BY MAKENNA ALLEN
Saturday marks another weekend of Tiger football and this week, the team is back to play at Lewis Field Stadium. After a thrilling back-and-forth match against Pittsburg State University last week, the Tigers have extended their win streak to five games. This week, the Tigers kickoff against the University of Nebraska-Kearney Lopers who, just like Fort Hays, hold a record of 5-2 for the season.
Also similar to the Tigers, the Lopers are coming off a big win against the No. 7 ranked Northwest Missouri Bearcats. The Lopers entered last week’s home game ranked 37th in the AFCA Division II Poll. After shutting out the Bearcats into the second half of the game, the Lopers managed to hold their lead to defeat Northwest Missouri 24-17 for the first time in 29 years.
At a point in the season when Tigers’ head coach, Chris Brown, suggests that many players experience mental and physical burnout, the momentum that each team carries could be the key to success.
“Everybody’s mentally and physically tired and it’s just whose tougher,” Brown said. “We’ve just got to toughen up and get through it. And not only get through it but not let it be a burden on us.”
Stats:
With that mentality, the Tigers prepare for a Nebraska-Kearney team that has certainly improved in recent years.
“Kearney, from my first year playing them to now, is a completely different team,” defensive back, Tanner Hoekman said. “They were one of the lower teams when we first played them my freshman year and sophomore year and then last year they ended up taking us to double-overtime.”
Indeed, the last time the Tigers and Lopers met the Tigers returned to Hays with a narrow victory of 29-26 that was only decided in double overtime.
This year, as both teams look for their sixth win of the season, Nebraska-Kearney may very well find its success in its offense that pairs talented running backs with a mobile quarterback.
“They’ve got very good running backs. They’ve got very good quarterbacks that run the ball very well,” Brown said. “They’re very elusive.”
This Loper offense has allowed the team to average 321.7 rushing yards per game and 136.6 passing yards per game. Last week against Northwest Missouri, the Lopers had a total of 125 passing yards and 228 rushing yards.
Key Players:
225-yards of that offense can be attributed to redshirt freshman quarterback, TJ Davis. During the game, David had 24 carries for 100-yards and one score. Davis sits second on the team in total rushing yards for the season with 503-yards.
Brown suggests that this quarterback’s skill presents a unique challenge for the Tiger defense.
“The goal as a Tiger right now is to make sure you take one thing away, give him one way to go and that’s the only way he can go,” Brown said.
According to Brown, Davis is not the only part of the Nebraska-Kearney offense of which the Tigers must be wary.
“Their running backs are the same way,” Brown said. “They’ve got two of them that are very fast, agile, and quick. And they’ve got one that’s a bruiser who’s just going to get downhill and try to beat you up.”
Key components of the Loper offense in the defeat of Northwest Missouri included junior back, Dayton Sealey, with a total of 71-yards during the game. Meanwhile, senior receiver, Sedarius Young, had four receptions resulting in 95-yards. Senior back, David Goodwin, had 84 additional yards.
In addition to their powerful offense, the Lopers are also strong on the defensive side of the ball, a fact of which Tigers’ wide receiver, Layne Bieberle is well aware.
“They’re going to take everything and keep everything in front of you. They’re not going to give up man big plays,” Bieberle said. “We’re going to have to take advantage of every little short route and taking that short route to convert it to something else.”
Bieberle himself demonstrated a strong performance against Pittsburg State with a 66-yard catch and run for a touchdown in the second quarter followed by a 67-yard touchdown pass reception in the third quarter.
However, the Loper defense prepares for these big plays from the Tigers. It will be up to players such as senior inside linebacker, Sal Silvo, to halt the momentum of the Tiger offense. Last week, Silvo forced two fumbles and had two sacks against the Bearcats.
Ultimately, the Tigers hold the advantage in the series against the Lopers as they have won the last seven matchups between the two teams. Still, as both players and coaches have noted, the Nebraska-Kearney team of the 2019 season is different from any seen in the past.
Brown believes that the game will be decided by the team makes the fewest mistakes.
“This game is really going to come down to who the most physical team is, who plays harder, who wants it more and who makes the least amount of mistakes,” Brown said.
So come out to Lewis Field Stadium and support the Tigers in this season’s first afternoon home game. The Lopers plan to send a fan bus to Hays which means it’s time for Tiger fans to step up. Don’t miss kick-off that is set for 2:00 p.m., Sat., Oct. 26.