STORY BY MAKENNA ALLEN
PHOTO BY ALLIE SCHWEIZER
Week four of Tiger football has come to an end and with its conclusion, the Tigers have evened their record to 2-2. On Saturday, Sept. 28, the Tigers defeated the Missouri Southern State University Lions at home 44-3. After a close victory over Washburn last week, the Tigers have come out on top of the Lions for the ninth year in a row.
Though the Tigers suffered losses in the first two weeks of the season, Tigers’ Head Coach, Chris Brown, believes that this game marked an improvement in play both offensively and defensively. However, he also suggested that the team found its stride in the second half of the game.
“I thought we played well in the second half,” Brown said. “Defensively, the very first half, they played really well, got some turnovers, got the ball back to our offense. But then offensively we gave them back two turnovers and we didn’t execute.”
This struggle on the part of the offense was apparent in the fact that despite the game’s high score, the first touchdown of the match at Lewis Field Stadium didn’t take place until well into the game’s second quarter. Up to that time, the only points on the board were the result of two field goals by FHSU kicker, Dante Brown.
The succession of field goals began on the Tigers’ first drive of the game when quarterback, Chance Fuller, and the offense drove towards the end zone until Fuller was sacked on third down. The 33-yard drive was enough to put Brown within field goal range. With a 41-yard field goal, Brown put the first points of the game on the board for the Tigers.
It wasn’t long before Brown was at work again. Just four plays after an interception by defensive back, Tanner Hoekman, the Tigers faced fourth down at the 41-yard line. Brown drilled in another field goal and extended the Tiger lead to 6-0 just before the first quarter concluded.
This interception by Hoekman wasn’t the only one of the game’s half. Missouri Southern quarterback and former starting quarterback for Iowa State, Jacob Park, threw two picks during the first quarter of play. Defensive backs, Hayden Kreutzer and Hoekman took credit for these interceptions, respectively.
The Tigers capitalized on these turnovers. However, they were able to put the first touchdown of the game on the board with just over five minutes left in the half. The touchdown came after a 7-play, 49-yard drive that ended with a 17-yard pass from quarterback Chance Fuller to wide receiver, Manny Ramsey.
Shortly after, the Lions turned over the ball on a fumble. This time, the Tigers were prepared to take advantage of the opportunity as wide receiver Harley Hazlett carried a pass from Fuller up the sideline for a 51-yards. With just four minutes left in the half, the Tigers had extended their lead over the Lions to 20-0.
Fort Hays didn’t stop there. The team came out strong following the second half. Running back, Te’Corey Tutson carried the ball down the length of the field on the first play of the half. His 96-yard kickoff return set the stage for Fuller’s 2-yard pass to Hazlett that brought the Tigers to a 27-point lead over Missouri Southern.
From this point on, the Tiger momentum continued to build.
“That’s a huge momentum going into the second half, getting that play, get your kids fired up, get them more excited and now it’s time to go finish them off,” Brown said.
The fire continued well into the game’s third quarter. The Tigers followed the early touchdown with another quick punch following Kreutzer’s second interception of the game. Fuller and the offense seized the opportunity of the rapid turnover as Hazlett carried the ball into the endzone for his third touchdown of the game.
After yet another Tiger touchdown by running back DJ Hickman that ran the Tigers’ lead up to 41-0, backup quarterback Voshon Waiters took control of the offense. With Waiters in Fuller’s position, the Tigers were unable to find the end zone during the remainder of the game. The additional points of the fourth quarter can be attributed to a fourth-quarter field goal by Brown.
While the offense did its work, the fury of the Tiger defense managed to hold the Missouri Southern offense behind the 50-yard line through the entire first half and also bring in six interceptions. Despite this power, the Tigers were unable to preserve the shutout beyond the third quarter due to a Missouri Southern Field goal.
“That’s where we’ve got to learn how to finish teams off and go after them and not let them get that touchdown and score those points,” Brown said. “We can’t let up.”
This is perhaps just one of the mistakes Brown looks to correct as the season progresses.
“We’re still not quite where we want to be but they played more physical on both sides of the ball,” Brown said.
Ultimately, the head coach remains content with this victory as he believes his team “had fun” throughout the game. He also feels that this second victory provides an opportunity for the team to grow in the coming weeks of the season.
“Hopefully we can build off of this,” Brown said. “We’re still going to have to have some mistakes that we have to correct and get better at but overall performance I thought was pretty good.”
Stay tuned to witness this continued Tiger improvement as the team travels to Edmond, Ok. next weekend to take on the University of Central Oklahoma. First kick is set for 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 5.