Kane Kelly, Daniel Hubbard, Mason Dickey, Richard “Chico” Feltenberger, Bilal Salat, and Isaiah Maxi.
Sie Doe, Jr. continues his impressive play up front on the defensive line. Last week, he broke the FHSU single-season record for sacks, now with 13 on the season. He passed the former mark of 12 set by Trevell Smittick in 1998. He is just two sacks shy of Smittick’s career record of 21.5 at FHSU. Doe leads the MIAA in sacks and ranks third in the NCAA in sacks per game. He also leads the conference in tackles for loss. Doe is the national leader in forced fumbles with five.
Alex Schmidtberger and Justin McPhail are among the top 10 all-time in tackles at FHSU. Schmidtberger is now fourth on the list with 318 in his career, while McPhail is sixth on the list with 272. Schmidtberger ranks fifth in the nation in tackles per game (12.0).
On the offensive side of the ball, Shaquille Cooper now ranks seventh all-time in rushing yards at FHSU with 2,440 and sixth all-time in all-purpose yards with 3,569. He is one of four running backs in school history to have at least ten 100-yard rushing games.
Jacob Mezera is averaging 260.2 passing yards per game and has passed the 300-yard mark in three of the last four games. He has spread the ball around with four receivers accumulating more than 300 receiving yards this season. Those receivers include Charles Tigner, Tyler Bacon, Layne Bieberle, and Cooper.
Kicker Brandon Brown is only two points shy of the single-season kicking points record at FHSU. He has 75 for the season. The record is held by Roy Miller with 77 in 1992. Brown has already tied Miller’s single-season field goals made record of 15, also set in 1992. He ranks 18th in the nation in field goal percentage, converting 15-of-19 tries this year.